Find Out Who's Won the Most Academy Awards!
Will any 2023 Oscar nominees break records?
One of the entertainment industry’s most coveted nights has finally arrived! The 2023 Oscars will take place Sunday, March 12, and even given the Academy Awards' traditionally unpredictable outcomes, this year is expected to be especially exciting—and historic.
As just one example: if Michelle Yeoh takes home the Best Actress Award, it would make her the first Asian woman in history to win the award. She's already the first Asian woman to be nominated for an Oscar in that category.
Speaking of Oscar history, only a handful of Hollywood’s elite have been lucky enough to win multiple times as records have been set and broken over the Oscars' more than 95-year history. Want to know more about who has racked up the most Oscars and nominations over the course of their career? Keep reading for some trivia tidbits to use at your Oscar party.
Who has won the most Oscars?
It may not shock you to learn that an animation legend takes the lead in this category. Walt Disney created beloved characters and so many iconic movie moments that it’s really no surprise that he's won an impressive 26 Oscars, including four honorary ones, out of 59 total nominations. That feat makes him the most awarded Oscar winner in the history of the Academy. Disney won the bulk of his awards between 1932 and 1969 in the category of Best Animated Short, receiving his first Oscar during the 5th Academy Awards for Flowers and Trees. He also received a special award during that ceremony for creating the cherished character Mickey Mouse. He also holds the record for winning the most Oscars in one night in 1954 when he won for Best Documentary Feature for The Living Desert, Best Documentary Short Subject for The Alaskan Eskimo, Best Short Subject (Cartoon) for Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom, and Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) for Bear Country. In 1965, Disney was nominated for Best Picture with the classic film Mary Poppins. His last Oscar was awarded posthumously in 1969 for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
Who has won the most Oscars for acting?
Screen icon Katharine Hepburn has won the Best Actress Oscar four times, making her the actress with the most Oscars. She was nominated a total of 12 times for her work and took home the statue for Morning Glory (1934), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1968), The Lion in Winter (1969, tied with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl) and On Golden Pond (1982). She actually only attended one Academy Awards ceremony, which was in 1974 when she presented an honorary Oscar to producer Lawrence Weingarten.
What actor has won the most Oscars?
Daniel Day-Lewis has three statuettes to his name out of his six nominations. He won Best Actor for My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989) and There Will Be Blood (2007). His latest was for Lincoln (2012), in which he played the title character and former U.S. President. His record will more than likely be surpassed since he announced his retirement in 2017.
Related: 2021 Oscar Predictions
Who has the most Oscars of a person still living?
Visual effects artist Dennis Muren currently holds the record for most Oscars won by a person still living. He has nine Oscars to his name honoring his work on films such E.T., Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Jurassic Park. Fun fact, he’s also the first visual artist to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Which actor has received the most Oscar nominations?
Meryl Streep is the most Oscar-nominated actor of all time, landing her 21st Oscar nomination in 2018. Streep takes the lead ahead of Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson, who are tied in second place with 12 Oscar nominations each. She earned her first nomination in 1979 for Best Supporting Actress in The Deer Hunter and was last nominated in 2018 for Best Actress in The Post. She has won three Oscars to date for Kramer vs. Kramer (1980), Sophie's Choice (1983) and The Iron Lady (2012).
Who has won the most Oscars for directing?
Famed film director John Ford has won four Oscars of his five nominations for The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941)and The Quiet Man (1952). He directed over 100 films over the course of his career and was best known for directing Westerns and making a mark on the genre.
Related: Biggest Oscar Snubs of All Time
What movie won the most Oscars in one year?
Three films hold this record having won 11 Oscars. Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) each won 11 Oscars during their Academy Awards ceremonies, which seems fitting for these epic films. Titanic shares the record for the most nominated film of all time with All About Eve (1950) and La La Land (2016) with 14 nominations each.
In 2022, The Power of the Dog is up for exactly 11 Oscars, which might make it seem like the movie could tie the record—but two of those nominations are in the same category of Best Supporting Actor (for Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee), which means the most trophies it could walk away with at the end of the night would be 10.
Only two people have won Oscars for acting posthumously
Only two actors have won their Oscars posthumously. Peter Finch for Network (1976) and Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2009). In 2021, Chadwick Boseman was the first Black actor to be nominated posthumously for an Oscar.
