This Sunday 24th February, 2008, sees the 80th running of the Academy Awards. Already the pundits are laying their mortgages on Daniel Day-Lewis to pick up his second Best Actor Oscar for “There Will Be Blood”, after he originally won for “My Left Foot” in 1989. But will it be Julie Christie’s Alzheimer’s sufferer or Marion Cotillard’s turn as Edith Piaf for Best Actress? As for the Supporting roles, can any of the nominees deny Javier Bardem’s chilling performance in “No Country For Old Men”, and will Cate Blanchett win her second Supporting Actress Oscar in four years? What is clear when you look back over the history of the Academy Awards, who gets nominated and who gets to get up on stage to thank their parents, as they clutch a little gold guy, moves in cycles, reflecting the coming and going of movie stars’ relative place on the Hollywood ladder of success. Each actor or actress who has been nominated and / or won an award over Oscar’s 80 years can be deemed a one-hit wonder, a dominant figure during a particular time period, or one of those beloved comeback stories where first and last nominations are decades apart.
So just how many performers have been nominated for the four acting categories? Every year five places are available for each of the Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress categories. Assuming that each spot is taken by a different star, there are twenty actors competing for four Oscars each year. In 2008 there are only nineteen, as Cate Blanchett is up for her title role in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”, in addition to her supporting Bob Dylan characterization in “I’m Not There”. (This is only the 11th time in Oscar history that an actor or actress has received two nominations in the same year.) Some performers accumulate Oscar nominations with startling frequency, others’ more selective careers achieve recognition approximately once a decade. For the 80th Academy Awards, the nineteen nominees consist of:
Six stars who have already won an acting Oscar: Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, Julie Christie, Daniel Day-Lewis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Tommy Lee Jones.
Four stars who have previously been nominated, but did not win: Javier Bardem, Tom Wilkinson, Laura Linney, and Johnny Depp.
And the remaining nine contenders are first-timers: Ruby Dee, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Ryan and Tilda Swinton (all in the Supporting Actress stakes), in addition to Casey Affleck, Hal Holbrook, Ellen Page, Viggo Mortensen, and France’s Marion Cotillard.
What this says about the Academy is that new talent is equal in importance to recognisable stars when it comes to award-winning. But once you have been accepted into the fold, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll be invited back quite a few more times. It’s fairly well-known that some of the legends of Hollywood, such as Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, and Laurence Olivier were frequent Oscar nominees. In fact, they tallied forty nominations and nine Oscars between them. But who else has picked up nominations in the four acting categories, and when were they dominant?
There are many ways to look at Academy Award success in the acting categories. Who received the most nominations? Who won the most Oscars? Who received multiple nominations in the same year? Who won back to back Oscars? Who received the most nominations without ever winning? Who had to wait the longest between nominations? Are multiple unsuccessful nominations more of an achievement than a single winning nomination? Does an actor or actress who has received more supporting nods than leading role nominations have a greater standing in Oscar history? All of these are valid questions, and some answers will come out in what follows, but I am very curious about the stars who were “on top” during a given era? If you take any fifteen year period over the course of Oscar history, which stars hold court as the “Kings” and “Queens” of their time?
When you add together all of the nominations from eighty years, a whopping 837 actors and actresses have been recognised for their performances, and 257 of them have won an Oscar. 295 of those 837 stars have been nominated more than once, which equates to just over 35%. So of the current crop of nine new nominees in 2008, you would assume that in the future, at least three will be nominated again. Of those 295, only 154 have three or more nominations. That’s about half of the multiple nominees who get a chance at the Oscar three or more times. 91 stars have four or more nominations; 51 have five or more; 29 have six or more; 16 have seven or more; 12 have eight or more; 7 have nine or more; and only 5 actors have received 10 or more acting nominations. In order, they are Meryl Streep (14 nominations, 11 for Best Actress, 3 for Best Supporting Actress, with one win in either category), Katharine Hepburn (12 nominations, all for Best Actress, with a staggering four Oscar victories), Jack Nicholson (12 nominations, 8 for Best Actor, 4 for Best Supporting Actor, with two of his Oscars won in leading roles), Bette Davis (10 nominations for Best Actress, only winning twice), and Sir Laurence Oliver (10 nominations, with one win in the Best Actor category from nine nods). Should Streep’s superior tally of nominations, with single wins in the two categories be viewed in film history as more of an achievement than Hepburn’s four Oscars from twelve nominations? Streep will likely pick up more nominations in the coming years to stretch her lead. Only Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet would appear to be actresses who are young enough to make a run at double digit nominations, as they currently have five apiece, and are both in their thirties.
