The Top 10 Most Famous Record Holders in Oscar History

This Canadian actor holds the record for being the oldest person to win an Oscar. Christopher Plummer's award came in the category of Best Supporting Actor in 2012 for the film Beginners. At 82 years old, he received his first Oscar nomination in 2010 for The Last Station. Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer CC (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor whose career spanned seven decades, gaining recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received numerous awards, including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making him the only Canadian to achieve the 'Triple Crown of Acting.' He also received a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as a Grammy Award nomination. He made his Broadway debut in the play The Starcross Story in 1954. Christopher Plummer won two Tony Awards, one for Best Actor in a Musical for Cyrano de Bergerac in Cyrano (1974) and the other for Best Actor in a Play for portraying John Barrymore in Barrymore (1997). His other Tony-nominated roles include JB (1959), Othello (1982), No Man's Land (1994), King Lear (2004), and Inherit the Wind (2007). After his stage appearances, he starred in his first film, Stage Struck (1958), and his first leading role the same year in Wind Across the Everglades. His breakthrough role was as Captain Georg von Trapp in the musical film The Sound of Music (1965) alongside Julie Andrews. During this time, he starred in The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Waterloo (1970), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975). Christopher Plummer won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Beginners (2011). His other Oscar-nominated roles include The Last Station (2009) and All the Money in the World (2017). His other notable films include Somewhere in Time (1980), Malcolm X (1992), The Insider (1999), A Beautiful Mind (2001), The New World (2005), Syriana (2005), Inside Man (2006), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and Knives Out (2019).

Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to ever win an Oscar. In 1940, she won for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in the classic film Gone with the Wind. Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893 – October 26, 1952) was an American actress, singer, songwriter, and comedian. With her portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939), she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African-American to win an Oscar. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one dedicated to Black filmmakers in 1975, and in 2006, she became the first Black person to be honored with a U.S. postage stamp. In 2010, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. Besides acting, McDaniel recorded 16 blues records from 1926 to 1929 and was a radio and television performer; she was the first Black woman to sing on radio in the United States. Although she appeared in over 300 films, she received on-screen credits in only 83. Her most notable films include Alice Adams, In This Our Life, and Since You Went Away.

Mary Louise Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as the 'greatest actress of her generation,' Streep is particularly known for her versatility and ability to master accents. She has received numerous awards throughout her over five-decade-long career, including a record 21 Oscar nominations, winning three, and a record 32 Golden Globe nominations, winning eight. Streep made her stage debut in 1975 in Trelawny of the Wells and received a Tony nomination the following year for the plays 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and A Memory of Two Mondays. In 1977, she made her film debut in Julia. In 1978, she won her first Primetime Emmy Award for her lead role in the mini-series Holocaust and received her first Oscar nomination for The Deer Hunter. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for portraying a troubled wife in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and continued to establish herself as a film actress in the 1980s. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for portraying a Holocaust survivor in Sophie's Choice (1982) and her biggest commercial success to date in Out of Africa (1985). She continued to receive awards and critical acclaim for her work in the late 1980s and 1990s, with diverse commercial success, including the comedy Death Becomes Her (1992) and the highest-grossing film of her career at that time, The Bridges of Madison County (1995).

Edith Head, the costume designer, is the most successful woman in Oscar history with 35 nominations, winning 8 golden statues. In 2004, Pixar's animated film The Incredibles created the character Edna Mode based on her real-life persona. Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who won a record 8 Oscars for Best Costume Design from 1949 to 1973, making her the most awarded woman in Academy Awards history. Head is considered one of the greatest and most influential costume designers in film history. Born and raised in California, Head began her career as a Spanish language teacher but became interested in design.

After studying at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, Head was hired as a costume sketch artist at Paramount Pictures in 1923. She gained acclaim for designing Dorothy Lamour's sarong in the 1936 film The Jungle Princess and became a household name after the Academy Award for Best Costume Design was introduced in 1948. Head was known for her close working relationships with her subjects, whom she advised extensively; these included most of Hollywood's leading female stars. Head worked at Paramount for 44 years. In 1967, the studio declined to renew her contract, and she was hired by Alfred Hitchcock to work at Universal Pictures. There, she won her eighth Academy Award, also her final award, for The Sting in 1973.

