best actors by oscar wins

Top 10 Best Actors by Number of Academy Awards Won (2022 Update)

No awards show in the world boasts as much prestige and recognition as the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. If you want to be known as one of the best actors in the world, you generally need to have won an Oscar at least once in your career. The best actors in the world in fact usually have been nominated numerous times for the golden trophy, but only a selected few managed to actually win the Oscar. And an even more select few have managed to win the most prestigious movie award in the world more than once.

The following list ranks the Top 10 best actors by the number of Academy Awards won. All these ten actors and actresses have won the Oscar at least twice since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first awarded the Oscar in 1929.

This ranking lists the best actors by number of Academy Awards / Oscars won, therefore only movie actors are listed. For the equivalent ranking for television actors, check out the ranking of the Top 10 best actors by number of Primetime Emmy Awards won.

Top 10 Best Actors of All Time by Number of Academy Awards Won

best actors by oscar wins

1. Katharine Hepburn


2. Meryl Streep


3. Jack Nicholson


4. Ingrid Bergman


5. Daniel Day-Lewis



6. Frances McDormand


7. Walter Brennan


8. Bette Davis


9. Spencer Tracy


10. Marlon Brando


Top 10 Best Actors by Number of Academy Awards Won

(as of after the 2022 Academy Awards)

Top 10 Best Actors by Number of Academy Awards Won
1. KATHARINE HEPBURN
4 Oscar wins, 12 nominations
2. MERYL STREEP
3 Oscar wins, 21 nominations
3. JACK NICHOLSON
3 Oscar wins, 12 nominations
4. INGRID BERGMAN
3 Oscar wins, 7 nominations
5. DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
3 Oscar wins, 6 nominations
6. FRANCES MCDORMAND
3 Oscar wins, 5 nominations
7. WALTER BRENNAN
3 Oscar wins, 4 nominations
8. BETTE DAVIS
2 Oscar wins, 10 nominations
9. SPENCER TRACY
2 Oscar wins, 9 nominations
10. MARLON BRANDO
2 Oscar wins, 8 nominations

Ranking of the Top 10 best actors in the world by the number of Academy Awards (“Oscars”) won in their respective careers. In the case of an equal number of Oscars won, the number of nominations serves as the tiebreaker. In case of an equal number of wins and nominations, the number of wins for best actor/actress compared to awards won for best-supporting actor/actress decides.


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