Who has the most Oscars of all time? Academy Awards records that made history

And the Oscar goes to… a few names more than any others. After nearly a century of Academy Awards shows — the 2024 ceremony on Sunday, March 10, was the 96th — there are several actors, directors and other members of the film industry who have raked in more Oscars than any other winners. 

More than 3,000 Oscars have been handed out since 1929, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. These are people with the most Oscar nominations and awards:

Who has the most Oscar wins ever?

It may come as a surprise, but the person with the most Oscar awards ever is not a movie star — it’s Walt Disney. He received 26 Oscars, of which 22 were competitive awards and four were honorary awards.

One of his special awards, granted in 1933, was for the creation of Mickey Mouse. In 1937, he received an honorary Academy Award for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” — one full-size statuette and seven “dwarf” statuettes.

He was posthumously awarded his final win for “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” in 1969. Disney died in 1966, but had produced the animated short before his death.

Disney is followed by Iain Neil, a renowned camera optical systems developer with 13 Oscar wins; art director and production designer Cedric Gibbons, with 11 wins, and photographic effects creator Farciot Edouart, with 10 wins. 

Which actor has the most Oscar wins ever?

Katherine Hepburn, with four Academy Awards wins, is the actress with the most Oscars. She was nominated 12 times and won for 1933’s “Morning Glory,” 1967’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” 1968’s “The Lion in Winter” and 1981’s “On Golden Pond.”

Walter Brennan, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson, who have three Oscars apiece, are tied as the actors with the most Academy Award wins, while three actresses — Ingrid Bergman, Frances McDormand and Meryl Streep — have also won three Oscars.

Day-Lewis is the only man with three Oscars for best actor. His first win was for 1989’s “My Left Foot.” Day Lewis won again for 2008’s “There Will be Blood” and for 2013’s “Lincoln.”

Nicholson’s three wins include two Oscars for best actor and one for best supporting actor. He won best actor for 1975’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and 1997’s “As Good as it Gets,” and took home a best supporting win for 1983’s “Terms of Endearment.”

Brennan’s three Oscars are all for for best supporting actor, for 1936’s “Come and Get It,” followed by 1938’s “Kentucky” and 1940’s “The Westerner.” 

Bergman won best actress twice and best supporting actress once. She won best actress for 1944’s “Gaslight” and  1956’s “Anastasia.” Bergman won best supporting actress for 1974’s “Murder on the Orient Express.”

McDormand won best actress three times, for 1996’s “Fargo,” 2017’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” and 2020’s “Nomadland.” She was a producer on that film, which also won best picture. 

Streep’s first win came for supporting actress role in 1979’s “Kramer vs. Kramer.” She won her first best actress award for 1982’s Sophie’s Choice. Streep’s second best actress win was for 2012’s “The Iron Lady.” 

Robert De Niro, who was nominated this year for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and Jodie Foster, who was nominated this year for “Nyad,” did not win in their respective categories and failed to join the small group of actors with at least three Oscar wins. Both De Niro and Foster already each have two Oscars. De Niro lost out for the 2024 best supporting actor Oscar to Robert Downey Jr., while the best supporting actress Oscar went to Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

Who has the most Oscar nominations of all time?

Walt Disney, who’s won the most Oscars ever, also has the most nominations, according to the Academy Awards. He was nominated 59 times. 

Composer John Williams takes second place with 48 nominations for best original score and five for original song. Wiliams has the most nominations of any living person.

Which actor has the most Oscar nominations?

Among performers, Streep has the most nominations. She’s been nominated 21 times as of 2023’s 95th Academy Awards — 17 times for leading roles and four times as a supporting actress. 

Hepburn and Nicholson, with 12 nominations apiece, are tied for second. All of Hepburn’s nominations were for leading roles, while eight of Nicholson’s nominations were for leading roles and four for supporting roles.