The only movies to win three Academy Awards for acting
As of the 96th Academy Awards in 2024, three films have each won three acting Oscars and none have received all four. There are movies that are adorned with more Academy Awards than (most of) the rest of the movies that year combined, like 1959’s Ben-Hur, 1997’s Titanic and 2003’s Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, each winning eleven awards in their respective years.
And it’s Oscar season again, with Ben Stiller and Selena Gomez presenting on March 2nd. You’ll see other names and faces you recognize, too, everyone from the late-night talk show circuit. If you’ve seen The Brutalist and liked it (not that it’s really a film meant to be enjoyed but…endured), you’ll be pleased to see that it’s been nominated for every award relevant to the film.
But the first film to receive three out of four acting awards goes all the way back to 1951’s A Streetcar Named Desire, where Vivien Leigh won ‘Best Actress’, Karl Malden won ‘Best Supporting Actor’, and Kim Hunter won ‘Best Supporting Actress’. Not Brando, though, which is strange. The film is closely dovetailed to his career and legacy–and he was nominated but didn’t win.
The second was 1976’s Network, which had Peter Finch winning ‘Best Actor‘, Faye Dunaway getting ‘Best Actress’, and Beatrice Straight winning ‘Best Supporting Actress’. It’s a dark comedy which satirizes the news business and, should you choose to look up a trailer or one of its iconic scenes (like the “I’m mad as hell” bit) almost every comment is expressing how it’s just as relatable almost 50 years later.
Rounding out the list was 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, where Michelle Yeoh won ‘Best Actress’, Ke Huy Quan won ‘Best Supporting Actor’, and Jamie Lee Curtis won ‘Best Supporting Actress’. This is an odd one, as the Academy is famous for refusing to acknowledge genre flicks; the term “Oscar Bait” exists for a reason, and it usually refers to self-serious dramas. This one, though, is a screwball, a sci-fi, sometimes a comedy or martial arts movie, which could be slotted into several other genres as well.
The exact criteria for acknowledgement from the Academy is sort of vague. There are technical specifications, like that the film in question must have a qualifying theatrical release between January 1st and December 31st of the previous year. It must have at least one showing between 6pm and 10pm. It’s very important for some reason that this release must occur in a commercial theatre in Los Angeles County, California, and the film must run for at least seven consecutive days.
Beginning with the 97th Academy Awards, films submitted for consideration in the most significant categories headlined with ‘best’ (picture, director, actor, actress, etc) were restricted to several criteria to promote diversity, ensuring that films from every walk of life warranted inclusion. This was met with some controversy (which continues to this day) from the far left, claiming that it’s pointless and superficial lip service.
Whether you like the Academy Awards turning into an episode of SNL or not, most moviegoers watch them anyway, and while we’ll probably never see them hit the crest of cinema’s mid-to-late-century golden age (when people actually had cable), the ratings are actually improving.
