The biggest 'losers' in Oscar history

During a recent chat, my Envelope colleague Pete Hammond mentioned that Meryl Streep, who is the most nominated actor in the history of the Academy Awards (she recently extended her record to 15 with a lead actress nod for "Doubt"), often humorously but accurately downplays that fact by countering: "I'm also the biggest loser in Oscar history — I've lost 12 times!"

As someone who can periodically be a bit "glass half-empty" myself, that stat piqued my interest, and I decided to explore who some of the other biggest "losers" were/are — a list that has never before been compiled. It was a painstaking process, but I've now identified every person who has been nominated for and lost an acting Oscar more than once, and listed them below for your viewing pleasure. (Their number of Oscar "losses" is listed in red.)

I guess there are worse lists that one could be on, no?

• 12  Meryl Streep (of 15, with 1 still TBD)

• 9  Jack Nicholson (of 12), Laurence Olivier (of 10)

• 8  Katharine Hepburn (of 12), Bette Davis (of 10), Paul Newman (of 9), Peter O'Toole (of 8)

• 7   Spencer Tracy (of 9), Al Pacino (of 8), Geraldine Page (of 8), Richard Burton (of 7)

• 6   Marlon Brando (of 8), Jack Lemmon (of 8), Greer Garson (of 7), Deborah Kerr (of 6), Thelma Ritter (of 6)

• 5  Jane Fonda (of 7), Dustin Hoffman (of 7), Ellen Burstyn (of 6), Judi Dench (of 6), Robert Duvall (of 6), Vanessa Redgrave (of 6), Norma Shearer (of 6), Sissy Spacek (of 6), Kate Winslet (of 6, with 1 still TBD), Glenn Close (of 5), Irene Dunne (of 5), Albert Finney (of 5), Arthur Kennedy (of 5)

• 4  Ingrid Bergman (of 7), Michael Caine (of 6), Robert De Niro (of 6), Jessica Lange (of 6), Maggie Smith (of 6), Anne Bancroft (of 5), Cate Blanchett (of 5), Susan Hayward (of 5), Audrey Hepburn (of 5), Jennifer Jones (of 5), Shirley MacLaine (of 5), Paul Muni (of 5), Gregory Peck (of 5), Susan Sarandon (of 5), Jimmy Stewart (of 5), Jane Alexander (of 4), Warren Beatty (of 4), Charles Boyer (of 4), Jeff Bridges (of 4), Montgomery Clift (of 4), Greta Garbo (of 4), Ed Harris (of 4), Marsha Mason (of 4), Julianne Moore (of 4), Agnes Moorehead (of 4), Claude Rains (of 4), Mickey Rooney (of 4), Rosalind Russell (of 4), Barbara Stanwyck (of 4)

• 3  Gary Cooper (of 5), Olivia de Havilland (of 5), Gene Hackman (of 5), Tom Hanks (of 5), Fredric March (of 5), Sean Penn (of 5, with 1 still TBD), Elizabeth Taylor (of 5), Denzel Washington (of 5), Ethel Barrymore (of 4), Julie Christie (of 4), Morgan Freeman (of 4), Lee Grant (of 4), Anthony Hopkins (of 4), Holly Hunter (of 4), Alec Guinness (of 4), William Hurt (of 4), Walter Huston (of 4), Diane Keaton (of 4), Ben Kingsley (of 4), Burt Lancaster (of 4), Frances McDormand (of 4), George C. Scott (of 4), Maureen Stapleton (of 4), Emma Thompson (of 4), Jon Voight (of 4), Robin Williams (of 4), Joanne Woodward (of 4), Jane Wyman (of 4), Joan Allen (of 3), Annette Bening (of 3), Charles Bickford (of 3), Dyan Cannon (of 3), Gladys Cooper (of 3), Tom Cruise (of 3), Johnny Depp (of 3), Leonardo DiCaprio (of 3), Kirk Douglas (of 3), Edith Evans (of 3), Diane Ladd (of 3), Angela Lansbury (of 3), Piper Laurie (of 3), Laura Linney (of 3), James Mason (of 3), Marcello Mastroianni (of 3), Eleanor Parker (of 3), Michelle Pfeiffer (of 3), William Powell (of 3), Gloria Swanson (of 3), Sigourney Weaver (of 3), Clifton Webb (of 3), Debra Winger (of 3), Natalie Wood (of 3)

