For more than 90 years, actors and actresses have coveted a chance at winning an Academy Award, the most prestigious trophy one can obtain in the film industry. The first-ever Best Actress winner, Janet Gaynor, was actually nominated for her work in three separate films (“7th Heaven,” “Street Angel” and “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans”); an adjustment was later made and nominations were narrowed down to a single role. Gaynor never claimed a bookend trophy in the category, but 14 others have. Scroll through our photo gallery below to see all of the multiple Best Actress Oscar winners who won twice (or more) for their outstanding performances in leading roles.
Unless you are Meryl Streep with an astounding Best Actress total of 17 nominations (plus four more in the supporting race), even a hint at an Oscar win is a great honor. Then there are the few outrageously talented leading ladies who have not only been nominated more than once but were also able to take home at least two of the golden statuettes.
One star that stands alone in the Best Actress category is Katharine Hepburn, who claimed a total of four Academy Awards from 1933 to 1981. She is also part of the only tie for Best Actress in the history of the Oscars. In 1968 longtime veteran Hepburn and newcomer Barbra Streisand tied each other with the same number of votes in the category.
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Ingrid Bergman: 2 Wins*
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Gaslight” (1944)
Other Nominees
Claudette Colbert, “Since You Went Away”
Bette Davis, “Mr. Skeffington”
Greer Garson, “Mrs. Parkington”
Barbara Stanwyck, “Double Indemnity”“Anastasia” (1956)
Other Nominees
Carroll Baker, “Baby Doll”
Katharine Hepburn, “The Rainmaker”
Nancy Kelly, “The Bad Seed”
Deborah Kerr, “The King and I”*Bergman also has a third Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974).
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Bette Davis: 2 Wins
Image Credit: The Print Collector/Heritage Images/Newscom/TheMegaAgency “Dangerous” (1935)
Other Nominees
Elisabeth Bergner, “Escape Me Never”
Claudette Colbert, “Private Worlds”
Katharine Hepburn, “Alice Adams”
Miriam Hopkins, “Becky Sharp”
Merle Oberon, “The Dark Angel”“Jezebel” (1938)
Other Nominees
Fay Bainter, “White Banners”
Wendy Hiller, “Pygmalion”
Norma Shearer, “Marie Antoinette”
Margaret Sullavan, “Three Comrades” -
Olivia de Havilland: 2 Wins
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “To Each His Own” (1946)
Other Nominees
Celia Johnson, “Brief Encounter”
Jennifer Jones, “Duel in the Sun”
Rosalind Russell, “Sister Kenny”
Jane Wyman, “The Yearling”“The Heiress” (1949)
Other Nominees
Jeanne Crain, “Pinky”
Susan Hayward, “My Foolish Heart”
Deborah Kerr, “Edward, My Son”
Loretta Young, “Come to the Stable” -
Sally Field: 2 Wins
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC “Norma Rae” (1979)
Other Nominees
Jill Clayburgh, “Starting Over”
Jane Fonda, “The China Syndrome”
Marsha Mason, “Chapter Two”
Bette Midler, “The Rose”“Places in the Heart” (1984)
Other Nominees
Judy Davis, “A Passage to India”
Jessica Lange, “Country”
Vanessa Redgrave, “The Bostonians”
Sissy Spacek, “The River” -
Jane Fonda: 2 Wins
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC “Klute” (1971)
Other Nominees
Julie Christie, “McCabe & Mrs. Miller”
Glenda Jackson, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
Vanessa Redgrave, “Mary, Queen of Scots”
Janet Suzman, “Nicholas and Alexandra”“Coming Home” (1978)
Other Nominees
Ingrid Bergman, “Autumn Sonata”
Ellen Burstyn, “Same Time, Next Year”
Jill Clayburgh, “An Unmarried Woman”
Geraldine Page, “Interiors” -
Jodie Foster: 2 Wins
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “The Accused” (1988)
Other Nominees
Glenn Close, “Dangerous Liaisons”
Melanie Griffith, “Working Girl”
Meryl Streep, “A Cry in the Dark”
Sigourney Weaver, “Gorillas in the Mist”“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
Other Nominees
Geena Davis, “Thelma & Louise”
