Oscars

Not Marlon Brando or Dustin Hoffman: This is the actor with the most Academy Awards in history

The 97th Academy Awards are upon us and we look back at some of cinema’s most successful award-winning male actors.

PAUL BUCK

Oli joined the Latest News team in 2021, taking an interest in economics, world news, and articles that build from his study of history. He also dabbles in sports writing, joining the coverage of the last soccer World Cup as well as European Champions League games. He enjoys playing football, electronic music, and painting miniatures.

Update: Feb 26th, 2025 08:30 EST

Daniel Day-Lewis’ peers may have breathed a sigh of professional relief when he decided to call time on his acting career after wrapping ‘Phantom Thread’. The infamously selective British-Irish actor only made 12 movies after landing his first Best Actor Oscar for ‘My Left Foot’ in 1990, and he earned another five nominations from those, winning twice more, for ‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007) and ‘Lincoln’ (2012). His other three nominations were for ‘In the Name of the Father’ (1994), ‘Gangs of New York’ (2003) and ‘Phantom Thread’ (2018).

Follow all the information on the 2025 Oscars

Day-Lewis remains the only actor in history to have earned three Best Actor Academy Awards.

#Oscars Nominations — Best Actor:

• Adrien Brody, ‘The Brutalist’
• Colman Domingo, ‘Sing Sing’
• Ralph Fiennes, ‘Conclave’
• Timothée Chalamet’s, ‘A Complete Unknown’
• Sebastian Stan, ‘The Apprentice’

See the full nominees list: https://t.co/OKiP9PBUtq pic.twitter.com/diUguFH8du
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 23, 2025

Actors who have picked up two awards in the past:

Marlon Brando: ‘On the Waterfront’ (1954), ‘The Godfather’ (1972)
Gary Cooper: ‘Sergeant York’ (1941), ‘High Noon’ (1952)
Tom Hanks: ‘Philadelphia’ (1993), ‘Forrest Gump’ (1994)
Dustin Hoffman: ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ (1979), ‘Rain Man’ (1988)
Anthony Hopkins: ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991), ‘The Father’ (2020)
Fredric March: ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ (1931), ‘The Best Years of our Lives’ (1946)
Sean Penn: ‘Mystic River’ (2003), ‘Milk’ (2008)
Spencer Tracy: ‘Captain Courageous’ (1937), ‘Boys Town’ (1938)

Guy Pearce makes Oscars prediction for Best Supporting Actor: “I’m not gonna win”

Hollywood

Oscar nominated Sebastian Stan on playing Trump in ‘The Apprentice’

Jack Nicholson has earned 12 nominations in total and has three wins, though not all for Best Actor. He achieved two Oscars for ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ (1975) and ‘As Good as It Gets’ (1997), as well as a Best Supporting Actor gong in 1983 for ‘Terms of Endearment’ (1983).

Walter Brennan also holds a record for his three wins but all in the Best Supporting Actor category, for ‘Come and Get It’ (1936), ‘Kentucky’ (1938), and ‘The Westerner’ (1940): no other actor or actress in Hollywood history has earned three wins in the supporting category.