Academy Awards Best Actress
Blue Jasmine (2013)
The Only Best Actress Tie:
In the Best Actress category, an unusual tie (the only            occurrence among female acting performances) occurred in 1968 between            Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand, for their respective performances            in The Lion in Winter (1968) and Funny Girl (1968).
[Note: With her subsequent win, Streisand became the only performer to win an Oscar for Best Actress (Funny Girl (1968)) and for Best Original Song ("Evergreen" from A Star Is Born (1976)) with lyrics by Paul Williams).]
The Most Best Actress Nominations (and Wins):
Only one actress has received four Best Actress Oscar             wins, and no actress has yet received three Best Actress Oscars.             There are twelve actresses who have received two Best Actress Oscars.         The number of Best Actress nominations are in parentheses:
Katharine Hepburn (12); with four wins (Morning Glory (1932/33), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), On Golden Pond (1981)); two nominations were consecutive (from 1955-1956); two wins were consecutive (1967-1968)
Meryl Streep (15) - with two wins (Sophie's Choice           (1982), The Iron Lady (2011)); three nominations were consecutive           (from 1981-1983)
Bette Davis (10) - with two wins (Dangerous (1935), Jezebel (1938) ); five              nominations were consecutive (from 1938-1942)
Ingrid Bergman (6) - with two wins ( Gaslight (1944) , Anastasia (1956));            three nominations were consecutive (from 1943-1945)
Jane Fonda (6) - with two wins (Klute (1971), Coming Home (1978)); three            nominations were consecutive (from 1977-1979)
Elizabeth Taylor            (5) - with two wins (Butterfield 8 (1960),
Roman Holiday (1953) ); two nominations            were consecutive (from 1953-1954)
Susan Hayward (5) - with one win (I Want to Live! (1958)); nominations in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1955, 1958
Anne Bancroft (5) - with one win (The Miracle Worker (1962)); nominations in 1962, 1964, 1967, 1977, 1985
Ellen Burstyn (5) - with one win (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)); nominations in 1971, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1980, 2000
Shirley MacLaine (5) - with one win ( Terms of Endearment (1983) ); nominations in 1958, 1960, 1963, 1977, and 1983
Jessica Lange (5) - with one win (Blue Sky (1994)); two nominations            were consecutive (from 1984-1985)
Susan Sarandon (5) - with one win (Dead Man Walking (1995)); two nominations            were consecutive twice (1991-1992, 1994-1995)
Jennifer Jones (4) - with one win (The Song of Bernadette (1943)); two other nominations were consecutive (1945, 1946)
Jane Wyman (4) - with one win (Johnny Belinda (1948)); nominations in 1946, 1948, 1951, and 1954
Joanne Woodward (4) - with one win (The Three Faces of Eve (1957)); nominations in 1957, 1968, 1973, and 1990
Julie Christie (4) - with one win (Darling (1965)); nominations in 1965, 1971, 1997, and 2007
Geraldine Page (4) - with one win (The Trip to           Bountiful (1985)); nominations in 1961, 1962, 1978, 1985
Diane Keaton (4) - with one win (
Annie Hall (1977) ); nominations in 1977, 1981, 1996, and 2003
Cate Blanchett (4) - with one win (Blue Jasmine               (2013)); nominations in 1998, 2007, 2013, and 2015
Kate Winslet (4) - with one win (The Reader (2008)); nominations in 1997, 2004, 2006, and 2008
Jennifer Lawrence (3) - with one win (Silver               Linings Playbook (2012)); nominations in 2010, 2012, and 2015
Deborah Kerr (6) - with no wins; three nominations              were consecutive (from 1956-1958) --
the only 6-time Best Actress nominee who never won
Irene Dunne (5) - with no wins; two nominations were              consecutive (from 1936-1937)
Judi Dench (5) - with no wins; two nominations were           consecutive (from 2005-2006)
Marsha Mason (4) - with no wins
Vanessa Redgrave (4) - with no wins
Rosalind Russell (4) - with no wins; two nominations were consecutive (from 1946-1947)
Barbara Stanwyck (4) - with no wins
Glenn Close (3) - with no wins
Consecutive Best Actress-Winning Performers:
There are only two actors (Spencer             Tracy and Tom Hanks) who have received two consecutive Best             Actor awards, as there are only two             actresses who have received two consecutive Best Actress statuette             wins:
Luise Rainer with her first win for The Great Ziegfeld (1936), and then her second - and back-to-back Best Actress Oscar win for her performance in The Good Earth (1937). She became the first multiple              Oscar winner, and was the first to win an award two years in              a row
Katharine Hepburn, two consecutive Best Actress Oscars in four wins, for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and The Lion in Winter (1968)
Stars to Win Two Best Actress Oscars Before the Age of 30:
Luise Rainer (at age 28) for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937) -- back-to-back wins, the first to accomplish this feat
Bette Davis (at age 29) for Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938)
Jodie              Foster (at age 29) for The Accused (1988) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Hilary Swank (at age 29) for Boys Don't Cry (1999) and Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Both Luise Rainer and Hilary Swank won their Oscars each time that they were nominated.
With Kate Winslet's sixth career nomination for The               Reader (2008), she became the youngest individual  (at               age 33) to have six Oscar nominations. She was one year younger               than Bette Davis who (at age 34) received her sixth for Now,               Voyager (1942) . Now in 2015,               Winslet received a seventh career nomination, Best Supporting Actress               for Steve Jobs (2015).