Meryl Streep received her first nomination for her supporting role in “The Deer Hunter” in 1978. The following year she won for “Kramer vs. Kramer”, moved in to the Best Actress category in ’81 and ’82 with “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” and (winning for) “Sophie’s Choice” respectively. Since then nominations for Best Actress have come with great regularity: 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2006 (added to a Supporting nod for “Adaptation” in 2002). This means that her greatest Oscar “droughts” lasted a mere four years (’91-’94) and three years (’03-’05)! Clearly her consistency is the extraordinary factor in accumulating so many nominations for the thirty years between 1978 and 2007 (the 2008 ceremony). Katharine Hepburn, by comparison, had a span of 49 years between her first and last (victorious) Oscar nominations. That is longevity of a far more impressive kind, but when you average 12 nominations over 49 years, and compare with Streep’s 14 in 30 years, it is Meryl Streep who has remained prominent in the eyes of the Academy. Hepburn’s achievement of winning Oscars nearly half a century apart shows that her quality remained consistent while other generations of leading ladies came and went.
So let’s look at the Oscars by the numbers:
Most Total Oscar Wins for all four Acting categories combined
1. Katharine Hepburn (4)
2. = Jack Nicholson (3)
2. = Ingrid Bergman (3)
2. = Walter Brennan (3)
3. = (thirty-two Actors & Actresses: Meryl Streep, Bette Davis, Spencer Tracy, Jack Lemmon, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda, Robert De Niro, Jessica Lange, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Gary Cooper, Tom Hanks, Fredric March, Elizabeth Taylor, Olivia De Havilland, Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Glenda Jackson, Jodie Foster, Anthony Quinn, Shelley Winters, Melvyn Douglas, Jason Robards, Peter Ustinov, Dianne Wiest, Sally Field, Vivien Leigh, Luise Rainer, Hilary Swank,
Helen Hayes, and Kevin Spacey, all have 2 Oscar wins each.)
Most Total Oscar Wins for all four Acting categories combined
(current working performers only)
1. Jack Nicholson (3)
2. = Meryl Streep (2)
2. = Dustin Hoffman (2)
2. = Robert De Niro (2)
2. = Jessica Lange (2)
2. = Michael Caine (2)
2. = Maggie Smith (2)
2. = Tom Hanks (2)
2. = Denzel Washington (2)
2. = Jodie Foster (2)
2. = Dianne Wiest (2)
2. = Sally Field (2)
2. = Hilary Swank (2)
2. = Kevin Spacey (2)
3. = (a further seventy-seven Actors & Actresses have Academy Awards and are currently starring in movies.)
NOTE: Daniel Day-Lewis, George Clooney, Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Julie Christie, or Philip Seymour Hoffman may win their second on 24/2/08.
Most Total Nominations for all four Acting categories
1. Meryl Streep (14)
2. = Katharine Hepburn (12)
2. = Jack Nicholson (12)
4. = Bette Davis (10)
4. = Laurence Olivier (10)
6. = Spencer Tracy (9)
6. = Paul Newman (9)
8. = Peter O’Toole (8) – the least successful, having not won any of these occasions.
