25 actors with the most Oscar nominations and no wins

Glenn Close (8)

Close is tied for the record for most nominations without a win, having been nominated eight times, the first time being over 40 years ago. She’s still working in her 70s, so there’s still a chance she might win one before getting the obligatory honorary Oscar from the Academy.

2021 – “Hillbilly Elegy” (Supporting) – lost to Youn Yuh-jung for “Minari”

2019 – “The Wife” (Leading) – lost to Olivia Colman for “The Favourite”

2012 – “Albert Nobbs” (Leading) – lost to Meryl Streep for “The Iron Lady”

1989 – “Dangerous Liaisons” (Leading) – lost to Jodie Foster for “The Accused”

1888 – “Fatal Attraction” (Leading) – lost to Cher for “Moonstruck”

1985 – “The Natural” (Supporting) – lost to Peggy Ashcroft for “A Passage to India”

1984 – “The Big Chill” (Supporting) – lost to Linda Hunt for “The Year of Living Dangerously”

1983 – “The World According to Garp” (Supporting) – lost to Jessica Lange for “Tootsie”

Peter O’Toole (8)

The acting veteran died in 2013, and though he received an honorary Oscar from the Academy, he’d get one more nomination before his death for 2006’s “Venus.” Still, he managed to score eight Oscar nominations, all in the Leading Actor category, over the course of 44 years without ever winning one proper.

2007 – “Venus” – lost to Forest Whitaker for “The Last King of Scotland”

1983 – “My Favorite Year” – lost to Ben Kingsley for “Gandhi”

1981 – “The Stunt Man” – lost to Robert De Niro for “Raging Bull”

1973 – “The Ruling Class” – lost to Marlon Brando for “The Godfather”

1970 – “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” – lost to John Wayne for “True Grit”

1969 – “The Lion in Winter” – lost to Cliff Robertson for “Charly”

1965 – “Becket” – lost to Rex Harrison for “My Fair Lady”

1963 – “Lawrence of Arabia” – lost to Gregory Peck for “To Kill a Mocking Bird”

Richard Burton (7)

Like Peter O’Toole, the late Richard Burton was a hugely respected actor in Hollywood and on Broadway, but he also shares a loss with O’Toole, since they were both nominated for “Becket” when Rex Harrison prevailed. Burton received four more nominations, and other than his very first in 1953, they were all in the Leading Actor category.

1978 – “Equus” – lost to Richard Dreyfuss for “Goodbye Girl”

1970 – “Anne of the Thousand Days” – lost to John Wayne for “True Grit”

1967 – “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” – lost to Paul Scofield for “A Man for All Seasons”

1966 – “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold” – lost to Lee Marvin for “Cat Ballou”

1965 – “Becket” – lost to Rex Harrison for “My Fair Lady”

1954 – “The Robe” – lost to William Holden for “Stalag 17”

1953 – “My Couin Rachel” – lost to Anthony Quinn for “Viva Zapata!”

Amy Adams (6)

After Jessica Chastain, Adams might be one of the younger actors who has been hustling in Hollywood ever since she first came to attention in “Junebug,” for which she received her first Oscar nomination. It’s clearly only a matter of time before Adams takes on a role that gets her an Oscar win.

2019 – “Vice” (Supporting) – lost to Regina King for “If Beale Street Could Talk”

2014 – “American Hustle” (Leading) – lost to Cate Blanchett for “Blue Jasmine”

2013 – “The Master” (Supporting) – lost to Anne Hathaway for “Les Misérables”

2011 – “The Fighter” (Supporting) – lost to Melissa Leo for “The Fighter”

2009 – “Doubt” (Supporting) – lost to Penélope Cruz for “Vicky Christina Barcelona”

2006 – “Junebug” (Supporting) – lost to Rachel Weisz for “The Constant Gardener”

Deborah Kerr (6)

Kerr may forever be best-known for playing Anna in the big screen adaptation of “The King and I” in 1956, for which she received her third Oscar nomination. While Kerr would eventually get an honorary Oscar in 1994, she had to suffer six losses first, all in the Leading category and all over the course of a mere 11 years.

1961 – The Sundowners – lost to Elizabeth Taylor for “Butterfield 8”

1959 – Separate Tables – lost to Susan Hayward for “I Want to Live!”