Young Stars To Be Nominated for Best Actress Oscars:
22 year-old Jennifer Lawrence became the youngest performer to receive two Best Actress nominations, upon receiving the nod for Silver Linings Playbook (2012) as a recovering, unemployed             widow. [Note: She had previously been nominated for the first time             for Winter's             Bone (2010).             With her first nomination at the age of 20 years and 163 days, she             became the third-youngest actress ever to be nominated for the Academy             Award for Best Actress. She broke a record previously held by Teresa         Wright (who was 24 when she received her third nomination in 1942).]             With her Best Supporting Actress nomination for American Hustle (2013), Lawrence became the youngest three-time             acting nominee of all-time. In 2015, Lawrence             (at age 25) received her  third Best Actress nomination              for Joy             (2015), and  became the youngest actor OR actress to             receive 4 Oscar nominations. She bested Jennifer Jones, who received             her third Best Actress nomination (for Duel in the Sun (1946))             (and fourth Oscar nomination) at the age of 27. In comparison, Meryl             Streep was 34 when she was nominated for her fourth Oscar for Sophie's             Choice (1982).
Kate Winslet had also received           two nominations by age 22, but one was for Best Supporting Actress.
Film Debut Nominees/Winners of Best Actress Oscars:
Four actresses have won the Best Actress Oscar for their first (substantial) screen roles or during the first year of            their film careers (in a feature film), while others (a sampling) have received a nomination            for their first screen role:
Katharine Hepburn in Morning Glory (1932/33) (she had previous bit roles in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) and Christopher Strong (1933))
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) (she had a previous bit role in Thieves Like Us (1974))
Whoopi Goldberg in The Color              Purple (1985) (nomination)
(4) Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God (1986) (Matlin was also the first deaf actress to win the Academy Award)
Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves (1996) (nomination)
Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider (2003) (nomination)
Catalina Sandino Moreno in Maria Full of Grace              (2004) (nomination)
Gabourey  Sidibe in Precious (2009) (nomination)
Quvenzhané Wallis           in Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) (nomination)
Post-Humous Best Actress Nominees and Winners:
Only actress Jeanne Eagels was nominated post-humously             for her role in The Letter (1929). She was the first (and             only) female to ever be nominated post-humously for any acting Oscar.
Oscar-Winning Actress Roles and Trends:
Biographies of remarkable, real-life individuals (showbiz              figures and entertainers) and portrayals of the mentally ill are             heavily  represented among Oscar winners (and nominees), particularly             in the  acting awards. It helps an actress's             chances of winning (or being nominated for) an Oscar if the character             dies during the movie, or is alcoholic (or drug-addicted), or is             a murderess. Also, first-time Oscar nominations             are more often given to actresses below or around the age of thirty.
Against Type
It also helps           to play a role against type (Julia Roberts as a crusading single           mother in Erin              Brockovich (2000) or Helen Hunt for a sex surrogate in The             Sessions (2012), or Susan Sarandon as a death-row nun in Dead               Man Walking (1995)), or for showing acting diversity (Kathy           Bates as the horror villainess in Misery (1990), or singer           Cher in Moonstruck (1987)).
Prostitutes
A large number of actresses have also won (or been nominated for) the top acting awards for portraying hookers           (girls of the night, party girls, whores, call girls, madams, etc.)           or loose women (mistresses, promiscuous ladies, etc.), for example:
Janet Gaynor won the Best Actress award               for her role as Maria in Naples who escaped from imprisonment               (on a prostitution charge after making a desperate try for money               to help her ill mother), in Street Angel (1927/28),               one of three  films for which she was honored
Helen Hayes won the Best Actress Oscar for               her role as the sacrificial, maternal streetwalker title character               (Madelon Claudet) who had to give up her illegitimate son, in The               Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931/32)
Judy Holliday won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as "dumb blonde"/bimbo mistress and kept woman               Billie Dawn of corrupt, rude junk-man tycoon (Broderick               Crawford) in Washington DC,  in Born Yesterday (1950)
Vivien Leigh won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as fragile, genteel, tarnished/fallen, desperate, and aging               Southern belle Blanche DuBois, in
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Joanne Woodward won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as drab, plagued young housewife with multiple, tri-phasic               personalities (Eve 'White', Eve 'Black' and 'Jane,' exhibiting               characteristics of a housewife, sluttish flirt, and sophisticate),               in The               Three Faces of Eve (1957)
Susan Hayward won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as  deceitful party-girl prostitute/thief Barbara Graham,               suspected as a murderess, convicted and sent to the gas chamber               in San Quentin prison in 1953 after appeals and a long fight to               spare her life, in I               Want to Live! (1958)
Elizabeth Taylor won the Best Actress Oscar for               her role as  high-class, part-time model and wanton, fast-living,               disturbed New York call girl  Gloria Wandrous who wanted to straighten               out her life, in Butterfield               8 (1960)
Melina Mercouri              was nominated for Best Actress for her role as uneducated,               fun-loving Greek prostitute Ilya who didn't work one day of the               week, in Never On Sunday (1960)
Shirley MacLaine             was nominated for Best Actress for her role as Fran Kubelik, the               insurance company's depressed, quirky elevator girl who was seduced               to be the mistress of  Jack Lemmon's callous, married boss and               business executive (Fred MacMurray),  in The               Apartment (1960)
Shirley MacLaine was nominated for Best Actress               for her role as  the title character - French Parisian prostitute,               in Irma               La Douce (1963)
Julie Christie won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as Diana Scott - an ambitious, vain, irresponsible, ruthless,               promiscuous, and selfish hip, mini-skirted London model, in Darling               (1965)