Peter Finch made history in 1977 by being nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Network, becoming the first actor to win the golden statue posthumously. His wife, Eletha Finch, and Network screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky accepted the award on his behalf. Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (September 28, 1916 – January 14, 1977) was an Australian-born British stage, film, and radio actor. Born in London, he migrated to Australia as a teenager and grew up in Sydney, where he worked in newspapers and radio before becoming a prominent Australian film star. Joining the Old Vic Company after World War II, he achieved considerable success in Britain for both stage and screen performances. One of the most famous leading men of British cinema at the time, Finch won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor five times and posthumously won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the unhinged television anchor Howard Beale in the film Network in 1976.

Finch's career was propelled when he replaced Ian Bannen in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), earning another BAFTA for Best Actor and an Oscar nomination. His momentum was somewhat stalled by Something to Hide (1972) and the disastrous musical remake of Lost Horizon (1973). He played Lord Nelson in Bequest to the Nation (1973) and a financial opportunist in England Made Me (1973). The Abdication (1974) was an unsuccessful historical film. According to the British Film Institute, 'it can be argued that no other actor has ever written so illustrious a CV in British films and he accumulated awards to bolster this view.' He passed away just two months before the 49th Academy Awards, making him the first posthumous Oscar winner in an acting category. As of 2023, the only other person to achieve this feat is his Australian colleague Heath Ledger.

6. Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Bigelow made history as the first female director to win the Best Director Oscar. In early 2010, with her Iraq War-themed film The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow triumphed over her ex-husband James Cameron and his blockbuster Avatar. Kathryn Ann Bigelow (born November 27, 1951) is an American filmmaker. Her diverse filmography includes Near Dark (1987), Point Break (1991), Strange Days (1995), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), The Hurt Locker (2008), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), and Detroit (2017). With her direction of The Hurt Locker, Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director, the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing, and the BAFTA Award for Best Direction. She also became the first woman to win the Saturn Award for Best Director for Strange Days. Additionally, Time magazine honored her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.

Bigelow is known for her evolving relationship with Hollywood as well as its conventional standards and filmmaking techniques. Her works 'both satisfy and surpass the requirements of the formula to create intellectually complex, inherently thrilling, and highly personal cinematic works.' She has succeeded in both applying Hollywood's conventional filmmaking techniques and creating her own unique style, defying mainstream conventions. She is also known for bringing social issues of gender, race, and politics into her works across all genres. Although her films are often classified as action, she describes her style as an exploration of the 'dynamic potential of film.'

7. Walt Disney

The legend Walt Disney currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations in history with 59 honorary mentions. Among them, he was posthumously awarded 22 times during his lifetime. Disney showed a passion for drawing from a young age. He attended art classes as a child and became a commercial artist at the age of 18. In the early 1920s, Disney moved to California and co-founded Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy. In 1928, he collaborated with artist Ub Iwerks to create the iconic character Mickey Mouse, achieving tremendous success. Disney also provided the voice for Mickey Mouse in the early years. As the animation studio grew, Disney made bolder decisions, such as introducing synchronized sound into films, utilizing Technicolor's full-color three-strip technique, producing feature-length animated films, and implementing advances in recording techniques. The result was a series of key films that contributed to the advancement of animation, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio, Fantasia (1940), and Bambi (1942). After World War II, he continued to produce animated films and live-action features, including Cinderella (1950) and Mary Poppins (1964). Both films were critically and commercially successful, with Mary Poppins winning 5 Oscars.

Disney's plan for the futuristic city of EPCOT did not materialize. After his passing, his brother Roy postponed his retirement to take full control of the companies. Roy changed the focus of the project from a town to a tourist attraction. At the opening ceremony in 1971, Roy dedicated Walt Disney World to his late brother. Walt Disney World continued to expand with the opening of Epcot Center in 1982. Disney's vision of a practical city seemed to be replaced by a park resembling a long-term world exhibition. Disney received 59 Oscar nominations and won 22 awards. Both of these numbers are records for an individual. He was nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards but did not win, however, he still received two Special Achievement Awards for Bambi (1942) and The Living Desert (1953), along with the Cecil B. DeMille Award. He also received four Emmy nominations and won once in the Outstanding Producer category for the Disneyland TV series. The United States Library of Congress has preserved some of his films in the National Film Registry because they have 'cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.' The films included are: Steamboat Willie, Three Little Pigs, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Pinocchio, Bambi, Dumbo, and Mary Poppins. In 1998, the American Film Institute announced its list of the 100 greatest American films, as evaluated by industry experts. The list includes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (ranked 49th) and Fantasia (ranked 58th).