8. = Marlon Brando (8)
8. = Jack Lemmon (8)
8. = Al Pacino (8)
8. = Geraldine Page (8)
Most Total Nominations for all four Acting categories combined
(current working performers only)
1. Meryl Streep (14)
2. Jack Nicholson (12)
3. = Peter O’Toole (8)
3. = Al Pacino (8)
5. Dustin Hoffman (7)
6. = Sissy Spacek (6)
6. = Ellen Burstyn (6)
6. = Robert De Niro (6)
6. = Jessica Lange (6)
6. = Michael Caine (6)
6. = Judi Dench (6)
6. = Vanessa Redgrave (6)
6. = Robert Duvall (6)
6. = Maggie Smith (6)
15. = (nine actors & actresses: Tom Hanks, Shirley Maclaine, Susan Sarandon, Albert Finney, Denzel Washington, Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Glenn Close, and Gene Hackman, all have 5 nominations each.)
Most Nominations for Best Actor
1. = Laurence Olivier (9)
1. = Spencer Tracy (9)
3. = Jack Nicholson (8)
3. = Paul Newman (8)
3. = Peter O’Toole (8)
6. = Marlon Brando (7)
6. = Jack Lemmon (7)
6. = Dustin Hoffman (7)
9. = Richard Burton (6)
9. = Paul Muni (6)
Most Nominations for Best Actress
1. Katharine Hepburn (12)
2. Meryl Streep (11)
3. Bette Davis (10)
4. Greer Garson (7)
5. = Jane Fonda (6)
5. = Deborah Kerr (6)
5. = Sissy Spacek (6)
8. = (eleven actresses: Ingrid Bergman, Ellen Burstyn, Jessica Lange, Anne Bancroft, Irene Dunne, Susan Hayward, Audrey Hepburn, Shirley Maclaine, Susan Sarandon, Norma Shearer, and Elizabeth Taylor, all have 5 nominations each).
Most Nominations for Best Supporting Actor
1. = Jack Nicholson (4)
1. = Arthur Kennedy (4)
1. = Claude Rains (4)
4. = (thirteen actors: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Walter Brennan, Jeff Bridges, Ed Harris, Charles Bickford, Charles Coburn, Martin Landau, Jack Palance, Jason Robards, Peter Ustinov, and Gig Young, all have 3 nominations each.)
Most Nominations for Best Supporting Actress
1. Thelma Ritter (6)
2. = Geraldine Page (4)
2. = Maggie Smith (4)
2. = Ethel Barrymore (4)
2. = Lee Grant (4)
2. = Agnes Moorhead (4)
2. = Maureen Stapleton (4)
8. = (twelve actresses: Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Shelley Winters, Gladys Cooper, Celeste Holm, Diane Ladd, Angela Lansbury, Anne Revere, Claire Trevor, and Dianne Wiest, all have 3 nominations each.)
Multiple Oscar nominations in the Same Year (in reverse chronological order)
* Cate Blanchett (Best Actress nominee for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Best Supporting Actress nominee for “I’m Not There” in 2007)
* Jamie Foxx (Best Actor winner for “Ray” and Best Supporting Actor nominee for “Collateral” in 2004)
* Julianne Moore (Best Actress nominee for “Far From Heaven” and Best Supporting Actress nominee for “The Hours” in 2002)
* Holly Hunter (Best Actress winner for “The Piano” and Best Supporting Actress nominee for “The Firm” in 1993)
* Emma Thompson (Best Actress nominee for “The Remains of the Day” and Best Supporting Actress nominee for “In The Name of the Father” in 1993)
* Al Pacino (Best Actor winner for “Scent of a Woman” and Best Supporting Actor nominee for “Glengarry Glen Ross”)
* Sigourney Weaver (Best Actress nominee for “Gorillas in the Mist” and Best Supporting Actress nominee for “Working Girl” in 1988)
* Jessica Lange (Best Actress nominee for “Frances” and Best Supporting Actress winner for “Tootsie” in 1982)
* Fay Bainter (Best Actress nominee for “White Banners” and Best Supporting Actress nominee for “Jezebel” in 1938)
* Barry Fitzgerald (Best Actor nominee and Best Supporting Actor winner for the same film “Going My Way” in 1944)
* Teresa Wright (Best Actress nominee for “The Pride of the Yankees” and Best Supporting Actress nominee for “Mrs. Miniver” in 1942)
Back-to-back Oscar winners (in reverse chronological order)
* Tom Hanks (Best Actor winner for “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump” in 1993 and 1994)
* Jason Robards (Best Supporting Actor winner for “All The President’s Men” and “Julia” in 1976 and 1977)