Julie Christie was nominated as Best Actress for               her role as Mrs. Constance Miller - an opium-smoking brothel madam           and chief prostitute, in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Jane Fonda won the Best Actress Oscar for her role               as Bree Daniels, a classy, highly-paid, cynical, fearful, sexually-disturbed               and threatened call-girl/streetwalker stalking victim,  in Klute               (1971)
Julia Roberts was nominated as Best Actress for               her role as wheeler-dealer Richard Gere's fantasy Los Angeles prostitute               Vivian Ward, in Pretty Woman              (1990)
Sharon Stone was nominated as Best Actress for               her role as Las Vegas casino boss Robert DeNiro's ex-hooker wife               - the hedonistic and alluring Ginger McKenna, in Casino (1995)
Elisabeth Shue was nominated as Best Actress for               her role as lonely, soft-hearted prostitute Sera, in Leaving               Las Vegas (1995)
Charlize Theron won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as emotionally-damaged and abused real-life prostitute-turned-serial               killer Aileen Wuornos, in Monster (2003)
Mute or Non-Speaking
And a few Best Actress (and Supporting           Actress) winners acquired acting Oscars for characters that were           essentially mute:
Jane Wyman won the Best Actress Oscar for her role              as Belinda McDonald, a deaf-mute in Johnny Belinda (1948)
Patty Duke won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar              for portraying blind and deaf Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962) who             spoke only one triumphant word of dialogue: "Wa-wa" (or             water)
Note: Marlee Matlin (truly hearing impaired) won              the Best Actress Oscar for her mostly silent, realistic performance as deaf school pupil Sarah Norman              in director Randa Haines' Children of a Lesser God (1986)
Holly Hunter won the Best Actress Oscar for her non-speaking              role (although she did voice-over narration) as  19th century pianist mute Ada McGrath in director Jane Campion's The Piano (1993, NZ)
Two other actresses were nominated for Best Supporting               Actress for non-speaking roles: Samantha Morton as shy, waifish,               mute laundress Hattie in Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and Rinko               Kikuchi as isolated, depressed and troubled 16 year-old deaf-mute               Tokyo teenaged girl Chieko in Babel (2006)
Disabled
Another group of actresses have won awards           (or were nominated) for portraying characters that were performers,           or handicapped with disabilities (or other physical afflictions,           including serious alcoholism and drug use), for example:
Bette Davis won the Best Actress Oscar for her role               as Joyce Heath - a self-centered, willful, alcoholic, neurotic,               self-destructive ex-Broadway actress, in Dangerous                  (1935)
Susan Hayward nominated as Best Actress for three               films with alcoholic roles: as alcoholic Angie Evans, in Smash-Up,               the Story of a Woman (1947), as as unmarried mother Eloise               Winters, in My               Foolish Heart (1949) and as star-crossed alcoholic Broadway/Hollywood actress and singer Lillian Roth, in I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)
Deborah Kerr was nominated as Best Actress for her               role as unhappy, heavy drinking Evelyn Boult, in Edward,                 My Son (1949)
Vivien Leigh won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as mentally-fallen Southern belle Blanche DuBois, in
Who's                   Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Audrey Hepburn was nominated as Best Actress for             her role as Susy Hendrix - a blind, terrorized woman, in Wait             Until Dark (1967)
Julie Christie was nominated as Best Actress for               her role as Mrs. Constance Miller - an opium-smoking brothel madam               and chief prostitute, in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Diana Ross was nominated as Best Actress for her               role as drug-addicted singing great Billie Holliday, in Lady               Sings the Blues (1972)
Bette Midler was nominated as Best Actress for her               role as 'Rose' - a tragic, self-destructive, Janis Joplin-like               rock star, in The                 Rose (1979)
Marsha Mason was nominated as Best Actress for her               role as  brilliant, self-destructive, divorced alcoholic Broadway               actress Georgia,  in Only                 When I Laugh (1981)
Jessica Lange won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar                for her role as Julie, 'Dorothy's' (Dustin Hoffman) unknowing,               submissive best girlfriend, in Tootsie (1982) and the Best               Actress Oscar for her role as Carly Marshall, the unstable, manic-depressive,               out-of-control, sexually-promiscuous wife of a military nuclear engineer/officer (Tommy Lee Jones) at a 1960s Nevada test               site, in Blue                Sky  (1994); she   was also dual nominated as Best Actress                for her role as tragic, ill-fated, self-destructive, mentally-ill                starlet Frances Farmer, in Frances (1982)
Jane Fonda was nominated as Best Actress for her               role as  alcoholic heroine-victim Alex Sternbergen who woke up               next to a dead man, in The                 Morning After (1986)
Angelina Jolie won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar                for her role as Lisa, a disturbed and rebellious mental hospital               patient, in Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Halle Berry won the Best Actress Oscar for her role               as African-American Leticia Musgrove, an executed killer's (Sean               Combs) grief-stricken widow in a town poisoned with Southern racism,               in Monster's                  Ball (2001)
Nicole Kidman won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as Virginia Woolf, the troubled and depressed author of Mrs.               Dalloway, in The                  Hours (2002)
Cate Blanchett won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar                for her role as  legendary, four-time Oscar winning actress Katharine               Hepburn who had an affair with billionaire Howard Hughes, in The               Aviator (2004) - the                only instance of a performer winning an Academy Award for playing                a real-life Oscar                winner (Katharine Hepburn)
Hilary Swank won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as headstrong Maggie Fitzgerald, a working-class waitress               who aspired to be a professional women's boxer - and then suffered               a terminal illness, in Million                  Dollar Baby (2004)
Marion Cotillard won the Best Actress Oscar for               her role  as famed tempestuous singer Edith Piaf, in La                 Vie en Rose (2007, Fr.)
