Oscars: 11 Most-Nominated Actors and Actresses of All Time

Glenn Close

Glenn Close earned her eighth nomination this year thanks to Ron Howard's Netflix movie, Hillbilly Eulogy. She earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination. Close holds the unfortunate distinction of owning the most acting nominations without a win. Close's nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role are for The World According to Garp, The Big Chill, and The Natural. Her lead actress nominations are for Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs, and The Wife.

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington has eight Oscar nominations to his name as an actor and two wins. He won Best Actor for Training Day (2001) and Best Supporting Actor for Glory (1989). His other nominations are for Cry Freedom (1987), Malcolm X (1992), The Hurricane (1999), Flight (2012), Fences (2016) and Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017). He was also nominated as a co-producer for Fences, which was up for Best Picture last year.

Jack Lemmon

Jack Lemmon was one of the best actors Hollywood ever had. He had a talent for going from drama to comedy, often in the same film. Somehow, he was only nominated for eight Oscars and won just two of them.

His two wins came for Best Supporting Actor for Mister Roberts (1955) and Best Actor for Save the Tiger (1973). His other nominations were for Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), The China Syndrome (1979), Tribute (1980) and Missing (1982).

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando, like Lemmon, earned eight nomination in his career. Brando's wins were for Best Actor in On The Waterfront (1954) and The Godfather (1972). Coincidentally, both films won Best Picture.

Brando's other nominations were for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Viva Zapata! (1952), Julius Caesar (1953), Sayonara (1957), Last Tango In Paris (1972) and Best Supporting Actor for A Dry White Season (1989). Two of his nominations and one of his wins were for Elia Kazan films.

Paul Newman

Paul Newman is another screen legend who should have won more often than he did. He scored eight nominations in his entire career, but his only win was for Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money (1986). That film was a sequel to The Hustler (1961), in which he played "Fast Eddie" Felson. Newman should have won for the earlier film, but lost to Judgement at Nuremberg's Maximillian Schell.

Newman's other nominations for acting came for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Hud (1963), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Absence of Malice (1981), The Verdict (1982), Nobody's Fool (1994) and Best Supporting Actor for Road to Perdition (2002). In 1969, Newman was also nominated for Best Picture as producer of Rachel, Rachel (1968). He also received a lifetime achievement award in 1986 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994.

Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy had nine nominations in his life, and was the first actor to win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars. He won for Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938). Tom Hanks is the only other actor to repeat that feat.

Tracy's other nominations were for San Francisco (1936), Father of the Bride (1950), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), The Old Man and the Sea (1958), Inherit The Wind (1960) and Judgement at Nuremberg (1961). He received a posthumous nomination for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).

Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier earned 10 nominations in his career, but only won for Hamlet (1948). Olivier directed himself in the film, which also became the first British production to win Best Picture.

Olivier's other acting nominations were for Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), Henry V (1944), Richard III (1955), The Entertainer (1960), Othello (1965), Sleuth (1972), The Boys From Brazil (1978) and Best Supporting Actor for Marathon Man (1976).

Olivier also received Best Director nods for Henry V and Hamlet. He won a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1979 and received an honorary award for Henry V.

Bette Davis

Bette Davis was nominated an astonishing 10 times, but only won twice. She won for Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938). She was also nominated for Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), Now, Voyager (1942), Mr. Skeffington (1944), All About Eve (1950), The Star (1952) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).

In 1935, Oscars voters were so shocked that she was not nominated for her breakthrough role in Of Human Bondage (1934) that she received a write-in nomination for it.

Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson is the most-nominated actor, with eight Best Actor nominations and four Best Supporting Actor nods. So while Daniel Day-Lewis and Nicholson have the same number of wins, one of Nicholson's wins is in the supporting category. He won Best Actor for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and As Good As It Gets (1997). His supporting win is for Terms of Endearment (1983).

Nicholson's other Supporting Actor nods are for Easy Rider (1969), Reds (1981) and A Few Good Men (1992). His Best Actor nods are for Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Last Detail (1973), Chinatown (1974), Prizzi's Honor (1985), Ironweed (1987) and About Schmidt (2002).

Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn has 12 nominations and four wins, all in the Best Actress category. She was never nominated for a supporting role. Her wins came for Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981). Hepburn famously never attended any of the ceremonies where she won.

Hepburn's other nominations were for Alice Adams (1935), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Woman of the Year (1942), The African Queen (1951), Summertime (1955), The Rainmaker (1956), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) and Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962).

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep has 17 Best Actress nominations and four Best Supporting Actress nominations. She has only won Best Actress twice — for Sophie's Choice (1982) and The Iron Lady (2011). She won Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).

Streep's other Best Actress nominations are for The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Silkwood (1983), Out of Africa (1985), Ironweed (1987), Evil Angels (1988), Postcards from the Edge (1990), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), One True Thing (1998), Music of the Heart (1999), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Doubt (2008), Julie & Julia (2009), August: Osage County (2013), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) and The Post (2017).

Her nominations for Best Supporting Actress are for The Deer Hunter (1978), Adaptation (2002), and Into The Woods (2014).