1958 – Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison – lost to Joanne Woodward for “The Three Faces of Eve”

1957 – The King and I – lost to Ingrid Bergman for “Anastasia”

1954 – From Here to Eternity – lost to Audrey Hepburn for “Roman Holiday”

1950 – Edward, My Son – lost to Olivia de Haviland for “The Heiress”

Thelma Ritter (6)

Another Hollywood veteran who got lumped into supporting roles, for which she received six nominations, Ritter is a New York character actor, who also had success on Broadway and television, winning a Tony and an Emmy but never able to transition one of her Oscar nominations to a win before dying in 1969 at age 66.

1963 – “Birdman of Alcatraz” – lost to Patty Duke for “The Miracle Worker”

1960 – “Pillow Talk” – lost to Shelley Winters for “The Diary of Anne Frank”

1954 – “Pickup on South Street” – lost to Donna Reed for “From Here to Eternity”

1953 – “With a Song in My Heart” – lost to Gloria Grahame for “The Bad and the Beautiful”

1952 – “The Mating Season” – lost to Kim Hunter for “A Streetcare Named Desire”

1951 – “All About Eve” – lost to Josephine Hull for “Harvey”

Irene Dunne (5)

Dunne is such a veteran of Hollywood that her very first Oscar nomination was the fourth year the awards were held and before the Academy split actors into Lead and Supporting categories. All of Dunne’s nominations were for leading roles, which also shows how back in Hollywood’s heydays, actors would generally be lumped into specific lead or supporting roles with very little crossover compared to more recent years.

1949 – “I Remember Mama” – lost to Jane Wyman for “Johnny Belinda”

1940 – “Love Affair” – lost to Vivien Leigh for “Gone With the Wind”

1938 – “The Awful Truth” – lost to Luise Rainer for “The Good Earth”

1937 – “Theodora Goes Wild” – lost to Luise Rainer for “The Great Ziegfeld”

1931 – “Cimarron” – lost to Marie Dressler for “Min and Bill”

Albert Finney (5)

The late acting great is just behind Peter O’Toole and Glenn Close in terms of the amount of time between his first Oscar nomination and his last one (37 years), which was Finney’s only Supporting nomination after being nominated for five leading roles.

2001 – “Erin Brockovich” – lost to Benicio del Toro for “Traffic”

1985 – “Under the Volcano” – lost to F. Murray Abraham for “Amadeus”

1984 – “The Dresser” – lost to Robert Duvall for “Tender Mercies”

1975 – “Murder on the Orient Express” – lost to Art Carney for “Harry and Tonto”

1964 – “Tom Jones” – lost to Sidney Poitier for “Lilies of the Field”

Arthur Kennedy (5)

A Tony-winning stage actor who received a Golden Globe for his performance in “Trial,” Kennedy may not be as well-known among the general populace, despite having some memorable supporting performances in classic films like Vincente Minelli’s “Some Came Running.”

1959 – “Some Came Running” – lost to Burl Ives for “The Big Country”

1958 – “Peyton Place” – lost to Red Buttons for “Sayonara”

1956 – “Trial” – lost to Jack Lemmon for “Mister Roberts”

1952 – “Bright Victory” (Leading) – lost to Humphrey Bogart for “The African Queen”

1950 – “Champion” – lost to Dean Jagger for “Twelve O’Clock High”

Michelle Williams (5)

Williams recently received her fifth Oscar nomination, this time back in the Leading category, for Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans.” She continues to pick projects that are able to garner Oscar love, almost like clockwork about every five years, so this certainly won’t be her last nomination.

2022 – “The Fabelmans” (Leading) – Pending

2017 – “Manchester by the Sea” (Supporting) – Lost to Viola Davis for “Fences”

2012 – “My Week with Marilyn” (Leading) – Lost to Meryl Streep for “The Iron Lady”

2011 – “Blue Valentine” (Leading) – Lost to Natalie Portman for “Black Swan”

2006 – “Brokeback Mountain” (Supporting) – Lost to Rachel Weisz for “The Constant Gardener”

Jane Alexander (4)

Alexander is still with us at 83 years old, and she’s still a working actor, having received her first Oscar nomination for her very first film role in “The Great White Hope.” She would be another great candidate for a Governors Award once the Academy gets around to it.

1984 – “Testament” (Leading) – lost to Shirley MacLaine for “Terms of Endearment”

1980 – “Kramer vs. Kramer” (Supporting) – lost to Meryl Streep for “Kramer vs. Kramer”

1977 – “All the President’s Men” (Supporting) – lost to Beatrice Straight for “Network”

1971 – “The Great White Hope” (Leading) – lost to Glenda Jackson for “Women in Love”

Warren Beatty (4)

Beatty not only is an Oscar winner, for directing 1981’s “Reds,” but he has also received the back-handed compliment of receiving an honorary Oscar for his body of work. Being a multi-hyphenate, Beatty has actually received 14 Oscar nominations, including for his writing and producing, but it’s his four acting bids, all in the leading category, that we’re focusing on.