Natalie Portman won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as hallucinatory ballerina Nina Sayers, playing the Black               Swan in a production of Swan             Lake, in Black Swan (2010)
Fictional Actresses
And a few actresses have received Best Actress nominations             for playing fictional actresses (performers/stars) who were Best         Actress winners:
Janet Gaynor, nominated for her role as rising star               Vicki Lester in A Star is Born (1937)
Bette Davis, nominated for her role as former Oscar-winning               actress Margaret Elliot in pathetic decline in The Star (1952)
Judy Garland, nominated for her role as Esther Blodgett/Vicki               Lester, the wife of an alcoholic (James Mason) in the remake
A               Star is Born (1954)
Maggie Smith, nominated for Best Supporting Actress               for her role as Diana Barrie - a neurotic, bitchy, hard-drinking               and fussy Oscar-nominated British actress waiting for the Oscar               awards night in Hollywood in California Suite (1978) (win)
Faye Dunaway was the only performer who won an Academy             Award Oscar of her own (Best Actress for Network             (1976) ) and then went on to portray in the film Mommie             Dearest (1981) a real-life star, Joan Crawford, who won a Best             Actress Oscar for her performance in Mildred             Pierce (1945) . Cate Blanchett's Best             Supporting Actress Oscar win for The Aviator (2004) in her             role as Katharine Hepburn marked the first time a performer             won an Oscar for playing an Oscar-winning actress.
Country Singers
The only two actresses to win Best Actress Oscars (their         sole wins) for playing real-life country singers:
Sissy Spacek won the Best Actress Oscar for her               role as Loretta Lynn, in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
Reese Witherspoon won the Best Actress Oscar for               her role as June Carter Cash, in Walk the Line (2005)
Nuns
Actress who portrayed nuns found that it was a           mostly non-winning category for its many nominees in lead and supporting           roles:
Gladys Cooper was nominated as Best Supporting               Actress for her role as doubting Sister Vauzous in The Song               of Bernadette (1943)
Jennifer Jones won the Best Actress Oscar  for her               role as 14 year-old, 19th century saintly French peasant girl Bernadette               of Lourdes who claimed she had a vision of the Virgin Mary in The                  Song of Bernadette (1943)
Ingrid Bergman was nominated as Best Actress for               her role as Mother Superior Sister Benedict in The                 Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Loretta Young (nominated as Best Actress for her               role as French nun Sister Margaret who raised funds to build a               children's hospital in New England) and Celeste Holm (nominated               as Best Supporting Actress for her role as tennis-playing French               nun Sister Scolastica) in Come               to the Stable (1949)
Deborah Kerr was nominated as Best Actress for her               role as nun Sister Angela - ship-wrecked and stranded on a Pacific               island with Marine corporal Robert Mitchum in Heaven                 Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
Audrey Hepburn was nominated as Best Actress for               her role as Sister Luke who eventually renounced her vows in The                 Nun's Story (1959)
Lilia Skala was nominated as Best Supporting Actress               for her role as Mother Maria - the Mother Superior of the nunnery               in Lilies               of the Field (1963)
Peggy Wood (nominated as Best Supporting Actress               for her role as the Mother Abbess) and some count Julie Andrews               (nominated for Best Actress for her role as postulant nun Maria               turned cheerful governess to seven Von Trapp children in Austria)               in The               Sound of Music (1965)
Anne Bancroft (nominated as Best Actress for her               role as Sister Miriam Ruth - a Quebec convent's mother superior)               and Meg Tilly (nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her role               as the childlike, beatific Sister Agnes) for Agnes               of God (1985)
Susan Sarandon won the Best Actress Oscar as anti-death               penalty, real-life Catholic nun - Sister Helen Prejean, who spiritually               advised a condemned, death-row murderer (Sean Penn) in Dead                Man Walking (1995)
Meryl Streep (nominated as Best Actress for her               role as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the suspicious, domineering strict               head of a Bronx Catholic school in New York City) and Amy Adams               (nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her role as sensitive               and innocent novitiate Sister James) for Doubt               (2008)
Mediocre or Compensatory Oscar Wins:
Oscar victories for Best Actress haven't always been           for the stars' best work, either, but retroactively for an entire           body of work  - or for sympathy:
62 year old Marie Dressler's Best Actress win for Min and Bill (1930/31) was a tribute to her entire career
Bette Davis won her only two Oscars for Dangerous             (1935) and Jezebel (1938) , after being passed             over for Of Human Bondage (1934) - she  would have rather             won for her better performances in The               Letter (1940) and
Chinatown (1974)
Also, elderly nominees seem to fare better, such as            72 year-old Ruth Gordon winning the Best Supporting Actress award for Rosemary's Baby (1968), or Best Actress            winners Katharine Hepburn (after her first win at age 27), Geraldine            Page (finally winning with her eighth nomination), Jessica Tandy and            Ellen Burstyn for On Golden Pond (1981), The Trip to Bountiful            (1985), Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and Requiem for a Dream (2000).            Young nominees also do well, such as Patty Duke (in 1962), Tatum O'Neal          (in 1973), and Anna Paquin (in 1993).
