When an actress is nominated for an Academy Award, it marks a milestone in their career, suggesting that they're headed towards bigger and better roles and elite A-list Hollywood status. Over the years, several female actresses have dominated awards season. But while many have been nominated countless times, only three actresses have ever won three or more Academy Awards. And only one actor, male or female, has ever won four.
Who are they? Here is a ranking of the 11 female actresses with the most Oscars. Where there's a tie, they are ranked based on the number of total Oscar nominations they have earned over their career.
Elizabeth Taylor: 2 Wins (5 Nominations)
Nominated a total of five times, she won in 1961 for Butterfield and in 1967 for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Her third award was the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1993. Her first three times being nominated were for Raintree County (1958), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1959), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1960).
Taylor ed away in 2011 at the age of 79. Acting since the '40s, Taylor was also a ionate activist, fighting for causes like HIV/AIDS treatments, as well as a successful entrepreneur with products from fragrances to jewelry. She is considered a legend in the industry.
s McDormand: 2 Wins (5 Nominations)
Her Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the first time the long-time actor has won since 1997's Fargo. But she got three other nominations as well, including for Mississippi Burning (1989), Almost Famous (2001), and North Country (2006).
Considered to be one of the most talented actors around, the 63-year-old has earned what is known as the Triple Crown of acting, which includes an Emmy and a Tony as well.
Olivia de Havilland: 2 Wins (5 Nominations)
A prolific Gone With the Wind in 1940, for Hold Back the Dawn in 1942, and for The Snake Pit in 1949.
De Havilland lived a full life, having ed away in 2020 at the incredible age of 104. Up until that time, she was the latest surviving star from the period known as the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema and the oldest living Academy Award recipient.
Maggie Smith: 2 Wins (6 Nominations)
One of several women on the list with a pair of wins, Smith won for 1979's California Suite and in 1970 for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Her first nomination came in 1966, followed by 1973 for Travels with My Aunt, 1987 for A Room with a View, and 2002 for Gosford Park.
She gained attention of late, of course, for her leading role as Downton Abbey, which earned her three Emmy awards. At the age of 85, she continues to act.
Jessica Lange: 2 Wins (6 Nominations)
Tootsie (1983) and Blue Sky (1995) mark Lange's two big wins, but she was nominated four more times for s, also in 1983, as well as Country (1985), Sweet Dreams (1986), and Music Box (1990).
Still active in the business today, Lange has shifted to the small screen, appearing in the horror anthology series American Horror Story, and the miniseries Feud, and racking up awards in other categories as well, including a total of eight Emmys, 16 Golden Globes, and six Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Jane Fonda: 2 Wins (7 Nominations)
Now gracing the small screen in a leading role in Netflix comedy for decades. And even though she took a small hiatus, it was only after she solidified her spot in Hollywood with two wins, the first for Klute in 1972 and the second for Coming Home in 1979.
She racked up five more nominations early on in her career, for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1970), Julia (1978), The China Syndrome (1980), On Golden Pond (1982), and The Morning After (1987). She continues to be a talented actor and fierce activist, standing up for the causes she believes in.
Cate Blanchett: 2 Wins (7 Nominations)
The youngest woman on the list at just 51, Blanchett is another double Oscar winner, taking home statues for The Aviator in 2005 and Blue Jasmine in 2014. She was most recently nominated in 2016 for Carol and has also been nominated for Elizabeth (1999), Notes on a Scandal (2007), I'm Not There and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, both in 2008.
Given her busy schedule and steady slate of new projects, it's likely Blanchett will make her wins a Hat Trick some-time soon.
Bette Davis: 2 Wins (10 Nominations)
The cinema icon might "only" have two wins – one for Dangerous (1936) and the other for Jezebel (1939) – but she has an impressive 10 nominations total, making her the first actor even to do so.
They are, in order, for Of Human Bondage (1935), Dark Victory (1940), The Letter (1941), The Little Foxes (1942), Now, Voyager (1943), Mr. Skeffington (1945), All About Eve (1951), The Star (1953), and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1963). The woman who has been named in many a song, ed away in 1989 at the age of 81.
Ingrid Bergman: 3 Wins (7 Nominations)
One of only two female actors ever to win three Oscars, and one of only five actors of either gender to win them in triplicate, Bergman's awards spanned three different decades: for Gaslight in 1945, Anastasia in 1957, and Murder on the Orient Express in 1975. Her other four nominations were for For Whom the Bell Tolls (1944), The Bells of St. Mary's (1946), Joan of Arc (1949), and Hostsonaten (1979).
In 1982, Bergman ed away at the age of 67 from breast cancer, but she was named one of the greatest female screen legends in Classic Hollywood Cinema by the American Film Institute.
Meryl Streep: 3 Wins (21 Nominations)
As the current reigning queen of Hollywood, Streep's nominations are too many to list! But they began in 1979 for The Deer Hunter and included multiple ones for every decade since. The most recent nods came for August: Osage County (2014), Into the Woods (2015), Florence Foster Jenkins (2017), and The Post (2018).
Her three wins were for Kramer vs. Kramer (1980), Sophie's Choice (1983), and The Iron Lady (2012). It wouldn't be surprising to see Streep take home another status soon, tying for the most wins. She is already clobbering the competition in of total nominations.