* Katharine Hepburn (Best Actress winner for “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” and co-winner for “The Lion in Winter” in 1967 and 1968)
* Spencer Tracy (Best Actor winner for “Captains Courageous” and “Boys Town” in 1937 and 1938)
* Luise Rainer (Best Actress winner for “The Great Ziegfield” and “The Good Earth” in 1936 and 1937)
Actors & Actresses who have Won Oscars for each of their multiple nominations
* Hilary Swank (Best Actress winner for “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Million Dollar Baby”in 1999 and 2004)
* Kevin Spacey (Best Supporting Actor winner for “The Usual Suspects” and Best Actor winner for “American Beauty” in 1995 and 1999)
* Sally Field (Best Actress winner for “Norma Rae” and “Places in the Heart” in 1979 and 1984)
* Helen Hayes (Best Actress winner for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” and Best Supporting Actress winner for “Airport” in 1970)
* Vivien Leigh (Best Actress winner for “Gone With the Wind” and “A Streetcar Named Desire” in 1939 and 1951)
* Luise Rainer (Best Actress winner for “The Great Ziegfield” and “The Good Earth” in 1936 and 1937)
(Thirty performers have won either Best Actor or Best Actress from their only Oscar nomination, while an incredible 62 of the Best Supporting Actor or Best Supporting Actress awards have gone to performers with their sole nomination.)
Most Dominant periods (max. 15 years) for Actors or Actresses in all categories
(B.A. = Best Actor / Actress; B.S.A. = Best Supporting Actor / Actress)
9 nominations in 13 years (7 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – two wins) – Meryl Streep 1978 – 1990
7 nominations in 10 years (7 B.A. – two wins) – Bette Davis 1935 – 1944
7 nominations in 15 years (5 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – two wins) – Jack Nicholson 1973 – 1987
6 nominations in 7 years (6 B.A. – one win) – Greer Garson 1939 – 1945
6 nominations in 10 years (4 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – one win) Judi Dench 1997 – 2006
6 nominations in 12 years (6 B.A.) – Deborah Kerr 1949 – 1960
6 nominations in 13 years (5 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – two wins) Jane Fonda 1969 – 1981
6 nominations in 13 years (5 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – two wins) Jessica Lange 1982 – 1994
6 nominations in 13 years (6 B.S.A.) – Thelma Ritter 1950 – 1962
6 nominations in 14 years (6 B.A. – two wins) Katharine Hepburn 1955 – 1968
5 nominations in 7 years (5 B.A. – one win) – Marlon Brando 1951 – 1957
5 nominations in 7 years (4 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Jack Nicholson 1969 - 1975
5 nominations in 7 years (2 B.A. & 3 B.S.A.) – Glenn Close 1982 – 1988
5 nominations in 8 years (4 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Al Pacino 1972 – 1979
5 nominations in 9 years (5 B.A. – one win) – Norma Shearer 1930 – 1938
5 nominations in 10 years (5 B.A. – two wins) – Elizabeth Taylor 1957 – 1966
5 nominations in 10 years (4 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Ellen Burstyn 1971 – 1980
5 nominations in 10 years (2 B.A. & 3 B.S.A. – one win) – Cate Blanchett 1998 – 2007
5 nominations in 10 years (1 B.A. & 4 B.S.A.) – Arthur Kennedy 1949 – 1958
5 nominations in 11 years (4 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – two wins) – Olivia De Havilland 1939 – 1949
5 nominations in 11 years (5 B.A. – one win) – Sissy Spacek 1976 – 1986
5 nominations in 12 years (5 B.A. – one win) – Susan Hayward 1947 – 1958
5 nominations in 12 years (4 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Meryl Streep 1995 – 2006
5 nominations in 12 years (3 B.A. & 2 B.S.A.) – Kate Winslet 1995 – 2006
5 nominations in 13 years (5 B.A. – two wins) – Tom Hanks 1988 – 2000
5 nominations in 13 years (4 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Jennifer Jones 1943 – 1955
5 nominations in 13 years (5 B.A.) – Spencer Tracy 1955 – 1967
