10 Actors With the Most Oscar Nominations

The actors with the most Oscar nominations come from all decades in Hollywood, with several people on the list enjoying wins that date all the way back to the 1930s. The top nominated actors have all received nine or more nominations, the number-one actor more than 20. Each has also won at least once.

In total, 188 actors have earned three or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories, including Best Actor or Actress or Best Supporting Actor or Actress. An impressive list of actors just missed the cut, having received eight Academy Award nominations, including Marlon Brando, Jack Lemmon, Cate Blanchett, Geraldine Page, Dame Judy Dench, Peter O’Toole, and Glenn Close. The actors who have earned the most nominations have done so by delivering heart-wrenching, thrilling, emotionally charged, convincing performances in a variety of films.

10 Al Pacino

9 Nominations (1 Win)

Nominated an impressive nine times, Al Pacino, who is mostly known for movies like The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Godfather Part III, Carlito’s Way, and Scarface, has actually only won once, and for a very different film. Pacino’s one win was for his lead role in Scent of a Woman, a drama about a young student named Charlie (Chris O’Donnell) tasked with taking care of retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Frank (Pacino) for a weekend. Pacino had to convincingly play a blind war veteran who had fallen into a deep, alcoholic depression. His performance was moving and worthy of the win. It has been more than three decades since he won, but Pacino’s last nomination was recent: it was in 2020 for his supporting role in The Irishman. He ultimately lost to Brad Pitt for Once upon a Time…in Hollywood, which became Pitt’s first Oscar in an acting category.

Pacino is considered one of the best actors of the 20th century, appearing in some of the most iconic movies, often in roles of authority or as a vicious criminal. The 83-year-old shows no signs of slowing down with several new projects in the works. This includes Billy Knight, a summer 2024 drama film about two young aspiring filmmakers who discover old artifacts about a man named Billy Knight, who Pacino plays.

9 Paul Newman

9 Nominations (1 Win)

One of the best, most handsome leading men through the ‘60s and ‘70s, Paul Newman’s acting career continued well into the early 2000s, right up to his death in 2008. Newman was nominated several times for movies like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, and Cool Hand Luke, but it wasn’t until 1987 that he finally won for his role in The Color of Money. In that Martin Scorsese sports drama, which served as a sequel to The Hustler, Newman starred as “Fast Eddie” Felson, a retired pool hustler who finds his way back into the game.

Newman did, in fact, receive additional Academy Awards, including an Honorary Academy in 1986, the same year as his win, along with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994. The latter was thanks to his extensive charitable work, including founding Newman’s Own food company, which donates all post-tax profits and royalties to charity, as well as the SeriousFun Children’s Network and the Safe Water Network. But when it comes to his screen work, Newman’s smoldering good looks combined with his tremendous talent to make him an icon of cinema.

8 Denzel Washington

9 Nominations (2 Wins)

One of the most respected actors of this generation, Denzel Washington made history as the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role since Sidney Poitier won in 1963 for Lillies of the Field. With two wins under his belt today, Washington is also the first Black actor to win multiple competitive Academy Awards and is the first and only Black male to win in both the lead and supporting categories.

Washington’s first nomination came in 1988 for Cry Freedom, but it was his supporting role as Private Silas Trip in Glory, a historical war drama about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War, that earned him a win. His second win came in 2002 for the movie Training Day when Washington starred as a hardened, ruthless LAPD narcotics officer working in the gang-ridden neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles. Washington is known for fully immersing himself in every character, capturing every nuance of emotion and mannerism such that he almost becomes unrecognizable as himself.

7 Spencer Tracy

9 Nominations (2 Wins)

Though he passed away in 1967, Spencer Tracy was an Old Hollywood star who earned back-to-back Academy Awards in the 1930s. His first was in 1937 for Captains Courageous, an adventure movie based on the Rudyard Kipling novel. It’s about a spoiled, troubled young boy who ends up falling overboard a steamship and being rescued by a down-to-Earth Portuguese American fisherman (Tracy) who helps humble him. His second award came in 1938 for the biographical movie Boys Town about a priest working with underprivileged boys, inspired by the story of a condemned prisoner whose last words talked of his childhood hardships.

Tracy went on to receive seven more nominations through the ‘50s and ‘60s, right up to his final one for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, the same day he passed away. Known for his versatility, able to tackle just about any role, Tracy is considered one of the best classic Hollywood cinema stars in history.

6 Robert De Niro

9 Nominations (2 Wins)

With his latest nomination pending for Killers of the Flower Moon, veteran actor Robert De Niro might actually add a third win to his mantle. Known for his roles in some of the most iconic gangster movies of the 20th Century, from Goodfellas to The Godfather, he was first nominated in 1975 for The Godfather Part II and won. It wasn’t until several years later, in 1981 when De Niro was called the winner once again for his role in Raging Bull, a biographical sports drama by Martin Scorsese about the boxing career and life of Jake LaMotta.

