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 inKluteandComing Home,each of which earned her a Best Actress nomination.
Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Advertisement
14. Cate Blanchett
2 wins, 8 nominations
In our opinion, this is a classic case of the Academy giving out awards past their due. WhileBlue JasmineandThe 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 forElizabeth, Carol,andTarthat 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 hastwo Oscars for two of his best roles. De Niro won Best Actor forRaging Bulland Best Supporting Actor forThe 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 forTaxi Driver,The Deer Hunter,andCape 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’sMister Roberts, where he held his own against heavyweights like James Cagney, Henry Fonda, and William Powell. After being nominated—and passed over—for classics likeSome Like It HotandThe Apartment, Lemmon earned his second Oscar for 1974’sSave The Tiger, a dramatic and somber film, a marked difference from his other hits.
Advertisement
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 inOn The WaterfrontandThe 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’sGlory. 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’sTraining 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, forCaptains CourageousandBoys Town, respectively.
He also wasn’t the only one with talent in his household…but more on that later.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wikimedia Commons
Advertisement
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 inOf 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, forDangerousandJezebel.
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 forCome And Get It, Kentucky,andThe 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 likeBlood Simpleand others made by her husband, Joel Coen, her first Oscar came from a Coen Brothers film,Fargo. Since then, she’s won forThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, andNomadland.
McDormand technically has four Oscars, as she won one as a producer of the filmWomen Talking, which won Best Picture in 2023.
Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Advertisement
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 forMy Left Foot, There Will Be Blood,andLincoln,the movies that he didn’t win for—In The Name of the Father, Gangs of New York,andPhantom 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 inGaslight. 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 forAnastasiaandMurder 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: forOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Endearment, andAs Good As It Gets. His nominations are numerous and impressive, including nods for classics likeFive Easy Pieces, Chinatown, andEasy Rider.
Advertisement
2. Meryl Streep
3 wins, 21 nominations
She may not havewonas 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 forKramer Vs Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, andThe 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—forMorning Glory, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter,andOn Golden Pond.And her career was as long as it was praised, with a 48-year gap between her first and last wins.