Laura Dern, “Rambling Rose”
Bette Midler, “For the Boys”
Susan Sarandon, “Thelma & Louise” -
Glenda Jackson: 2 Wins
Image Credit: JM11/Joseph Marzuillo/WENN “Women in Love” (1970)
Other Nominees
Jane Alexander, “The Great White Hope”
Ali MacGraw, “Love Story”
Sarah Miles, “Ryan’s Daughter”
Carrie Snodgress, “Diary of a Mad Housewife”“A Touch of Class” (1973)
Other Nominees
Ellen Burstyn, “The Exorcist”
Marsha Mason, “Cinderella Liberty”
Barbra Streisand, “The Way We Were”
Joanne Woodward, “Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams” -
Vivien Leigh: 2 Wins
Image Credit: EL COMERCIO de PERU/Newscom/The Mega Agency “Gone with the Wind” (1939)
Other Nominees
Bette Davis, “Dark Victory”
Irene Dunne, “Love Affair”
Greta Garbo, “Ninotchka”
Greer Garson, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”“A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951)
Other Nominees
Katharine Hepburn, “The African Queen”
Eleanor Parker, “Detective Story”
Shelley Winters, “A Place in the Sun”
Jane Wyman, “The Blue Veil” -
Frances McDormand: 2 Wins
Image Credit: RAMEY PHOTO AGENCY/Newscom/The Mega Agency “Fargo” (1996)
Other Nominees
Brenda Blethyn, “Secrets & Lies”
Diane Keaton, “Marvin’s Room”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “The English Patient”
Emily Watson, “Breaking the Waves”“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017)
Other Nominees
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post” -
Luise Rainer: 2 Wins
Image Credit: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936)
Other Nominees
Irene Dunne, “Theodora Goes Wild”
Gladys George, “Valiant Is the Word for Carrie”
Carole Lombard, “My Man Godfrey”
Norma Shearer, “Romeo and Juliet”“The Good Earth” (1937)
Other Nominees
Irene Dunne, “The Awful Truth”
Greta Garbo, “Camille”
Janet Gaynor, “A Star Is Born”
Barbara Stanwyck, “Stella Dallas” -
Meryl Streep: 2 Wins*
Image Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety “Sophie’s Choice” (1982)
Other Nominees
Julie Andrews, “Victor/Victoria”
Jessica Lange, “Frances”
Sissy Spacek, “Missing”
Debra Winger, “An Officer and a Gentleman”“The Iron Lady” (2011)
Other Nominees
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”*Streep also has a third Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979).
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Hilary Swank: 2 Wins
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999)
Other Nominees
Annette Bening, “American Beauty”
Janet McTeer, “Tumbleweeds”
Julianne Moore, “The End of the Affair”
Meryl Streep, “Music of the Heart”“Million Dollar Baby” (2004)
Other Nominees
Annette Bening, “Being Julia”
Catalina Sandino Moreno, “Maria Full of Grace”
Imelda Staunton, “Vera Drake”
Kate Winslet, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” -
Elizabeth Taylor: 2 Wins
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “BUtterfield 8” (1960)
Other Nominees
Greer Garson, “Sunrise at Campobello”
Deborah Kerr, “The Sundowners”
Shirley MacLaine, “The Apartment”
Melina Mercouri, “Never on Sunday”“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966)
Other Nominees
Anne Bancroft, “The Graduate”
Faye Dunaway, “Bonnie and Clyde”
Lynn Redgrave, “Georgy Girl”
Vanessa Redgrave, “Morgan!” -
Katharine Hepburn: 4 Wins
Image Credit: he Print Collector/Heritage Images/Newscom/TheMegaAgency “Morning Glory” (1932/33)
Other Nominees
May Robson, “Lady for a Day”
Diana Wynyard, “Cavalcade”“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967)
Other Nominees
Anne Bancroft, “The Graduate”
Faye Dunaway, “Bonnie and Clyde”
Edith Evans, “The Whisperers”
Audrey Hepburn, “Wait Until Dark”“The Lion in Winter” (1968) — Tie
Other Nominees
Barbra Streisand, “Funny Girl” — Tie
Patricia Neal, “The Subject Was Roses”
Vanessa Redgrave, “Isadora”
Joanne Woodward, “Rachel, Rachel”“On Golden Pond” (1981)
Other Nominees
Diane Keaton, “Reds”
Marsha Mason, “Only When I Laugh”
Susan Sarandon, “Atlantic City”
Meryl Streep, “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”
