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List of Academy Award records

This list of Academy Award records is current as of the 98th Academy Awards ceremony held on March 15, 2026.

Most awards or nominations <span class="anchor" id="Most awards"></span>

  • Most awards won by a single film: 11
  • Three films have won 11 Academy Awards:
  • Ben-Hur (1959): nominated in 12 of the 15 possible categories
  • Titanic (1997): nominated in 14 of the 17 possible categories
  • ' (2003): nominated in 11 of the 17 possible categories
  • Most nominations received by a single film: 16
  • Sinners (2025): out of 17 possible categories
  • Most nominations lost by a single film: 12
  • Sinners (2025): won 4 of its 16 nominations
  • Most nominations received by a single film without winning an award: 11
  • Two films have received 11 nominations and won no awards:
  • The Turning Point (1977): from 14 possible categories
  • The Color Purple (1985): from 17 possible categories
  • Largest sweep (winning awards in every nominated category): 11
  • ' (2003) won in every category for which it was nominated: Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Makeup, Costume Design, Film Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects.
  • Most total awards won by a person: 22
  • Walt Disney
  • Dennis Muren holds the record for the most awards by a living person: 9
  • Most total nominations received and awards won by a woman: 35 and 8
  • Edith Head, all for Best Costume Design
  • Meryl Streep holds the record for the most nominations for a living woman: 21
  • Most total nominations for a person: 59
  • Walt Disney
  • John Williams holds the record for the most nominations by a living person: 54
  • Most nominations and awards for a person in a single year: 6 and 4
  • In 1954, Walt Disney received six nominations and won four awards, both records. He won Best Documentary, Features for The Living Desert; Best Documentary, Short Subjects for The Alaskan Eskimo; Best Short Subject, Cartoons for Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom; and Best Short Subject, Two-reel for Bear Country. He had two additional nominations in Best Short Subject, Cartoons for Rugged Bear; and Best Short Subject, Two-reel for Ben and Me.
  • In 2025, Sean Baker won four awards from four nominations. He won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing, all for Anora.
  • Most competitive awards won by a living person: 8
  • Composer Alan Menken has won eight competitive awards
  • Milena Canonero, Colleen Atwood, and Frances McDormand have all won four competitive awards, making them the most awarded living women
  • Note: Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren has won nine Academy Awards: six competitive awards, two "Special Achievement" awards, and one "Technical Achievement" award
  • Most competitive awards won for Acting: 4
  • Katharine Hepburn, all for Best Actress
  • Most competitive awards won for Directing: 4
  • John Ford
  • Most competitive awards won for Writing: 3
  • Woody Allen, all for Best Original Screenplay
  • Charles Brackett, for both Best Adapted and Original Screenplay
  • Paddy Chayefsky, for both Best Adapted and Original Screenplay
  • Francis Ford Coppola, for both Best Adapted and Original Screenplay
  • Billy Wilder, for both Best Adapted and Original Screenplay
  • Most competitive awards won for Film Editing: 3
  • Ralph Dawson
  • Michael Kahn
  • Daniel Mandell
  • Thelma Schoonmaker
  • Most competitive awards won for Cinematography: 4
  • Joseph Ruttenberg
  • Leon Shamroy
  • Most competitive awards won for Film Music Composition and Songwriting: 9
  • Alfred Newman, all for Best Original Score
  • Note:
  • Alan Menken has won eight awards in musical categories
  • John Williams has won five awards and holds the record for the most nominations by a living person at 54.
  • Sammy Cahn won four awards, all for Best Original Song
  • Johnny Mercer won four awards, all for Best Original Song
  • Jimmy Van Heusen won four awards, all for Best Original Song
  • Most competitive awards won for Art Direction: 11
  • Cedric Gibbons, who designed the Oscar statuette, received 38 nominations
  • Most competitive awards won for Costume Design: 8
  • Edith Head has received 35 nominations in total and holds the records for the most nominations and awards for a woman
  • Most competitive awards won for Makeup: 7
  • Rick Baker, who has received 11 nominations in total
  • Most competitive awards won for Visual Effects: 8
  • Dennis Muren, who has received 15 nominations in total
  • Most competitive awards won for Special Effects (discontinued in 1962): 3
  • A. Arnold Gillespie, who received 12 nominations in total
  • Most awards won for Animated Feature Film: 3
  • Pete Docter, who has received four nominations in total
  • Most nominations received for Animated Feature Film: 4
  • Pete Docter, winning 3
  • Hayao Miyazaki, winning 2
  • Chris Sanders, winning 0
  • Byron Howard, winning 2
  • Most awards won by a country for Best International Feature Film: 14
  • Italy, which has received 33 nominations in total
  • Most nominations received by a country for Best International Feature Film: 43
  • France, which has won the award 12 times
  • Most nominations received by a country for Best International Feature Film without an award: 10
  • Israel
  • Most awards won by a non-English language film: 4
  • Four non-English language films have won four Academy Awards:
  • Fanny and Alexander (1982) won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score
  • Parasite (2019) won Best International Feature Film, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay
  • All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) won Best International Feature Film, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score
  • Most nominations received by a non-English language film: 13
  • One non-English language film has been nominated for thirteen Academy Awards:
  • Emilia Pérez (2024): Best International Feature Film, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song (x2)

