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An Academy Award is probably the single most important recognition an actor or an actress can get for their work in the film industry. Of course, it’s not always an indicator of one’s talent because the Oscars have to be awarded each year and sometimes the performances aren’t as grand as they should be. However, if an artist gets nominated and/or awarded on a regular basis, it says a lot about their ability. So, in order to find out which actors, actresses, and movies are the best, let’s find out who has the most Oscars and see how they’ve earned it.
Katharine Hepburn
The first name on our list belongs to a gorgeous and talented actress who has appeared in over 50 movies and currently holds the record as an artist with most Oscars for a leading role – Katharine Hepburn. Born in 1907, Katharine left us almost 15 years ago, but her legacy is all the fantastic movies she’s starred in over the years. She started acting while she was still at college, starring in a number of genres, quickly becoming one of Hollywood’s main choices for a leading role. Katharine won her first Oscar for the 1933 film Morning Glory, where she perfectly portrayed a struggling young actress. After a couple of decades of somewhat unsuccessful movies, she came back gloriously with Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter(1968), and On Golden Pond (1981), winning three more Academy Awards and establishing herself as a true film legend. Katharine Hepburn was a strong woman ahead of her time and her talent will never be forgotten.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Now, when it comes to actors, the one with the most Oscars is, unsurprisingly, Daniel Day-Lewis. This English actor with Irish ancestry became well-known all over the world for his extreme dedication to roles and impeccable method acting. This kind of dedication and incredible talent brought him 3 Oscars for leading roles, which is even more impressive when you consider the notion that he appeared in less than 30 movies during his career. His incredible ability to transform and become the character he’s portraying brought him recognition early on, with his first Oscar for My Left Foot (1989) where he played Christy Brown, a man with cerebral palsy who is able to move only his left foot. Daniel never broke out of character and remained in the wheelchair during the whole shoot. His second Oscar came for a gritty drama called There Will Be Blood (2007), while his final one was for Lincoln (2012). Daniel’s next film will be directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, so we can certainly expect another Oscar-worthy performance.
Meryl Streep
While Meryl Streep isn’t really the actress who has won the most Oscars, her talents are recognized with a huge number of nominations, as well as three Academy Awards. Although many would agree that Meryl Streep is one of the most talented actresses today, somehow she never got more than three Oscars. What she does have, however, is the record for getting the most nominations in the history of the award – as many as 20 nominations during her nearly 50-year long career. Her first Academy Award was for the amazing, heartbreaking performance in Kramer vs. Kramer opposite Dustin Hoffman. Although she was one of the titular Kramers, it still counted as a supporting role. Her next two Oscars were for leading roles in Sophie’s Choice (1982), and The Iron Lady (2011). She’s gone off a bit political recently, but who can really blame her?
Leonardo DiCaprio
We’ll finish the list off with an actor that is quite far away from having the most Oscars (only managed to get one) but became famous for being ignored by the Academy for years. In fact, in the past few years, the fans have been petitioning publicly to give an Oscar to Leonardo DiCaprio, making hashtags to Oscars Twitter and creating various memes all over the internet. When he finally got the Oscar and the BAFTA for his strenuous work in the Revenant (2015) the internet was overwhelmed with joy. To be perfectly honest though, he deserved an Oscar long time ago appearing offering amazing performances in films like What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed, and even Django Unchained where, possibly for the first time, he played an utter villain with such a dedication that, at one point, he even hurt himself without noticing.
Now that you know who has the most Oscars, you can tell us who you think deserves them. Feel free to spam our comment section as much as you like.