The only instance of a Best Actress nomination for a science-fiction film role was Sigourney Weaver for Aliens (1986).
Best Actresses with New Screen Names: Two           actresses won the Best Actress Oscar with new screen names:
Jennifer Jones (real-name and original screen name Phylis Lee Isley), Best Actress winner for The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Ellen Burstyn (real-name Edna Rae Gillooly, and first appearing with screen name Ellen McRae), Best Actress winner for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
Reprising an Acclaimed Stage Role:
Four Best Actress winners won the Oscar for an acclaimed            stage role that they reprised on the screen:
Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday (1950)
Shirley Booth for Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)
Anne Bancroft for The Miracle Worker (1962)
Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968)
Longest Time Period Between First and Last Nomination/Win:
48 years - Katharine Hepburn was first nominated              and won Best Actress for Morning Glory (1932/33) and then 48              years later was nominated and won Best Actress for On Golden Pond              (1981) - her fourth (and last) Oscar win!
46 years - Alan Arkin was nominated as Best Actor               for The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming! (1966) and               then two years later as Best Actor for The Heart is a Lonely               Hunter (1968). Then, there was a long gap - 38 years later,               after which he won Best Supporting Actor for Little               Miss Sunshine (2006). He topped that with another six year           wait for another Best Supporting Actor nomination for Argo (2012).
41 years - Henry Fonda was first nominated in 1940              as Best Actor for
The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) ,                  and wasn't nominated again until 41 years later - when he won his                  sole Oscar (Best Actor) for On Golden Pond                    (1981)
40 years - Mickey Rooney was first nominated as              Best Actor for Babes in Arms (1939), then as Best Actor for The Human Comedy (1943), then as Best Supporting Actor for The Bold and the Brave (1956), and then as Best Supporting              Actor for The Black Stallion (1979), 40 years later, but he              didn't ever win!
39 years - Sylvester Stallone was first nominated               as Best Actor for Rocky (1976) ,           then again as Best Supporting Actor for Creed (2015)
39 years - Jack Palance was              nominated as Best Supporting Actor for Sudden Fear (1952) and              then as Best Supporting Actor for
Shane (1953) - it was a time span of 39 years from his first nomination to his              eventual victory as Best Supporting Actor for City Slickers (1991)
38 years - Helen Hayes had              to wait 38 years between her only Oscar nominations (both wins),               Best Actress for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931/32), and Best              Supporting Actress for Airport (1970)
37 years - Albert Finney was              first nominated as Best Actor for Tom Jones (1963) and then              received three more nominations for Best Actor: for Murder on the              Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983), and Under              the Volcano (1984) -- 37 years after his first nomination, he              received his fifth and final Oscar nomination for Best Supporting              Actor for Erin Brockovich (2000) - he never won!
Longest Gap Between First Nomination and First Winning Film:
41 years - Henry Fonda  was              first nominated in 1940 as Best Actor for
The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) ,              and didn't win an acting award (Best Actor) until 41 years later for On Golden Pond (1981),              and these were his only two career acting nominations (Note: Fonda              did receive a producing Best Picture nomination for 12              Angry Men (1957) )
32 years - Geraldine Page was first nominated in              1953 as Best Supporting Actress for Hondo (1953), and won Best              Actress for A Trip to Bountiful (1985), 32 years later; she was the only actress with seven unsuccessful nominations (in both categories) before finally winning Best Actress with nomination # 8
28 years - Paul Newman was first nominated in 1958              as Best Actor for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) ,              and won Best Actor for The Color of Money (1986), 28 years              later; he was the only actor with six unsuccessful Best Actor nominations before finally winning Best Actor with nomination # 7 - and he later added another nomination as Best Actor for Nobody's Fool (1994), and his first  Best Supporting Actor nomination also came later for Road to Perdition (2002)
25 years - Shirley MacLaine was first nominated in              1958 as Best Actress for Some Came Running (1958), and won              Best Actress for Terms of Endearment (1983) ,              25 years later
20 years - Al Pacino was first nominated in 1972              as Best Supporting Actor for
The Godfather (1972) ,              and won Best Actor for Scent of a Woman (1992), 20 years later
20 years - John Wayne was first nominated in 1949              as Best Actor for Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), and won Best Actor              for True Grit (1969), 20 years later
18 years - Ronald Colman was first nominated in 1929/30              as Best Actor for Bulldog Drummond (1929/30), and won Best              Actor for A Double Life (1947), 18 years later
17 years - Gregory Peck was first nominated in 1945              as Best Actor for The Keys of the Kingdom (1945), and won Best              Actor for
Hilary Swank (2 career nominations and wins): Boys              Don't Cry (1999), Million Dollar Baby (2004)
also
Helen Hayes (2 career nominations and wins): Best Actress for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931/32), and Best Supporting Actress for Airport (1970)
Female Performers with Oscars in Both Lead and Supporting               Categories: (in order of accomplishment)
Helen Hayes, Best Actress (The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931/32)), Best Supporting Actress (Airport (1970))
Ingrid Bergman, Best Actress ( Gaslight (1944) and Anastasia (1956)), Best Supporting Actress (Murder on the Orient Express (1974))
Maggie Smith, Best Actress (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)), Best Supporting Actress (California Suite (1978))
Meryl Streep, Best Supporting Actress (Kramer                 vs. Kramer (1979)), Best Actress (Sophie's Choice (1982), The                 Iron Lady (2011))
Jessica Lange, Best Supporting Actress (Tootsie (1982)), Best Actress (Blue Sky (1994))
Three Films With the Most Oscars for Acting:
To date, no film has won all four of the Academy Awards for acting.