1992 “Bugsy” – lost to Anthony Hopkins for “The Silence of the Lambs”

1982 “Reds” – lost to Henry Fonda for “On Golden Pond”

1979 “Heaven Can Wait” – lost to Jon Voigt for “Coming Home”

1968 “Bonnie and Clyde” – lost to Rod Steiger for “In the Heat of the Night”

Annette Bening (4)

It’s been over a decade since Bening was nominated for an Oscar, but her performance in the Oscar Best Picture winner “American Beauty” and nominee “The Kids Are All Right” are frequent reminders of how much she’s liked in the Academy the next time she stars in something on par with those two movies. Hopefully, it won’t be the same year as Hilary Swank is back in the Oscar race.

2011 – “The Kids Are All Right” (Leading) – lost to Natalie Portman for “Black Swan”

2005 – “Being Julia” (Leading) – lost to Hilary Swank for “Million Dollar Baby”

2000 – “American Beauty” (Leading) – lost to Hilary Swank for “Boys Don’t Cry”

1991 – “The Grifters” (Supporting) – lost to Whoopi Goldberg for “Ghost”

Charles Boyer (4)

As with quite a few actors who have been nominated for multiple Oscars with no wins, Boyer did get an honorary Oscar in 1943 but for his “progressive cultural achievement in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a source of reference,” rather than for his acting. All of Boyer’s nominations were in the leading category.

1962 – “Fanny” – lost to Maximilian Schell for “Judgment at Nurenberg”

1945 – “Gaslight” – lost to Bing Crosby for “Going My Way”

1939 – “Algiers” – lost to Spencer Tracy for “Boys Town”

1938 – “Conquest” – lost to Spencer Tracy for “Captains Courageous”

Montgomery Clift (4)

A beloved Hollywood leading man from his big screen debut, “The Search,” for which he also received his first Oscar nom, Clift had a relatively short career, appearing in only 17 movies total, and then dying four years after his last nomination, which was 60 years ago.

1962 “Judgment at Nuremberg” (Supporting) – lost to George Chakiris for “West Side Story”

1954 “From Here to Eternity” – lost to William Holden for “Stalag 17”

1952 “A Place in the Sun” – lost to Humphrey Bogart for “The African Queen”

1949 “The Search” – lost to Laurence Olivier for “Hamlet”

Bradley Cooper (4)

Cooper has received four nominations as an actor, all in the Leading category, but he has also received five more nominations for his role as a producer and as one of the writers for “A Star is Born” in 2019. Still, that adds up to nine nominations without a win, and he’s likely to be back in the race playing Leonard Bernstein in “Bernstein,” which he also co-wrote, directed, and co-produced. Can his fifth nomination as an actor be the charm?

2019 – “A Star is Born” – lost to Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody”

2015 – “American Sniper” – lost to Eddie Redmayne for “The Theory of Everything”

2014 – “American Hustle” – lost to Matthew McConaughey for “Dallas Buyers Club”

2013 – “Silver Linings Playbook” – lost to Daniel Day-Lewis for “Lincoln”

Willem Dafoe (4)

Although it’s been several years since this veteran actors’ previous nomination, he continues to deliver such great work, it probably won’t be as long for his fifth bid, since he is also clearly so well-liked by his Academy peers. It would be ironic if Dafoe gets his next notice for Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu,” since his second Oscar nom was for playing Max Schreck, the actor who played Nosferatu in the original silent film.

2019 – “At Eternity’s Gate” (Leading) – lost to Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody”

2018 – “The Florida Project” (Supporting) – lost to Sam Rockwell for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

2001 – “Shadow of the Vampire” (Supporting) – lost to Benicio del Toro for “Traffic”

1987 – “Platoon” (Supporting) – lost to Michael Caine for “Hannah and her Sisters”

Ed Harris (4)

At the age of 72, Harris came off the biggest blockbuster of his career with “Top Gun: Maverick,” but it’s been two decades since he received his last Oscar nomination for acting, and one has to assume he’s just years away from being honored with a Governors Award.

2003 – “The Hours” (Supporting) – lost to Chris Cooper for “Adaptation” 

2001 – “Pollock” (Leading) – lost to Russell Crowe for “Gladiator” 

1999 “The Truman Show” (Supporting) – lost to James Coburn for “Affliction” 

1996 – Apollo 13 (Supporting) – lost to Kevin Spacey for “The Usual Suspects” 

Marsha Mason (4)

Sometimes it’s just bad luck for an actor to miss out on an Oscar. For Mason, it was just about who she was going up against in the years she was nominated, including two actresses fairly early in their careers who gave undeniable performances, and then a beloved veteran in the twilight of her career. Mason received all four of her nominations in the Leading category.