Awards for acting and directing debuts

These people won Academy Awards for their debut performances in film:

These people won Academy Awards for their directing debuts:

Big Five winners

Three films have received the Big Five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay (Original or Adapted; all won for Best Adapted Screenplay).

Most consecutive awards in each category

Academy Award firsts

Overall firsts

Demographic firsts (age, nationality, ethnicity, sex/gender, disability)

Non-English language firsts

  • First non-English language film to win Best Picture
  • Parasite (2019), in Korean
  • First non-English language film to be nominated for Best Picture
  • La Grande Illusion (1937), in French
  • First African film to win Best International Feature Film
  • Z (1969), representing Algeria
  • First Asian film to win Best International Feature Film
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), representing Taiwan
  • First European film to win Best International Feature Film
  • Shoe-Shine (1947), representing Italy
  • First Latin American film to win Best International Feature Film
  • The Official Story (1985), representing Argentina
  • First Middle Eastern film to win Best International Feature Film
  • A Separation (2011), representing Iran
  • First North American film to win Best International Feature Film
  • The Barbarian Invasions (2003), representing Canada
  • All non-English language films to be nominated for Best Picture

Genre and studio firsts

Animated firsts

Acting firsts

Age-related records

  • Youngest multiple nominees for an acting award (Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress)

Film records

Acting records

Shortest and longest Academy Award-winning and -nominated performances

Miscellaneous records

Oscar speeches

  • Longest speech
  • Adrien Brody spoke for 5 minutes and 40 seconds while accepting Best Actor for The Brutalist at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. Prior to that, the longest Oscar speech was given by Greer Garson, who spoke for 5 minutes and 30 seconds at the 15th Academy Awards after she was named Best Actress for 1942 for Mrs. Miniver. It was shortly after this incident that the academy set forty-five seconds as the allotted time for an acceptance speech and began to cut the winners off after this time limit. When presenting the Best Actor award at the 24th Academy Awards, Garson quipped, "I think I have ten minutes left over from a highly emotional speech I made a few years ago. I'd be glad to give it to them."
  • Shortest speech
  • The shortest Oscar speech was that given by Patty Duke at the 35th Academy Awards after she was named Best Supporting Actress for 1962 for The Miracle Worker. Duke, age 16, was the youngest person at that time to receive an Academy Award in a competitive category. Her acceptance speech was two words, "Thank you", after which she walked off the stage.

Tied winners

There have been seven two-way ties.

Clean sweep

The following films with at least two nominations won all of their categories.

See also

Notes

References

External links