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - 12 nominations total, 4 acting nominations, 3 acting wins: Vivien              Leigh (Best Actress), Karl Malden (Best Supporting Actor), Kim Hunter              (Best Supporting Actress)
Network (1976) - 10              nominations total, 5 acting nominations, 3 acting wins: Peter Finch              (Best Actor), Faye Dunaway (Best Actress), Beatrice Straight (Best              Supporting Actress)
Winning Co-Stars: Best Actor and Best Actress in            the Same Film
Seven films have won in both the leading actor and leading            actress categories:
Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in
Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster in The              Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt in As Good As It              Gets (1997)
Films With Two Best Actress Nominations:
All About Eve (1950) - Anne Baxter and Bette Davis (both lost to Judy Holliday in Born              Yesterday (1950))
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) - Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn (both lost to Simone Signoret              in Room at the Top (1959))
The Turning Point (1977) - Anne Bancroft and              Shirley MacLaine (both lost to Diane Keaton in
Terms of Endearment (1982) - Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine (MacLaine won)
Thelma & Louise (1991) - Susan Sarandon              and Geena Davis (both lost to Jodie Foster in The              Silence of the Lambs (1991) )
Multiple Nominations:
No single performer has ever won two performing             awards in the same year. There have been a total of eleven performers             who are double nominees - that means that they have received two             acting nominations in the same year. Three were actors and eight             were actresses (wins are marked with *). (See the Best Supporting Actor and Best              Supporting Actress pages for further information on double nominees.) Of the 11 performers (actors and actresses) who've been recognized with nods for two performances in the same year, seven of them ended up winning one of the trophies.
Double nominees usually win in one category. Often,             actresses have been nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting             Actress for different films            in the same year. In 1938, Fay Bainter received the first simultaneous nominations of any performer in lead and supporting categories            (wins are marked with *). Three of the eight            actresses won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, and only one (Holly Hunter) of the            eight won the Best Actress Oscar, while Sigourney Weaver, Emma Thompson,            Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett lost both bids.
Fay Bainter (Best Actress for White Banners (1938) and Best Supporting Actress for Jezebel (1938) *)
Teresa Wright (Best Actress for The Pride of the              Yankees (1942) and Best Supporting Actress for Mrs. Miniver                (1942)*)
Jessica Lange (Best Actress for Frances (1982) and Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie (1982)*)
Sigourney Weaver (Best Actress for Gorillas in              the Mist (1987) and Best Supporting Actress for Working Girl                (1987))
Holly Hunter (Best Actress for The Piano (1993)*              and Best Supporting Actress for The Firm (1993))
Emma Thompson (Best Actress for The Remains of              the Day (1993) and Best Supporting Actress for In the Name                of the Father (1993))
Julianne Moore (Best Actress for Far From Heaven              (2002) and Best Supporting Actress for The Hours (2002))
Cate Blanchett (Best Actress for Elizabeth: The                 Golden Age (2007) and Best Supporting Actress for I'm                 Not There. (2007))
Multiple Nominations for the Same Character:
As of 2015, there were five actors             who were  nominated twice for playing the same character             in two different films. (See section             on Best Actor.) The sixth performer to accomplish the same feat,             Cate Blanchett, remains the only actress             to be nominated twice for playing the same character role             in two different         films:
Cate Blanchett (as Best Actress) for her roles               as Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998) and  in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
Two sets of actresses have  been nominated for Best Actress for the same role in different films, in different years:
Janet Gaynor and Judy Garland as Vicki Lester in A Star is Born              (1937) and
Jeanne Eagels (nominated post-humously) and Bette Davis as Leslie Crosbie in The Letter (1929) and The Letter (1940)
Both groups of actresses playing the same character in the same film lost their races:
Kate Winslet (as Best Actress) and Gloria Stuart (as Best Supporting Actress) for playing  young Rose DeWitt Bukater and an older Rose DeWitt Bukater respectively, in Titanic (1997)
Kate Winslet (as Best Supporting Actress) and Judi Dench (as Best Actress) for playing              young Iris Murdoch and an older Irish Murdoch, respectively, in Iris (2001)
The only time two female performers were nominated for            the same character (Queen Elizabeth I) in different films in the same year was:
Cate Blanchett (as Best Actress) for Elizabeth              (1998)
Judi Dench (as Best Supporting Actress) for Shakespeare              in Love (1998)
Related Winners and Nominees: Husbands-Wives, etc.
Frances McDormand won the Best Actress Oscar for Fargo            (1996) , thereby becoming the first star to win in a film            directed by a spouse, husband Joel Coen. Her brother-in-law, Ethan Coen,            was the film's producer.
