One of the greatest honors in the present film industry will be to win an Academy Award. Many individuals try their best to achieve this goal and some just consider it to be humbling proof of their efforts and talent. It is not easy to win an Oscar, and many of the Hollywood stars did not hear their names being called out during this high-status event. Some of them become nominated on a number of occasions to a point where it appears like they are never going to win, only to get the acknowledgment of the work done by them.
On the other hand, some Hollywood actors and actresses make winning an Oscar appear simple. The 93rd Academy Awards is going to take place on 25th April this year, and we will take a close look at the talents with the most number of Oscar wins in the following paragraphs.
Most Oscars for acting
It seems that stars such as Meryl Streep have been winning Oscars ever since she first appeared on the scene. In fact, Streep ended up winning her initial Academy Award for the role performed by her in the movie Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979), following the earning of her first nomination for the movie The Deer Hunter (1978). After 4 years the renowned actress succeeded in winning her 2nd Oscar for the role played by her in Sophie’s Choice. The latest win of Streep came for the movie The Iron Lady (2011) where she played the role of Margaret Thatcher. This helped to make as many as 3 wins out of 21 nominations.
Nevertheless, Katharine Hepburn happens to be the actor who has won the maximum number of Oscars for acting right now. Prior to her demise in the year 2003, she received 12 nominations for an Oscar award and she ended up winning 4 of them in the long run. Katharine received the awards for the roles played by her in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, Morning Glory, On Golden Pond, and The Lion in Winter.
Hepburn could arguably be surpassed by Meryl for the number one spot. The only other actress, as of 2021, with as many as 3 Oscar wins happens to be the late Ingrid Bergman. She ended up winning an Oscar for her role in Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and she won the Best Actress award for Anastasia (1956) and Gaslight (1944).
Following Ingrid and Meryl, you will come across a plethora of actresses who might have taken the honor from Katharine: Cate Blanchett (7 nominations, a couple of wins for Blue Jasmine, The Aviator), Jane Fonda (7 nods, a couple of wins for Coming Home, Klute), Jessica Lange (6 nominations in total, a couple of wins for Blue Sky, Tootsie), Maggie Smith (6 nominations, a couple of wins for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite), Frances McDormand (5 nods, 2 wins for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Fargo, Missouri), Jodie Foster (4 nominations till now, a couple of wins for The Silence of the Lambs and The Accused), Renée Zellweger (4 nominations, with a couple of wins for Judy and Cold Mountain), as well as Sally Field (3 nominations, leading to a couple of wins for Places In The Heart and Norma Rae).
It happens to be a tie between Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis as for the male actor holding the record for the maximum number of wins so far. Jack Nicholson earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1983 while winning the Best Actor award for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1976) and As Good As It Gets (1998). Daniel Day-Lewis won the awards for the roles played by him in the movies There Will Be Blood, My Left Foot, as well as Lincoln. Now that this prolific actor has declared his retirement, it is not likely that any other actor will be able to grasp the identical record-breaking signature as achieved by Daniel.
Who might be that person? As of 2021, Robert De Niro (7 nominations, 2 wins for Raging Bull and The Godfather: Part II), Denzel Washington (8 nominations, 2 wins for Training Day and Glory), Dustin Hoffman (7 nominations, 2 wins for Rain Man and Kramer vs. Kramer), Michael Caine (6 nominations, 2 wins for The Cider House Rules and Hannah and Her Sisters), plus Tom Hanks (6 nominations, 2 wins for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump) might be able to tie Day-Lewis and Nicholson, or even do better than them.
Who has got the maximum Oscars in history?
However, in terms of breaking records, the person winning the maximum number of Academy Awards was not an actor, but an icon – Walt Disney. In fact, Walt had received nominations for 59 Academy Awards from 1931 to 1968. He received his first nomination in the year 1932 and Disney won Oscars for animated short films such as The Ugly Duckling, Ferdinand the Bull, Der Fuehrer’s Face, and so forth. In 1948, the Oscar for Best Short Subject was won by him (Two Reel). It marked the first time he succeeded in winning for a Disney True-Life Adventure movie. The initial win for Walt for Documentary Feature had been The Living Desert (1953), and he likewise won the Academy Awards in 1954 for Special Effects in the movie 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
In total, Walt succeeded in winning as many as 22 competitive awards along with 4 honorary and non-competitive Oscars, which made him the all-time winningest individual in the history of Oscar.
Cedric Gibbons, the art director, happens to be the second with 11 awards, and Alfred Newman, the composer, is next with 9. Edith Head, a reputed costume designer, had received nominations as many as 35 times, and she eventually won 8 of them.
Who has won the maximum number of Oscars for directing?
When it comes to directors, John Ford happens to be at the top of the list, and he has won the award for Best Director as many as 4 times: for The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Informer (1935), The Quiet Man (1952), and How Green Was My Valley (1941).
