While many actors still hope to win their first Oscar soon, a few have been lucky enough to win several. As of 2026, 47 performers have received two or more Oscars in acting categories. Six have won exactly three acting Oscars, and one impressive star holds the record with four Best Actress Oscars. Since certain rules exist to prevent “over-achieving,” these achievements are amazing.
For example, actors can’t receive multiple nominations for the same performance. The rule was implemented after Barry Fitzgerald received Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nominations for his performance in Going My Way in 1944. However, there are no restrictions on a performer winning in both main and supporting acting categories in the same year for two roles in two movies. Still, no one has achieved such a feat. So, at the moment, here’s everyone with three or more Oscars
Sean Penn
The image of a grotesque-looking Sean Penn walking along the highway in One Battle After Another will never leave the mind of anyone who watched the movie. The veteran has become the most recent person to reach the three-or-more Oscar milestone after winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a lustful and racist military officer. He previously won Best Actor for his portrayal of a gay rights activist in Milk and a grieving ex-con in Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River.
While Penn has often been labeled controversial, his talent has never been in doubt. He might skip an award show on purpose (including the latest one), but he can always be counted on to shine on the screen. Interestingly, One Battle After Another marked the first time Penn had ever been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. All his previous five nominations were for leading roles.
Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand has won several Oscars for Best Actress. Her most recent award came for playing a widow in Nomadland. About three years earlier, she received another trophy for playing a grieving mother seeking justice for her daughter’s death in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. She won her first Oscar for playing a pregnant police officer in Fargo.
McDormand has always been a walking symbol of excellence. She is one of the few performers to achieve the “Triple Crown of Acting,” thanks to her additional two Emmys and a Tony. She’s also married to one of the greatest Hollywood director-producers. But that’s hardly the impressive part. McDormand has been nominated for a total of 350 awards in her career, winning 170. Greatest actress of all time?
Daniel Day-Lewis
Like McDormand, Day-Lewis has only won Oscars for leading roles. He won his last Oscar in the early 2010s for playing President Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s critically acclaimed film Lincoln. He also won his first trophy for a biopic. In My Left Foot, he played the legendary Christy Brown, an Irish writer and painter born with cerebral palsy. However, he won his most famous Oscar for portraying a ruthless oil prospector in There Will Be Blood.
Some have pointed out Day-Lewis’s penchant for method acting and tendency to come in and out of retirement. However, true cinephiles have nothing bad to say about a star who never has a bad day on set. He rarely plays supporting characters, either. All of his six Oscar nominations have been for Best Actor. It’s a shame he never got a trophy for Gangs of New York. Day-Lewis carried the entire picture by himself.
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep first had the chance to make an acceptance speech after giving an incredible performance (in a supporting capacity) as one half of a splitting couple in arguably the greatest divorce movie of all time, Kramer Vs. Kramer. Three years later, she received her first award for a leading role for portraying a Polish Holocaust survivor in Sophie’s Choice. It would take more than 30 years for her to receive her next Oscar. She finally won another one for bringing the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher back to life in The Iron Lady.
To some, Streep is the greatest actress of all time. That is debatable yet justifiable. Her Oscar wins aren’t nearly as impressive as her nominations. Streep holds the record for the most Oscar nominations of any performer, having been nominated a whopping 21 times — 17 times for Best Actress, and four times for Best Supporting Actress. That’s a lot of anxiety… always wondering whether you’re going to win or not. Like McDormand, her total award record (across different organizations) is also jaw-dropping. She has been nominated 408 times and has won 205 times.
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson’s first win is also his best-known one. He was excellent in One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest as a rebellious inmate in an asylum. He was later recognized for playing an alcoholic astronaut (in a supporting capacity) in Terms of Endearment. He won his last Oscar for portraying an obsessive-compulsive novelist in As Good as It Gets.
Nicholson has been out of the game for a while now, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be back anytime soon. But fans will always cherish him. While his entire career is full of hits, his ‘70s run gives a better picture of his greatness as an actor. Nicholson was nominated for Best Actor four times between 1971 and 1976. In total, he has 12 nominations, making his three wins seem unfair. He definitely should have won a lot more.
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman won Best Actress for Gaslight for portraying a young woman who is manipulated by her husband. Another Best Actress win came about a dozen years later for her work as the alleged daughter of a Russian Tsar in Anastacia. It took almost 20 years for her to be recognized next, this time for playing a missionary in Murder on the Orient Express.
A highly decorated actress, Bergman received numerous accolades in her career. So, it remains a mystery why the Academy never recognized her for Casablanca and Notorious. These are her most famous works. But the Swedish star’s 12 Oscar nominations must have been enough to soothe any pain she must have had over missing the list for her performances in those two movies. Bergman is also the youngest performer to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting.
Walter Brennan
All of Walter Brennan’s three Oscar wins were for Best Supporting Actor. He won his first for playing a lumberjack in Come and Get It. Two years later, he won again for playing an aging horse trainer in Kentucky. His great run continued as he received yet another award for his work as a frontier lawman in The Westerner.
Brennan’s win for The Westerner made him the first performer ever to win three acting Oscars. While serving as a private with the 101st Field Artillery Regiment, he suffered an injury to his vocal cords from extreme exposure to mustard gas, leaving him with his trademark high-pitched voice. The voice became a crucial element of his performance and made him wildly popular.
Katharine Hepburn
Here comes the queen. Hepburn’s record of four acting Oscars remains unbeaten. She won her first for her great showing as a Broadway actress in Morning Glory. Her second came when she played a liberal mother in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Just a year later, Hepburn was recognized again, this time for playing the queen of Britain in The Lion in Winter. She would receive her last for her role as a patient wife in On Golden Pond.
Hepburn is a demonstration of what longevity looks like. At 48 years, she holds the record for the longest time span between first and last Oscar nominations. The American Film Institute named her the greatest female star of Classic Hollywood cinema. Even though there might be a few protests about that, her 12 Oscar nominations prove that she was indeed the finest talent of her time.
Have you seen any of the movies that these talented actors starred in? Which one was your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