De Niro has been steadily acting since, often taking on both serious and comedic roles, always with his signature menacing look and often imitating facial expressions and mannerisms. He has received nominations in almost every decade, most recently for The Irishman (he was nominated with the cast and crew for Best Picture). Working with frequent collaborator Scorsese, De Niro’s latest supporting role in Killers of the Flower Moon, an epic western crime drama about the murders of Osage members on their tribal land, proves that, at 80 years old, De Niro is still in the running to move up this list.

5 Laurence Olivier

10 Nominations (1 Win)

He passed away in 1989 and only ever won one Academy Award, despite being one of only five actors to ever receive 10 or more nominations. Laurence Olivier’s single win was for Hamlet, a British adaptation of the Shakespeare play in which he starred as the title character. The actor also wrote the screenplay, produced, and directed the movie, which earned the distinction of being the first British film to ever win for Best Picture as well.

Olivier received his first Academy Award nomination in 1940 for his role in Wuthering Heights and followed that up with a second in 1941 for Rebecca. The same year he was nominated for Henry V (1947), Olivier was also bestowed an Academy Honorary Award for his acting, producing, and directing in that movie. Along with several other nominations for movies like Othello (1966) and Marathon Man (1977), Olivier was given his second Academy Honorary Award in 1979 that encompasses his entire body of work. Olivier continues to be respected as one of the most revered actors, both on film and stage, of the 20th Century.

4 Bette Davis

10 Nominations (2 Wins)

Acting for more than a half-century up to her death in 1989, Bette Davis was known for playing cynical and humorous characters and acting in a wide range of films, from crime dramas to suspense, horror, romantic movies, and historical films. Through her career, she earned a total of 10 nominations and won twice, both in the 1930s. Her first win was for Dangerous, as a down-on-her-luck former Broadway actress who sweeps an architect of his feet. Three years later, she won again for Jezebel, a romantic drama in which she played a young woman living through the antebellum period, whose headstrong nature costs her love.

Davis went on to earn many more nominations, including four in a row for Dark Victory (1940), The Letter(1941), The Little Foxes (1942), and Now, Voyager (1943). Her last nomination was in 1963 for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1963). Davis’ intense style has often been imitated by others. She was a legend in her own right, a strong female force on screen long before that was considered commonplace.

3 Jack Nicholson

12 Nominations (3 Wins)

One of only three actors ever to win three or more acting awards, and the most nominated male actor overall, Jack Nicholson brings a sense of intensity and dedication to every role he plays. They’re often troubled, sinister, or curmudgeonly characters, and he tackles them with seeming ease. His three wins were for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Endearment, and As Good as It Gets. But Nicholson hasn’t won since the late ‘90s. His most recent nomination was in 2003 for About Schmidt.

Nicholson has consistently received nominations through every decade, with some recognizable titles being Easy Rider in 1970, his first nomination, Chinatown (1975), and A Few Good Men (1993). Considered one of the best actors of this generation, Nicholson showed his range and ability to tackle comedy as well in roles like Mars Attacks! But some of his most memorable roles didn’t even earn nominations, including in The Shining and as Joker in the 1989 movie Batman.

2 Katharine Hepburn

12 Nominations (4 Wins)

Known for her wide acting range, independent personality, and outspoken persona as a actress with a career that spanned decades, Katharine Hepburn holds the record for the most Oscar wins ever for an actor, both female and male. She earned her Oscars over three decades, including for the drama Morning Glory in 1933 about a would-be actress, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, a ground-breaking 1967 movie that features the first interracial marriage, The Lion in Winter in 1968, a historical drama about Henry II of England, and On Golden Pond, a movie from 1981 about a retired professor spending the summer with his wife and the step-grandson of his estranged daughter.

Morning Glory was actually Hepburn’s first-ever nomination, and she was nominated several more times through the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, for movies like The Philadelphia Story (1941), The African Queen (1952), and Long Day’s Journey into Night (1963), which would be her final nomination. Hepburn passed away in 2003 and continued to act through to the mid ‘90s. Her last movie was a Christmas TV movie called One Christmas.

1 Meryl Streep

21 Nominations (3 Wins)

The most decorated actor of this generation when it comes to Oscar nominations, Meryl Streep has an impressive 21. She is now making her mark on the small screen as well, adding Emmy nominations to her list with roles in series like Big Little Lies and Only Murders in the Building. Streep’s first Academy Award nomination came in 1979 for The Deer Hunter, but it wasn’t until the following year that she won for Kramer vs. Kramer, a legal drama about how a couple’s divorce impacts their young son. Her next two wins were a few years later, in 1983 for the psychological drama Sophie’s Choice about a Polish immigrant with a dark secret past, and almost two decades later, in 2012, for her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

Streep’s other nominations come from every decade, including titles like Silkwood in 1984, The Bridges of Madison County in 1996, The Devil Wears Prada (2007), Doubt (2009), Julia & Julia (2010), Florence Foster Jenkins (2017), and The Post (2018). With a career that still sees Streep at the top of her game, chances are she’ll continue to add more nominations to this list. Streep has no movie projects in the works at this time but has confirmed she will be returning for season 4 of Only Murders in the Building.

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