Record holders: actors, directors, and other filmmakers with the most Oscars (13 photos)
In this list, we've compiled the absolute record-holders in key Oscar nominations, from acting to technical achievement. In other words, here are the people who hold the record for the most statues in a given category. We've intentionally avoided any ties, such as in the Supporting Actress category, where several actresses have won two awards each. We've chosen to highlight only the sole leaders, whose achievements remain elusive. We'll start with three statues and work our way up. Guess who's the biggest record-holder?
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis — 3 Oscars 
Movies:
- "My Left Foot" (1989)
- "There Will Be Blood" (2007)
- "Lincoln" (2012)
Jack Nicholson also has three Oscars, but one of them is for his supporting role, making Day-Lewis the sole champion in this category.
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen — 3 Oscars 
Films:
- "Annie Hall" (1977)
- "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986)
- "Midnight in Paris" (2011)
A surprise Oscar winner. It would seem that Woody Allen should have won awards for directing. He does have an Oscar for directing, but only one—for "Annie Hall."
Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan — 3 Oscars 
Movies:
- "Come and Possess" (1936)
- "Kentucky" (1938)
- "The Westerner" (1940)
This selection will feature several entries where the personality of the actor is little known to the general audience, if only because all of his achievements occurred in the first half of the 20th century.
Best Documentary Feature: Arthur Cohn — 3 statuettes 
Films:
- "Sky Above, Dirt Beneath" (1961)
- "The American Dream" (1990)
- "One Day in September" (1999)
Best Original Song: Alan Menken — 4 Figurines 
Movies:
- "The Little Mermaid" (1989)
- "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)
- "Aladdin" (1992)
- "Pocahontas" (1995)
He specialized in songs for Disney cartoons. And was very successful at it.
Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn — 4 Oscars 
Films:
- "Early Glory" (1933)
- "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" (1967)
- "The Lion in Winter" (1968)
- "On Golden Pond" (1981)
Katharine Hepburn still holds the record for most Oscars won by an actor and actress. No one else has ever won more than three acting Oscars in a single career.
Best Director: John Ford — 4 Oscars 
Films:
- "The Informer" (1935)
- "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940)
- "How Green Was My Valley" (1941)
- "The Quiet Man" (1952)
It's hard to imagine now that Westerns could bring a record number of Oscars for best director.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Rick Baker — 7 statuettes 
Movies:
- "An American Werewolf in London" (1981)
- "Harry and the Hendersons" (1987)
- "Ed Wood" (1994)
- "The Nutty Professor" (1996)
- "Men in Black" (1997)
- "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000)
- "The Wolfman" (2010)
Just think about it: films that were, to put it mildly, not particularly award-winning, like "Harry and the Hendersons," "The Nutty Professor," "Men in Black," and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," became Oscar-winning films solely thanks to this man.
Best Costume Design: Edith Head — 8 statuettes 
Films:
- "The Heiress" (1949)
- "Samson and Delilah" (1949)
- "All About Eve" (1950)
- "A Place in the Sun" (1951)
- "Roman Holiday" (1953)
- "Sabrina" (1954)
- "The Truth of Life" (1960)
- "The Sting" (1973)
Versace and Gucci are like that—now that's a certified queen of fashion.
Best Visual Effects: Dennis Muren — 8 statuettes 
Movies:
- "Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)
- "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982)
- "Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" (1983)
- "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984)
- "Innerspace" (1987)
- "The Abyss" (1989)
- "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991)
- "Jurassic Park" (1993)
Incidentally, this category has a specific feature: it is always awarded to a team of people who worked on special effects. Therefore, Dennis Muren has never won an Oscar alone—all his victories were shared with his colleagues. However, he is the most frequent participant in the award's history in this most successful visual effects group project.
Best Film Score: Alfred Newman — 9 Oscars 
Films:
- "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1938)
- "Tin Pan Alley" (1940)
- "The Song of Bernadette" (1943)
- "Mama Wore Tights" (1947)
- "With a Song in My Heart" (1952)
- "Call Me Madam" (1953)
- "Love is the most magnificent thing in the world" (1955)
- "The King and I" (1956)
- "Camelot" (1967)
By the way, do you know how many Oscars Hans Zimmer has won? Only two.
Best Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons — 11 statuettes 
Films:
- "The Bridge of Saint Louis" (1929)
- "The Merry Widow" (1934)
- "Pride and Prejudice" (1940)
- "Flowers in the Dust" (1941)
- "Gaslight" (1944)
- "The Little Fawn" (1946)
- Little Women (1949)
- An American in Paris (1951)
- The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
- Julius Caesar (1953)
- Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
This category recognizes the creation of a film's visual environment and artistic design, including set design, color palette, and overall stylistic design. The jury evaluates how effectively the world-building complements the script and helps convey the film's atmosphere, whether it's historical, contemporary, or fantastical.
Cedric Gibbons not only handled these tasks exemplarily in the films mentioned, but also designed the Oscar statuette itself, creating the image of a knight with a sword on a reel of film. So he's probably repulsed by this statuette—he's seen too many of them in his life.
Best Animated Short Film: Walt Disney — 12 statuettes 
Walt Disney isn't worried about whether he'll win, but about how he'll carry it home!
Films:
- "Flowers and Trees" (1932)
- "The Three Little Pigs" (1933)
- "The Tortoise and the Hare" (1935)
- "Three Orphan Kittens" (1935)
- "The Country Cousin" (1936)
- "The Old Mill" (1937)
- "Ferdinand the Bull" (1938)
- "The Ugly Duckling" (1939)
- "The Helping Paw" (1941)
- Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)
- "Buzz, Whistle, Jingle, and Buzz" (1953)
- "Winnie-the-Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968)
Well, it's clear that any Oscar record ranking ends with Walt Disney. Just consider his productivity in the 1930s. A machine!