1982 “Only When I Laugh” – lost to Katherine Hepburn for “On Golden Pond”

1980 “Chapter Two” – lost to Sally Field for “Norma Rae”

1978 “The Goodbye Girl” – lost to Diane Keaton for “Annie Hall”

1974 “Cinderella Liberty” – lost to Glenda Jackson for “A Touch of Class”

Agnes Moorehead (4)

During the heyday of Hollywood, actors tended to be lumped into one category or another, not only for the roles they were cast but also for how they were nominated. That’s true for Agnes Moorhead, whose very first film was Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane.” She continued to work in film, television, theater and even radio all the way until her death in 1974, but never quite broke away from her role as Endora on “Bewitched,” for which she was nominated for six Emmys (including one as the lead) before finally receiving an Emmy for her role on “The Wild Wild West.”

1965 – “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte” – lost to Lila Kedrova for “Zorba the Greek”

1949 – “Johnny Belinda” – lost to Claire Trevor for “Key Largo”

1945 – “Mrs. Parkington” – lost to Ethel Barrymore for “None but the Lonely Heart”

1943 – “The Magnificent Ambersons” – lost to Teresa Wright for “Mrs. Miniver”

Claude Rains (4)

With a career that spanned an astounding seven decades, Rains received four nominations, all in the supporting category, but also all during a single decade, the ‘40s. Rains never made the jump to television later in his career, instead sticking with film and theater.

1947 – “Notorious” – lost to Harold Rusell for “The Best Years of Our Lives”

1945 – “Mr. Skeffington” – lost to Barry Fitzgerald for “Going My Way”

1944 – “Casablanca” – lost to Charles Coburn for “The More the Merrier”

1940 – “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” – lost to Thomas Mitchell for “Stagecoach”

Saoirse Ronan (4)

It’s quite impressive that, at 28 years old, Ronan has already racked up four Oscar nominations. Being so young, there’s little doubt she will be nominated again and eventually win a trophy. Her first Oscar nomination was in her supporting role to Keira Knightley and James McAvoy in “Atonement,” and all of her nominations after that were in the lead category.

2020 “Little Women” – lost to Renée Zellwegger for “Judy”

2018 “Lady Bird” – lost to Frances McDorman for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

2016 “Brooklyn” – lost to Brie Larson for “Room”

2008 “Atonement” (Supporting) – lost to Tilda Swinton for “Michael Clayton”

Mickey Rooney (4)

Another beloved actor with such a long and lofty career, Rooney eventually received an honorary Oscar in 1983 for his 50 years of “versatility in a variety of memorable film performances.” That was almost 45 years after receiving the since-discontinued “Juvenile Award” in 1939.

1980 – “The Black Stallion” (Supporting) – lost to Melvyn Douglas for “Being There” 

1957 – “The Bold and the Brave” (Supporting) – lost to Anthony Quinn for “Lust for Life”

1944 – “The Human Comedy” (Leading) – lost to Paul Lukas for “Watch on the Rhine” 

1940 – “Babes in Arms” (Leading) – lost to Robert Donat for “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” 

Rosalind Russell (4)

After four Oscar nominations in the Leading Actress category, Russell eventually received an Academy Award in the form of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, but she, too, appeared in many classic films in the ‘40s and ‘50s.

1959 – “Auntie Mame” – lost to Susan Hayward for “I Want to Live!”

1948 – “Mourning Becomes Electra” – lost to Loretta Young for “The Farmer’s Daughter”

1947 – “Sister Kenny” – lost to Olivia de Havilland for “To Each His Own”

1943 – “My Sister Eileen” – lost to Greer Garson for “Mrs. Miniver”

Barbara Stanwyck (4)

A beloved actress in the ‘50s, Stanwyck received an honorary Oscar in 1982, just eight years before her death. That came after being nominated four times in the Leading Actress category between 1938 and 1949.

1949 – “Sorry, Wrong Number” – lost to Jane Wyman for “Johnny Belinda”

1945 – “Double Indemnity” – lost to Ingrid Bergman for “Gaslight”

1942 – “Ball of Fire” – lost to Joan Fontaine for “Suspicion”

1938 – “Stella Dallas” – lost to Luise Rainer for “The Good Earth”