The Cream Of The Crop
It's not unheard for a film to walk away from the Oscars with a dozen trophies. On the other hand, some of Hollywood's most prestigious, A+ list performers can toil for years and still only have a handful of trophies to decorate their shelves. While every performer on this list has at least one Oscar, you might be surprised to know that none have more than four. Did your favorite make the list?
15. Jane Fonda
2 wins, 7 nominations
Edging out others in the top 45, like Vivien Leigh and Tom Hanks, is Jane Fonda. As the daughter of Henry Fonda and sister to Peter, Jane is part of an acting dynasty, but she has the chops to back it up, as she showed with her performances in Klute and Coming Home, each of which earned her a Best Actress nomination.
Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
14. Cate Blanchett
2 wins, 8 nominations
In our opinion, this is a classic case of the Academy giving out awards past their due. While Blue Jasmine and The Aviator, the two films for which Blanchett won Oscars, were both good, they’re far from her best work. Instead, it was her losses on nominations for Elizabeth, Carol, and Tar that seem like obvious mistakes.
Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
13. Robert De Niro
2 wins, 8 nominations
On the other side of things is Robert De Niro—who has two Oscars for two of his best roles. De Niro won Best Actor for Raging Bull and Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather II. However, looking back on his career, it’s difficult to imagine what went through the minds of Academy voters when they passed over him for Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, and Cape Fear.
Roland Godefroy, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
12. Jack Lemmon
2 wins, 8 nominations
Few can balance comedy and drama like Jack Lemmon. The Hollywood mainstay received his first nomination and win for 1956’s Mister Roberts, where he held his own against heavyweights like James Cagney, Henry Fonda, and William Powell. After being nominated—and passed over—for classics like Some Like It Hot and The Apartment, Lemmon earned his second Oscar for 1974’s Save The Tiger, a dramatic and somber film, a marked difference from his other hits.
11. Marlon Brando
2 wins, 8 nominations
It’s no surprise that Brando, one of the most influential actors of all time, took home Oscars for his performances in On The Waterfront and The Godfather. It’s really only surprising that he didn’t take more home. Famously, at the ceremony for the latter, he refused the award and sent activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place to protest Hollywood’s stereotyping of Native Americans.
Though he received two nominations after, Brando didn’t win either of them—perhaps the Academy didn’t want to be embarrassed again.
Urpo Rouhiainen, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
10. Denzel Washington
2 wins, 9 nominations
After years of hard work on screen, Denzel Washington got his first Oscar for 1989’s Glory. And though Washington was one of the most popular stars of the 1990s, his efforts weren’t recognized by the Academy again, save for a couple nominations—giving the phrase “Justice for the Hurricane” dual meaning.
It took until the turn of the millennium for Washington to see his second win, for 2001’s Training Day.
9. Spencer Tracy
2 wins, 9 nominations
Hollywood’s golden boy burst onto the scene in the 1930s and remained a mainstay until his passing in 1967. He had the distinction of winning Best Actor two years in a row, during the 1937 and 1938 ceremonies, for Captains Courageous and Boys Town, respectively.
He also wasn’t the only one with talent in his household…but more on that later.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wikimedia Commons
8. Bette Davis
2 wins, 11 nominations
Speaking of bursting onto the scene in the 1930s, Bette Davis was an absolute force, establishing her place at the Oscars in 1935, when she appeared in Of Human Bondage. She didn’t get the nomination that year—only three actresses did—which caused a huge scandal. There were so many calls and letters that the Academy agreed to allow write-in nominations, which landed Davis an unofficial nod. Though she didn’t win, she went on to take home two trophies in 1936 and 1939, for Dangerous and Jezebel.
Alexander Kahle, Wikimedia Commons
7. Walter Brennan
3 wins, 4 nominations
No one would blame you if you read the name Walter Brennan and said “Who?" Though he may not have been a debonair leading man, Brennan was an absolutely Hollywood workhouse, appearing in over 200 films across nearly five decades. He’s the undisputed champion of the Best Supporting Actor category, having won three times for Come And Get It, Kentucky, and The Westerner.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
6. Frances McDormand
3 wins, 6 nominations
With her multiple Oscars, Emmys, and Tonys, McDormand is one of the few performers to have won the “Triple Crown of Acting”. Though she made her mark in films like Blood Simple and others made by her husband, Joel Coen, her first Oscar came from a Coen Brothers film, Fargo. Since then, she’s won for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Nomadland.
McDormand technically has four Oscars, as she won one as a producer of the film Women Talking, which won Best Picture in 2023.
Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
5. Daniel Day-Lewis
3 wins, 6 nominations
Day-Lewis has a solid 50% success rate at the Oscars, which is more than many performers can say—but we still think it should be higher. Though he won for My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, and Lincoln, the movies that he didn’t win for—In The Name of the Father, Gangs of New York, and Phantom Thread—are all incredible.
Siebbi, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
4. Ingrid Bergman
3 wins, 7 nominations
For a while, it looked like Ingrid Bergman would be walking away with just one Oscar, earned for her performance in Gaslight. Her affair with and subsequent marriage to director Roberto Rossellini resulted in a scandal that caused such an uproar, she moved to Europe to get away from it. After success in Rossellini’s films, she returned to the US, earning two further wins for Anastasia and Murder on the Orient Express.
MGM photographer, Wikimedia Commons
3. Jack Nicholson
3 wins, 12 nominations
The man at the top of the list for both awards and nominations is Jack Nicholson, who won thrice: for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Endearment, and As Good As It Gets. His nominations are numerous and impressive, including nods for classics like Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, and Easy Rider.
2. Meryl Streep
3 wins, 21 nominations
She may not have won as many times as #1 on this list, but Meryl Streep is the most nominated actor of all time, with a total of 21 nominations and a whopping 17 of those being for Best Actor. Though her success rate—with wins for Kramer Vs Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, and The Iron Lady—isn’t what it should be, it could be decades before we even see another actress approach her records. The only living actress “chasing her tail,” as it were, would be Cate Blanchett, with eight noms currently.
1. Katharine Hepburn
4 wins, 12 nominations
Coming in with a respectable 33.3333% success rate for wins over nominations is Hollywood trailblazer Katharine Hepburn. The very definition of a leading lady, she won four trophies—all for Best Actress—for Morning Glory, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter, and On Golden Pond. And her career was as long as it was praised, with a 48-year gap between her first and last wins.
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