Other wives nominated for films made by their            director husbands:
Melina Mercouri, nominated for Best Actress for Never              on Sunday (1960), was directed by husband Jules Dassin
Joanne Woodward, nominated as Best Actress for Rachel,           Rachel (1968), was directed by husband Paul Newman
Gena Rowlands, nominated for Best Actress for A              Woman Under the Influence (1974), was directed by husband John              Cassavetes
Julie Andrews, nominated for Best Actress for Victor/Victoria              (1982), was directed by husband Blake Edwards
To date, no female directors have had their starring            husbands receive an Oscar nod. The only married couples who acted together in the same film with each spouse being nominated for an award were:
Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, nominated as Best Actor and Best Actress for The Guardsman (1932) - both lost
Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester, nominated as Best Actor              and Best Supporting Actress  for Witness for the Prosecution                (1957) - both lost
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (win), nominated as Best Actor and            Best Actress  for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
The only divorced couple to co-star in a film with each receiving an Oscar nomination:
William Powell and Carole Lombard, Best Actor and Best Actress nominations for My Man Godfrey (1936)
Sisterly Oscar Competition:
Twice in Academy Awards history, two sisters have been             nominated for the same category during the same year:
Joan Fontaine  (Best Actress winner for Suspicion            (1941))  and sister Olivia de Havilland (Best Actress nominee for Hold Back the Dawn (1941))
Lynn Redgrave (Best Actress nominee for Georgy                 Girl (1966)), and sister Vanessa Redgrave (Best Actress                 nominee for Morgan! (1966)) - this time, neither                 of the sisters won.
Joan Fontaine   (Best Actress winner for Suspicion            (1941)) and double-winner sister Olivia de Havilland (for To          Each His Own (1946) and The Heiress (1949) ) are the only sisters to win "Best Actress" Oscars.
Liza Minnelli, who won Best Actress for Cabaret               (1972) ,             was the only Oscar winner to have parents who both received Oscars:
Judy Garland (mother) received an Honorary miniature "Juvenile" Oscar in 1939 for The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Vincente Minnelli (father) won Best Director for Gigi (1958)
African-American (or Black) Notables:
There have been only ten African-American             actresses nominated for Best Actress (and only one win, in 2001).             All nominees were nominated only once:
#
Quvenzhané Wallis
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
In total, there have only been 23 different African-American             (or black) performers nominated for the top award (either Best Actor             or Best Actress). Only fourteen awards have been won by             African-Americans (or blacks) in both lead and supporting categories             (four Best Actor, one Best Actress, four Best Supporting Actor, and             five Best Supporting Actress). Only five black performers have won             the Oscar in the lead category (four Best Actor, one Best Actress).
Only one African-American           actress has ever  won the Best Actress Oscar:
Halle Berry (with her first nomination) for Monster's              Ball (2001)
Five of the 20 acting nominations in 2004 and 2006 were            African-American nominees. This bested the record of three nominated            blacks that occurred in three different years (2001, 1985, and 1972):
2006
2001: Halle Berry for Monster's Ball, Denzel              Washington for Training Day, and Will Smith for Ali
1985: Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery and Oprah              Winfrey for The Color Purple
1972: Diana Ross for Lady Sings the Blues,              and Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield for Sounder
In three instances, African-Americans have won two             of the four acting prizes:
2006: Forest Whitaker for The                 Last King of Scotland,           Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
2004: Morgan Freeman for Million             Dollar Baby, Jamie Foxx for Ray
2001: Halle Berry for Monster's Ball,             Denzel Washington for Training Day
The only Caucasians who portrayed black characters and were nominated (but didn't win) for Academy Awards:
Jeanne Crain, Best Actress for Pinky (1949)
Flora Robson, Best Supporting Actress for Saratoga Trunk (1946)
Susan Kohner, Best Supporting Actress for Imitation of Life (1959)
Latino, Asian and Other Minority (or Non-English) Performers or Nationalities:
Note: In 1985, all ten of the Best Actor/Actress            nominees were American-born - the first time in Oscar history. Also, in 1964 and in 2007, all four winners of the performance/acting Oscars were non-Americans.
There have been very few nominations/wins of ethnic/minority            female performers (or non-English) in the Best Actress category:
8 - French-speaking actress Marion Cotillard               was again nominated as Best Actress for her role as  desperate               Belgian factory worker Sandra Bya in Two Days, One Night (Deux               Jours, Une Nuit) (2014, Fr.) - this marked the eighth Best               Actress nominee for a French-speaking  role, the most foreign-language               representation in any acting category.
7 - 85 year old French actress               Emmanuelle Riva was nominated as Best Actress for her role as ailing               stroke victim Anne in Amour               (2012, Fr./Germ./Austria)
6 - French actress Marion Cotillard was nominated               (and won) as Best Actress for her role as famed tempestuous singer               Edith Piaf (Piaf's recordings were lip-synched by Cotillard) in La               Vie en Rose (2007, Fr.) - she became the second French actress               to win in the category
Spanish actress Penelope Cruz was nominated as Best              Actress for her role as single mother Raimunda in Volver (2006) - she became the first Spanish woman to be nominated for a best actress Academy Award for a   non-English speaking role
[Note: Penelope Cruz won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)]
Colombian-born Spanish actress Catalina Sandino Moreno was              nominated as Best Actress for her role as Maria, a pregnant 17-year-old              Colombian girl who agreed to be a 'drug mule', in director Joshua              Marston's Maria Full of Grace (2004)
13 year-old New Zealand/Maori teen Keisha Castle-Hughes              was nominated as Best Actress for Whale Rider (2003) - she              became the youngest nominee in the category
Mexican-born Salma Hayek was nominated as Best Actress for the lead role in Frida (2002)
Portuguese/Brazilian Fernanda Montenegro was nominated as Best              Actress for Central Station (1998) - the first Latin American actress ever nominated
Helena Bonham Carter (with a Spanish mother) was             nominated as Best Actress for The Wings of the Dove (1997)
5 - French             actress Catherine Deneuve was nominated as Best Actress for Indochine             (1992, Fr.)
