The Academy Awards is considered the most prestigious award an actor can win and is sought after by many in the film industry or who dream of breaking into the film industry. Vote for the Oscars is done by the members of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science, usually those who have distinguished themselves in the industry. Nominees are determined through votes of Academy members split into 17 branches of their specialty category. Then, when it comes time to pick a winner, all members vote and the nominee with the most in their category wins, except for Best Picture which is chosen through a preferential voting system by the members.
Despite this, the Oscars are not something that defines talent per se. Many extremely talented and respected actors have either never won an Oscar or have waited years to get one, despite their critically acclaimed performances (we’re talking about you, Leonardo DiCaprio). And in the past, the Oscars have been criticized for their lack of diversity, as evidenced by their lack of colored nominees. In fact, in 2015 and 2016, it was revealed that 93% of Academy members were white and 76 percent were male with a median age of 63. Since then, the Academy has pledged to double the number of women and racialized members. Regardless of one’s opinion of the Oscars, it’s still seen as a pinnacle of success for an actor to win just one — so what does it mean when you win several? These are the 9 actors who have won the most Oscars.
9 Jodie Foster – 2 Oscars for Best Actress
Jodie Foster is known as Clarice Starling in Silence of the lambswhich won her an Oscar for Best Actress in 1991. A few years earlier, in 1989, she won Best Actress for her role as Sarah Tobias, a waitress who is sexually assaulted by three men at a local bar, in the controversial film The accused. Although the actress has only two Oscars to her name, she is the only LGBTQ+ actor to have won two Oscars.
8 Denzel Washington – 2 Oscars (1 Best Actor, 1 Best Supporting Actor)
Denzel Washington is one of only two actors of color to ever win two Oscars for acting, and he was the first to do so. His first Oscar win was in 1990 for Best Supporting Actor with the film Civil War Glory. His second win would be in 2002 for Best Actor in Training day. He is also one of four black male actors to ever win the Best Actor award and still holds the record for most Oscar-nominated black actor, with a total of ten nominations. He would remain the only actor of color to ever win two Academy Awards in the acting category until Mahershala Ali in 2019.
7 Walter Brennan – 3 Oscars for Best Supporting Actor
Country Singer and Old Hollywood Actor Walter Brennan received a total of four Oscar nominations, all in the Best Supporting Actor category. His first Oscar was presented to him at the ninth Academy Awards for his role in 1936 Come and get it. He would also win a prize each for Kentucky and the westerner.
6 Daniel Day-Lewis — 3 Best Actor Oscars
Daniel Day-LewisKnown for his extreme method acting techniques, he has earned a total of six Academy nominations and three wins, all in the Best Actor category. The first was in 1990 for his role in my left foot, a biographical film based on the memoirs of Christy Brown, an Irish artist and writer with cerebral palsy. Day-Lewis insisted on preserving his character by not doing anything Brown couldn’t do, meaning the crew had to push him in a wheelchair and feed him. His second win was in 2008 for There will be bloodand his last Oscar win was for his portrayal of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in Lincoln. While on set, he never broke his character and insisted on being addressed as Mr. Lincoln. Day-Lewis has retired from acting since 2017.
5 Ingrid Bergman – 3 Oscars (2 Best Actress, 1 Best Supporting Actress)
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who received eight Academy nominations between 1948 and 1978, one of which was for Best Supporting Actress, and won three of them. She won Best Actress for the 1944 psychological thriller gaslight and her portrayal of Anastasia Nikolaevna, the daughter of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, who is said to have been the sole survivor of the execution of her entire family, in Anastasia. Bergman won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in the film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s mystery novel. Murder on the Orient Express.
4 Jack Nicholson — 3 Best Actor Oscars
Jack Nicholson is widely known for his terrifying role in the Stephen King film adaptation of the radiant and as the Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie. However, the actor has three Academy Awards to his name and twelve nominations. All three of his wins were for Best Actor for One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Affectionand As well as possible in the given circumstances.
3 Meryl Streep — 3 Oscars (2 Best Actress, 1 Best Supporting Actress)
the iconic Meryl Streep has won over 200 awards, from Tony’s to Grammy’s. She has become known for her memorable roles in such films as The devil wears Prada and mommy Mia. She currently holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations with a whopping 21 nominations. As of now, she only has three Oscars: one for Best Supporting Actress in Kramer V Kramerand two awards for best actress for Sophie’s choice and The Iron Lady where she portrays the first woman to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher.
2 Frances McDormand — 4 Oscars (3 Best Actress, 1 Best Picture)
With four Oscars, Frances McDormand is the only actor on this list to win an award outside of the acting categories. McDormand has received seven nominations and won Best Actress for fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouriand nomad land. Along with Best Actress, she also won Best Picture for her role as producer of nomad land.
1 Katharine Hepburn – 4 Oscars for Best Actress
Named the greatest actress of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute, Katharine Hepburn has won the most Academy Awards in the acting categories in the history of the awards. She has received 12 nominations during her career, the first of which ended with taking home Best Actress for morning glory in 1934. Her next win would not be until 1968 for Guess who’s coming to eatthan the following year for The lion in winter. Hepburn’s final nomination and win would be for On Golden Pond in 1982.