5 nominations in 14 years (5 B.A. – two wins) – Ingrid Bergman 1943 – 1956
5 nominations in 14 years (5 B.A.) – Richard Burton 1964 – 1977
5 nominations in 15 years (3 B.A. & 2 B.S.A - two wins) – Denzel Washington 1987 – 2001
5 nominations in 15 years (3 B.A. & 2 B.S.A - two wins) – Jack Nicholson 1983 – 1997
5 nominations in 15 years (5 B.A. – one win) – Susan Sarandon 1981 – 1995
5 nominations in 15 years (5 B.A. – one win) – Audrey Hepburn 1953 – 1967
5 nominations in 15 years (5 B.A.) – Peter O’Toole 1968 – 1982
4 nominations in 4 years (3 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Emma Thompson 1992 – 1995
4 nominations in 5 years (4 B.A. – one win) – Paul Muni 1933 – 1937
4 nominations in 5 years (4 B.A.) – Gregory Peck 1945 – 1949
4 nominations in 6 years (4 B.S.A. – three wins) – Walter Brennan 1936 – 1941
4 nominations in 6 years (4 B.A. – two wins) – Glenda Jackson 1970 – 1975
4 nominations in 6 years (4 B.S.A. – one win) – Ethel Barrymore 1944 – 1949
4 nominations in 6 years (2 B.A. & 2 B.S.A.) – Julianne Moore 1997 – 2002
4 nominations in 7 years (3 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – two wins) – Robert De Niro 1974 – 1980
4 nominations in 7 years (3 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Anthony Hopkins 1991 – 1997
4 nominations in 8 years (3 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Jack Lemmon 1955 – 1962
4 nominations in 8 years (1 B.A. & 3 B.S.A.) – Ed Harris 1995 – 2002
4 nominations in 8 years (4 B.S.A.) – Claude Rains 1939 – 1946
4 nominations in 9 years (4 B.A. - one win) – Sean Penn 1995 – 2003
4 nominations in 9 years (4 B.A. - one win) – Jane Wyman 1946 – 1954
4 nominations in 9 years (4 B.A.) – Marsha Mason 1973 – 1981
4 nominations in 9 years (4 B.A.) – Irene Dunne 1931 – 1939
4 nominations in 10 years (4 B.A. - one win) – Jack Lemmon 1973 – 1982
4 nominations in 10 years (4 B.A. - one win) – Katharine Hepburn 1933 – 1942
4 nominations in 10 years (4 B.A. - one win) – Laurence Olivier 1939 – 1948
4 nominations in 10 years (4 B.A.) – Paul Newman 1958 – 1967
4 nominations in 11 years (3 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Robin Williams 1987 – 1997
4 nominations in 12 years (4 B.A. – two wins) – Gary Cooper 1941 – 1952
4 nominations in 12 years (3 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Vanessa Redgrave 1966 – 1977
4 nominations in 12 years (2 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – one win) – Robert Duvall 1972 – 1983
4 nominations in 12 years (4 B.A. - one win) – James Stewart 1939 – 1950
4 nominations in 12 years (4 B.A.) – Barbara Stanwyck 1937 – 1948
4 nominations in 13 years (2 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – two wins) – Anthony Quinn 1952 – 1964
4 nominations in 13 years (2 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – one win) – George C. Scott 1959 – 1971
4 nominations in 13 years (2 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – one win) – Walter Huston 1936 – 1948
4 nominations in 14 years (2 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – two wins) – Maggie Smith 1965 – 1978
4 nominations in 14 years (4 B.A. – one win) – Paul Newman 1981 – 1994
4 nominations in 14 years (2 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – one win) – Geraldine Page 1972 – 1985
4 nominations in 14 years (2 B.A. & 2 B.S.A.) - Geraldine Page 1953 – 1966
4 nominations in 14 years (3 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Laurence Olivier 1965 – 1978
4 nominations in 14 years (3 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Montgomery Clift 1948 – 1961
4 nominations in 14 years (2 B.A. & 2 B.S.A.) – Jane Alexander 1970 – 1983
4 nominations in 15 years (4 B.A. – two wins) – Dustin Hoffman 1974 – 1988
4 nominations in 15 years (4 B.A. – one win) – Laurence Olivier 1948 – 1960
3 nominations in 2 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – one win) – Teresa Wright 1941 – 1942