4 - French             actress Isabelle Adjani was nominated as Best Actress for Camille             Claudel (1989, Fr.)
American             Sign Language actress Marlee Matlin was nominated (and won) as             Best Actress for Children of a Lesser God (1986)
Swedish             actress Ingrid Bergman was nominated as Best Actress for Autumn Sonata (1978)
Swedish             actress Liv Ullmann was nominated as Best Actress for Face to Face (1976)
3 - French             actress Marie-Christine Barrault was nominated as Best Actress             for Cousin, Cousine (1976, Fr.)
2 - French actress Isabelle               Adjani was nominated as Best Actress for The Story of Adele               H. (1975, Fr.)
Swedish             actress Liv Ullmann was nominated as Best Actress for The Emigrants (1972)
Ukrainian-born actress             Ida Kaminska was nominated as Best Actress for The Shop on Main Street (1966, Czech.)
1 - French             actress Anouk Aimee was nominated as Best Actress for A Man and             a Woman (1966, Fr.)
Italian             actress Sophia Loren was nominated as Best Actress for Marriage Italian Style (1964, It.)
Italian             actress Sophia Loren was nominated (and won) as Best Actress for Two             Women (1960, It.)
French actress Simone Signoret            was nominated (and won) as Best Actress for Room at the Top (1959,           UK) -           she became the first French actress to win the top award
Only two female Asian-Americans have been nominated             for the lead acting Oscar. The only Asian actress to win the Best             Actress Oscar (twice, in 1939 and 1951) was Vivien Leigh, whose mother             had an Irish and Indian background. Indian-born British actress Merle             Oberon (although her origins have been clouded and disputed) was             also nominated as Best Actress for The Dark Angel (1935).
White, Austrian performer Luise Rainer won a Best            Actress Oscar for playing an Asian role in The Good Earth (1937).
Some notable Canadian-born Best Actress nominees and             winners should also be noted: Mary Pickford winning for Coquette             (1928/29),             Norma Shearer winning for The Divorcee (1929/30), Marie Dressler             winning for Min and Bill (1930/31), Genevieve Bujold nominated             for Anne             of the Thousand Days (1969), and Ellen Page nominated for Juno             (2007).
Nicole Kidman was the   only Australian actress (although             US born) to win the Best Actress Oscar award, for The Hours             (2002).             Kidman was also nominated as Best Actress for her roles in Moulin             Rouge! (2001) and Rabbit             Hole (2010). Other Australian actresses nominated for Best Actress             include May Robson for Lady For a Day (1933), Judy Davis for A             Passage to India (1984), Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth:             The Golden Age (2007), and Naomi Watts for 21 Grams (2004).
Foreign-Language Performances to Win Major Oscars:
Only           two actresses have won the Best Actress Oscar for a foreign-language             performance:
Sophia Loren was the first foreign-language               performing actress to win an Oscar (Best Actress) for a               foreign-language film, Two                Women  (1960, It.)
French actress Marion Cotillard  won Best Actress for the French film La Vie en Rose (2007, Fr.) - it was  the first acting Oscar awarded to a French-language film
[Note: Some lists also include Marlee Matlin               for using American Sign Language (ASL) for her Oscar-winning role           in Children of a Lesser God (1986)]
The first acting Oscar winner from South Africa was              Charlize Theron as Best Actress for Monster (2003). [She              was also nominated for Best Actress for North Country (2005).] In              the same year of 2003, Theron and Djimon Hounsou were the first African-born              performers  to be nominated for an Oscar. Benin native Djimon Hounsou              was nominated (and lost) twice: for roles in In America (2003),              and Blood Diamond (2006).
Other Notables:
Curiously, in the decade of the 1950s, none of the Best            Actress Oscar winners appeared in a Best Picture winning film!
The only stars to win a Best Actress Oscar in a musical film were:
Julie Andrews for her role as the title character in Mary Poppins (1964)
Barbra Streisand for her role as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (1968)
Liza Minnelli for her role as Sally Bowles in Cabaret (1972)
Winning Performances Portraying Royalty:
Charles Laughton, Best Actor as King Henry VIII in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1932/33)
Yul Brynner, Best Actor as King Mongkut of Siam in The King and I (1956)
Ingrid Bergman,  Best Actress as Anastasia (possibly daughter of murdered Russian czar Nicholas II) in Anastasia (1956)
Katharine Hepburn, Best Actress as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter (1968)
Helen Mirren, Best Actress as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006)
Silent Film Oscar Winners:
The only two performers to win Oscars (although the             awards weren't officially called "Oscars" yet) for silent             film performances were:
Emil Jannings: Best Actor Oscar winner for The              Last Command (1927/28) and The Way of All Flesh (1927/28)
Janet Gaynor: Best Actress Oscar winner for
Sunrise (1927/28) , Seventh Heaven (1927/28), and Street Angel (1927/28) - she was also the only star to win the Best Actress Oscar honoring performances in three films in the same year
Youngest and Oldest Best Actresses: Nominees and               Winners
Note: The calculated time is from date of birth to the            date of either (1) the nominations announcement, or (2) the date of            the awards ceremony.
Youngest Best Actress Nominee