A lifetime of glory: who has the most Oscar nominations?
There are plenty of actors, filmmakers, crew members, and assorted industry professionals who go their entire careers without receiving even a single Oscar nomination, while others have become such fixtures of the Academy Awards that they’ve made it their habit of a lifetime.
Being recognised by the most famous event on the Hollywood calendar isn’t a barometer of success when so many legends, icons, and A-listers regularly get snubbed. However, in some cases, it becomes inevitable that an Oscar nod will come based on nothing but reputation and history.
In terms of on-camera performers, Meryl Streep is far and away the most decorated actor in the ceremony’s history. She has been in the running 21 times between her first nomination for The Deer Hunter and her most recent in The Post, which has landed her two trophies for ‘Best Actress’ and one for ‘Best Supporting Actress’.
She’s nowhere close to being the most-nominated woman in Oscars history, though, a record that looks as if it’ll stand until the end of time. After all, legendary costume designer Edith Head isn’t only the most heavily-rewarded female creative of all time with eight statues to her name, but her 35 nominations in total put her miles ahead of the competition.
The living person with the most Oscar wins is veteran visual effects artist and technological pioneer Dennis Muren, with the Industrial Light & Magic stalwart scooping eight competitive prizes and one Lifetime Achievement Award from 13 nominations all told. He isn’t the most-shortlisted living nominee, however, with his accolades a drop in the ocean compared to the iconic John Williams.
The composer responsible for some of cinema’s greatest-ever themes has six Oscars to his name from a massive 54 nominations. Even into his 90s, he hasn’t lost a step, as recent nods for Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny have shown.
It’s both entirely expected and undeniably fitting that the person to have received the most Oscar nominations since the event’s inception is also the person to have won more than anybody else. There also doesn’t seem to be much chance of Walt Disney being displaced from the top of that particular pile, who carved a special place for himself as the man with the most Oscar nominations in history.
That being said, Williams is only five behind the pop culture figurehead’s record-setting total of 59 nominations, so the gap isn’t as massive as it used to be. On the other hand, imagining anybody coming within touching distance of Disney’s 26 wins is difficult to fathom.
Then again, it can’t be definitively ruled out when the Oscars will carry on in perpetuity until the end of time, but considering that benchmark was set well over half a century ago, don’t bet on it.