3 nominations in 3 years (3 B.A. – two wins) – Spencer Tracy 1936 – 1938
3 nominations in 3 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Russell Crowe 1999 – 2001
3 nominations in 3 years (3 B.A. – one win) – William Hurt 1985 – 1987
3 nominations in 3 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Renee Zellweger 2001 – 2003
3 nominations in 3 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – one win) – Al Pacino 1990 – 1992
3 nominations in 3 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Sigourney Weaver 1986 – 1988
3 nominations in 4 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Joan Fontaine 1940 – 1943
3 nominations in 4 years (3 B.S.A. – one win) – Celeste Holm 1947 – 1950
3 nominations in 5 years (3 B.S.A. – two wins) – Jason Robards 1976 – 1980
3 nominations in 5 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Geoffrey Rush 1996 - 2000
3 nominations in 5 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Jose Ferrer 1948 – 1952
3 nominations in 5 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – one win) – Gene Hackman 1967 – 1971
3 nominations in 5 years (3 B.S.A. – one win) – Anne Revere 1943 – 1947
3 nominations in 5 years (3 B.A.) – Johnny Depp 2003 – 2007
3 nominations in 5 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Michelle Pfeiffer 1988 – 1992
3 nominations in 5 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A.) – Dame Edith Evans 1963 – 1967
3 nominations in 5 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A.) – Clifton Webb 1944 – 1948
3 nominations in 6 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Anne Bancroft 1962 – 1967
3 nominations in 6 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Clark Gable 1934 – 1939
3 nominations in 6 years (3 B.S.A. – one win) – Charles Coburn 1941 – 1946
3 nominations in 6 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – one win) – Anjelica Huston 1985 – 1990
3 nominations in 6 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A.) – Joan Allen 1995 – 2000
3 nominations in 6 years (3 B.A.) – Rosalind Russell 1942 – 1947
3 nominations in 6 years (3 B.S.A.) – Shirley Maclaine 1958 – 1963
3 nominations in 6 years (3 B.S.A.) – Eleanor Parker 1950 – 1955
3 nominations in 6 years (3 B.S.A.) – Charles Bickford 1943 – 1948
3 nominations in 7 years (3 B.A. – two wins) – Jodie Foster 1988 – 1994
3 nominations in 7 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Holly Hunter 1987 – 1993
3 nominations in 7 years (3 B.S.A. – one win) – Lee Grant 1970 – 1976
3 nominations in 7 years (3 B.S.A.) – Agnes Moorhead 1942 – 1948
3 nominations in 8 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Joan Crawford 1945 – 1952
3 nominations in 8 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Laura Linney 2000 – 2007
3 nominations in 8 years (3 B.A.) – Kirk Douglas 1949 – 1956
3 nominations in 8 years (3 B.A.) – Charles Boyer 1937 – 1944
3 nominations in 8 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Morgan Freeman 1987 – 1994
3 nominations in 8 years (3 B.S.A. – two wins) – Dianne Wiest 1986 – 1994
3 nominations in 9 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Natalie Wood 1955 – 1963
3 nominations in 10 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Faye Dunaway 1967 – 1976
3 nominations in 10 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Burt Lancaster 1953 – 1963
3 nominations in 10 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Frances McDormand 1996 – 2005
3 nominations in 10 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Walter Matthau 1966 – 1975
3 nominations in 10 years (3 B.A.) – Greta Garbo 1930 – 1939
3 nominations in 11 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Jack Nicholson 1992 – 2002
3 nominations in 11 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Bing Crosby 1944 – 1954
3 nominations in 11 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Claudette Colbert 1934 – 1944
