The Academy Awards have honoured the best of the best in filmmaking since 1929, and over the years many illustrious names have joined the coveted club of Oscar winners.
While there are surprises and upsets just about every year, a handful of cinema's brightest talents have been lucky enough to win not just once, or twice, but multiple times.
Keep reading to find out who has won the most Oscars in history, and the other high-achieving individuals who've taken home the gold more than once in directing, acting, cinematography and more.
Who has the most Oscars in history?
Walt Disney is synonymous with so many iconic movie moments, it's not surprising the animation legend has been showered with lots of Oscar love. The real surprise is just how many Oscars he's won: an impressive 26 awards (including four honorary Oscars) out of 59 total nominations.
That makes him the most awarded Oscar winner in the history of the Academy. Disney won the bulk of his statuettes between 1932 and 1969 in the category of Best Animated Short, receiving his first Oscar for Flowers and Trees during the 5th Academy Awards. At the same ceremony, he also received an honorary Academy Award for creating the beloved character of Mickey Mouse.
In 1965, Disney was nominated (for the first and only time) for Best Picture with Mary Poppins. His last Oscar was awarded posthumously in 1969 for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
Who has the most Oscars for directing?
Famed film director John Ford has won four Oscars (from a total five nominations) for The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941) and The Quiet Man (1952). He directed more than 140 films over the course of his career but was best known for his Westerns, widely held to be some of the greatest examples of the genre.
Who has the most Oscars for acting?
Stage and screen icon Katharine Hepburn has won the Best Actress Oscar four times in the span of her legendary career, which saw her - like many other stars of the time - battling through the peaks and lows of being part of the Hollywood machine. She was nominated a total of 12 times for her work (a record, second only to Meryl Streep) and took home the gold for Morning Glory (1934), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1968), The Lion in Winter (1969, tied with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl) and On Golden Pond (1982).
Surprisingly, the actress only ever went to one Academy Awards ceremony - and that was in 1974, when she presented an honorary Oscar to her friend, producer Lawrence Weingarten.
Which movie has won the most Oscars?
This record is actually shared by three films - and perhaps fittingly, they're some of the most epic blockbusters ever made. Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) each won 11 Oscars during their respective Academy Awards ceremonies, a tribute to the sheer amount of hard work involved in each of those productions.
The Return of the King won all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, but Titanic shares the record for most nominated film of all time with All About Eve (1950) and La La Land (2016) with 14 nominations each.
Who has the most Oscar nominations for acting?
Meryl Streep is one of the most critically lauded actresses working today, and she has the Oscars track record to prove it. With an astonishing 21 nominations over the span of her career, it's hard to see anyone else even coming close.
She earned her first nomination in 1979 for Best Supporting Actress in The Deer Hunter, and was last nominated in 2018 for Best Actress in The Post, breaking her own record in the process. She has won three Oscars to date for Kramer vs. Kramer (1980), Sophie's Choice (1983) and The Iron Lady (2012).
Other notable Oscar winners and Oscar records
Costume designer Edith Head won eight Oscars over the course of a glittering career that saw her dress many of golden age Hollywood's biggest stars, including Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Bette Davis.
Visual effects guru Dennis Muren currently holds the record for most Oscars won by a person still living. He has nine Oscars to his name honouring his work on films such E.T., Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom andJurassic Park.
Other notable winners include:
- Cedric Gibbons, an Art Director who famously helped design the Oscar statuette, has won 11 times
- Film composer Alfred Newman (the man behind the famed fanfare that introduces 20th Century Fox studio movies) has won nine Oscars
- Disney's go-to film composer Alan Menken (known for his work on Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid)has won eight Oscars
- Rick Baker has won seven Oscars for his work in makeup
- Film composer John Williams (known for his work on Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Jaws and E.T.) has won five times
- Cinematographers Leon Shamroy and Joseph Ruttenberg have each won four times
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