Summary

  • Katharine Hepburn holds the record for the most Oscar wins in acting categories, with four wins for Best Actress.
  • Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, and s McDormand are the only living actors with three Oscar wins in the acting categories.
  • s McDormand has the best chance of tying Katharine Hepburn's record, as the other three actors are either retired or haven't received recent Oscar nominations.

Only four actors alive today come close to matching an Oscars record that Katharine Hepburn set 42 years ago and has held ever since. Hepburn was one of the great classic movie actors from Hollywood's Golden Age and starred in some of the best films of all time from that era. She was a prominent leading lady for decades, starring alongside fellow Hollywood legends like Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, and so many more.

Hepburn had a very successful acting career that spanned 60 years and is often regarded as one of the greatest movie stars of all time. She has also received a ton of recognition from the Academy for her work in movies. Hepburn was nominated for a total of 12 Oscars over five decades, all of them for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She also won a third of the time, and as a result, to this day, Hepburn holds an Oscars record that she first set 42 years ago.

Katharine Hepburn Is The Only Person With Four Acting Oscar Wins

Hepburn has held this record since 1982.

Of all actors, living or deceased, Katharine Hepburn holds the record for the most Oscar wins across all four acting categories. She was the first and is still the only actor to win four acting Oscars in total, all of which she won for Best Actress. Her first Oscar win was for Morning Glory in 1934 at the 6th Academy Awards — that was also her very first nomination. She was nominated eight more times before finally winning her second Oscar 34 years later in 1968 for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

Hepburn didn't have to wait long for her next Oscar win, which came the following year at the 41st Academy Awards. She won Best Actress for The Lion in Winter, though the honor was shared with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl. Hepburn's fourth and final Oscar win was for On Golden Pond in 1982, which also served as the final nomination of her career. This win made Hepburn the most Oscar-awarded actor of all time. She transitioned to doing mostly TV work before retiring from acting in 1994 at 87 years old. Nine years later, Hepburn ed away on June 29, 2003, at age 96.

The 4 Actors Who Could Match Hepburn's Oscar Wins Record In The Near Future

They are the only living actors to win three acting Oscars.

Katharine Hepburn still holds the record for the most Oscar wins in acting categories nearly 42 years later, but several actors have come close, by winning three Academy Awards. Of these actors, only four are still alive today: Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, and s McDormand. Given that they are the only living actors with as many as three acting wins at the Oscars, they have the best chances of matching or beating Hepburn's Oscars record anytime soon.

Day-Lewis won Best Actor for My Left Foot in 1990, There Will Be Blood in 2009, and Lincoln in 2013. With six total Oscar nominations, all for Best Actor, he has a 50 percent Oscar success rate. Nicholson won Best Actor for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1976 and As Good as It Gets in 1998, and Best ing Actor for of Endearment in 1984. Nicholson currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations of all time for any male actor. He has 12 total nominations, eight for Best Actor, including his two wins, and four for Best ing Actor, including his one win.

Streep won Best ing Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer in 1980 and Best Actress for Sophie's Choice in 1983 and The Iron Lady in 2012. Streep currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations of all time for any actor, male or female. She has received 21 total nominations, 17 for Best Actress, including her two wins, and four for Best ing Actress, including her one win.

McDormand technically has four Oscars total, but only three are for acting. She won Best Actress for Fargo in 1997, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in 2018, and Nomadland in 2021. In total, McDormand has received eight Oscar nominations: six in the acting categories split evenly between lead and ing, and two for Best Picture as a producer; she won the latter when Nomadland was named Best Picture in 2021.

s McDormand Is The Most Likely Candidate To Tie Katharine Hepburn's Oscars Record

McDormand's chances are better than any of the other living actors with three Oscar wins.

s McDormand as Fern smiles in Nomadland.

Of all four living actors with three Oscar wins, McDormand has the best chance of winning a fourth acting Oscar and tying with Katharine Hepburn. After starring in 2017's Phantom Thread, for which he received his final Best Actor nomination, Jack Nicholson retired from acting, after his final film role in 2010's How Do You Know. As long as Day-Lewis and Nicholson stay in retirement, they will not match Hepburn's Oscar record.

Meryl Streep is still acting today, but her chances of matching Hepburn's record are slimmer than McDormand's. Despite having more total acting nominations than McDormand, or any actor, Streep hasn't been nominated in six years. Her last Oscar nomination was for Best Actress for The Post in 2018, which she lost to McDormand. Since then, Streep has starred in seven movies, for which she's received zero Oscar nominations. However, McDormand's last acting nomination and win was in 2021 for Nomadland. It seems more likely that McDormand will win her next Oscar before Streep does, which would tie her with Katharine Hepburn for the most acting wins at the Oscars.