3 nominations in 11 years (3 B.A.) – Albert Finney 1974 – 1984
3 nominations in 11 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Tom Cruise 1989 – 1999
3 nominations in 12 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Julia Roberts 1988 – 2000
3 nominations in 12 years (3 B.S.A. – one win) – Maureen Stapleton 1970 – 1981
3 nominations in 12 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Humphrey Bogart 1943 – 1954
3 nominations in 12 years (3 B.A.) – Debra Winger 1982 – 1993
3 nominations in 13 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. - one win) – Helen Mirren
3 nominations in 13 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. - one win) – Kathy Bates 1990 – 2002
3 nominations in 13 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A.) – Ben Kingsley 1991 – 2003
3 nominations in 14 years (3 B.A. – one win) – Daniel Day-Lewis 1989 – 2002
3 nominations in 14 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A. – one win) – Rod Steiger 1954 – 1967
3 nominations in 14 years (3 B.S.A. – one win) – Peter Ustinov 1951 – 1964
3 nominations in 14 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Leonardo DiCaprio 1993 – 2006
3 nominations in 14 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A.) – Jeff Bridges 1971 – 1984
3 nominations in 15 years (3 B.A. – three wins) – Katharine Hepburn 1967 – 1981
3 nominations in 15 years (1 B.A. & 2 B.S.A. – two wins) – Shelley Winters 1951 – 1965
3 nominations in 15 years (3 B.A. – two wins) – Fredric March 1932 – 1946
3 nominations in 15 years (2 B.A. & 1 B.S.A.) – Annette Bening 1990 – 2004
It is this last category that is of particular interest because it highlights the star power of a given Actor or Actress to command the biggest salaries, and be offered the choicest roles. As the Oscars recognises critical acclaim rather than box office success, of course it’s easy to show that Meryl Streep’s movies have not earnt anything like the money pulled in by a Schwarzenegger action flick, but having an Oscar on your C.V. surely doesn’t hurt when it comes to being offered the next role.
Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson both rank high on this list with a large amount of nominations earned in a comparatively short career when compared with Katharine Hepburn’s decades-long resume, or other figures such as Henry Fonda who earned a mere two nominations some forty years apart. Numerous current actors and actresses have a chance to move up this list, but in essence, it reflects a continually changing set of statistics. If any of this year’s nominees are chosen again repeatedly in the next decade, they will become defining names in early 21st century cinema. Equally, names that we had consigned to history, such as Julie Christie or Peter O’Toole, can emerge with another award-worthy role to climb back into the Oscar voters’ radar. For the moment, Streep, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet and Judi Dench seem to never be far from the Academy’s minds. Will oft-rewarded performers such as Glenn Close manage an Oscar in the coming years having had five losing nominations in the 1980s? Others yet to win with four or more nominations include O’Toole, Albert Finney, Jeff Bridges, Jane Alexander, Ed Harris, and Julianne Moore. Sometimes an actor’s period of dominance is only rewarded later, as was the case with Gregory Peck. He received four Best Actor nominations over the five year period between 1945 and 1949, but he had to wait another thirteen years until he won his only Oscar for his career defining role in “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
Whoever wins the acting statuettes at the 80th Academy Awards ceremony will be quickly written into history as a multiple-Oscar winner, a first time winner, a one-time losing nominee, or perhaps, a new threat to the nominations tally of some of Hollywood’s greatest stars. Only time will tell!