8. The Turning Point and The Color Purple

Between 1978 and 1986, two films, The Turning Point and The Color Purple, set a sad record. With 11 Oscar nominations each, they both ended up empty-handed. The Color Purple is a 1985 American epic drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Menno Meyjes, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It marked Spielberg's eighth film as a director and a turning point in his career, as it was the beginning of his association with summer blockbuster movies. It was also the first film directed by Spielberg in which John Williams did not compose the score; instead, it was composed by Quincy Jones, who also produced. The film stars Whoopi Goldberg in her breakthrough role, alongside Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey in her film debut, Margaret Avery, Rae Dawn Chong, Willard Pugh, and Adolph Caesar.

The film was a box office success, grossing $142 million against a budget of $15 million. It was critically acclaimed, with particular praise for the performances (especially Goldberg's), direction, screenplay, musical score, and production values. However, it was also criticized by some as 'overly sentimental' and 'stereotypical,' and some chapters of the NAACP boycotted it for its depiction of rape scenes. Nevertheless, the film received 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Goldberg, Best Supporting Actress nominations for both Avery and Winfrey, and Best Adapted Screenplay, but failed to win any, and Spielberg did not receive a nomination for Best Director; it holds the record for the most nominations without wins at the Academy Awards since The Turning Point (1977) at that time. The film also received four Golden Globe nominations, with Goldberg winning Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama. Spielberg received a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing Achievement and a Golden Globe nomination. The film was later included in Roger Ebert's book The Great Movies.

In early 2013, Steve McQueen made history by becoming the first black filmmaker to win the Oscar for Best Director with the film 12 Years a Slave. 12 Years a Slave also took home the coveted award for Best Picture. Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His anti-hero persona, emphasized during the height of counterculture in the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw of the 1960s and 1970s. He was nicknamed the 'King of Cool' and used the alias Harvey Mushman for motorcycle racing.

McQueen received an Oscar nomination for his role in The Sand Pebbles (1966). His other notable films include Love With the Right Stranger (1963), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Nevada Smith (1966), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Bullitt (1968), Le Mans (1971), The Getaway (1972), and Papillon (1973). Additionally, he starred in ensemble casts in The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), and The Towering Inferno (1974). In 1974, McQueen became the world's highest-paid film star, despite not making a film for the next 4 years. He clashed with directors and producers, but his popularity made him in high demand and helped him command top salaries.

The love story between Jack and Rose aboard the fateful ship Titanic remains the most successful film in Oscar history. In 1998, the film received a staggering 14 Oscar nominations, a record that still stands today. Titanic then went on to win in 11 categories, sharing that record-breaking feat with two other films, Ben-Hur and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Titanic is a disaster-romance epic film released in 1997 directed, written, produced, and funded by James Cameron. Combining elements of history and fiction, the film is based on the infamous sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as two individuals from different social classes who fall in love aboard the ill-fated maiden voyage of the ship. Additionally, the film features an ensemble cast including Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, Victor Garber, David Warner, Danny Nucci, Suzy Amis, Bernard Fox, and Bill Paxton.

Officially released on December 19, 1997, Titanic enjoyed immense commercial and critical success, subsequently winning numerous prestigious awards. The film received 14 Oscar nominations, tying the record with All About Eve (1950) for the most Oscar nominations for a film, and won 11, including categories for Best Picture and Best Director, tying the record with Ben-Hur (1959) for the most Oscars won by a film. With a gross of over $1.84 billion on its initial release, the film also became the first to surpass the $1 billion mark in revenue. Titanic holds the record for the highest-grossing film of all time until another Cameron film, Avatar, surpassed it in 2010. A 3D version of the film, released on April 4, 2012, in the United States and on May 18, 2012, in Vietnam (commonly known as Titanic 3D) to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking, garnered an additional $343.6 million worldwide, bringing Titanic's global revenue to $2.195 billion. This made it the second film to cross the $2 billion mark worldwide (after Avatar). In 2017, the film was re-released on its 20th anniversary, and it continues to be re-released on its 25th anniversary on February 10, 2023, in 4K HD format. The film was also selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.'