• 2  Jodie Foster (of 4), Glenda Jackson (of 4), Anthony Quinn (of 4), Peter Ustinov (of 4), Shelley Winters (of 4), Julie Andrews  (of 3), Alan Arkin (of 3), Fay Bainter (of 3), Kathy Bates (of 3), Humphrey Bogart (of 3), Joan Crawford (of 3), Faye Dunaway (of 3), Clark Gable (of 3), James Cagney (of 3), Charles Coburn (of 3), Claudette Colbert (of 3), Ronald Colman (of 3), Bing Crosby (of 3), Russell Crowe (of 3), Jose Ferrer (of 3), Joan Fontaine (of 3), Wendy Hiller (of 3), William Holden (of 3), Celeste Holm (of 3), Anjelica Huston (of 3), Tommy Lee Jones (of 3), Martin Landau (of 3), Charles Laughton (of 3), Walter Matthau (of 3), Helen Mirren (of 3), Jack Palance (of 3), Anne Revere (of 3), Julia Roberts (of 3), Geoffrey Rush (of 3), Maximilian Schell (of 3), Claire Trevor (of 3),  Teresa Wright (of 3), Gig Young (of 3), Ann-Margret (of 2), Isabelle Adjani (of 2), Eddie Albert (of 2), Brenda Blethyn (of 2), Beulah Bondi (of 2), Leslie Caron (of 2), Ruth Chatterton (of 2), Jill Clayburgh (of 2), Lee J. Cobb (of 2), Tom Courtenay (of 2), Joan Cusack (of 2), Willem Dafoe (of 2), Judy Davis (of 2), James Dean (of 2), Melinda Dillon (of 2), Mildred Dunnock (of 2), Charles Durning (of 2), Peter Falk (of 2), Richard Farnsworth (of 2), Ralph Fiennes (of 2), Vincent Gardenia (of 2), John Garfield (of 2), Judy Garland (of 2), Cary Grant (of 2), Richard Harris (of 2), Dennis Hopper (of 2), Djimon Hounsou (of 2), Leslie Howard  (of 2), John Hurt (of 2), Madeline Kahn  (of 2), Catherine Keener (of 2), Cecil Kellaway (of 2), Shirley Knight (of 2), Elsa Lanchester (of 2), Jude Law (of 2), John Lithgow (of 2), John Malkovich (of 2), Mary McDonnell (of 2), Ian McKellen (of 2), Burgess Meredith (of 2), Bette Midler (of 2), Sylvia Miles (of 2), Sal Mineo (of 2), Robert Montgomery (of 2), Frank Morgan (of 2), Samantha Morton (of 2), J. Carrol Naish (of 2), Nick Nolte (of 2), Edward Norton (of 2), Arthur O'Connell (of 2), Maria Ouspenskaya (of 2), Joaquin Phoenix (of 2), Walter Pidgeon (of 2), Marjorie Rambeau (of 2), Basil Rathbone  (of 2), Lynn Redgrave (of 2), Joyce Redman (of 2), Miranda Richardson (of 2), Ralph Richardson (of 2), Gena Rowlands (of 2), Winona Ryder (of 2), Roy Scheider (of 2), Peter Sellers (of 2), Talia Shire (of 2), Jean Simmons (of 2), Will Smith (of 2), Kim Stanley (of 2), Akim Tamiroff (of 2), Billy Bob Thornton (of 2), John Travolta (of 2), Liv Ullmann (of 2), Julie Walters (of 2), Jack Warden (of 2), Emily Watson (of 2), James Whitmore (of 2), May Whitty (of 2), Gene Wilder (of 2), Tom Wilkinson (of 2), James Woods (of 2), Monty Wooley (of 2)

• NOTE  Marisa Tomei has lost 1 of 3, with 1 still TBD; Philip Seymour Hoffman has lost 1 of 3, with 1 still TBD;  Amy Adams has lost 1 of 2, with 1 still TBD; Penelope Cruz has lost 1 of 2, with 1 still TBD; Robert Downey, Jr. has lost 1 of 2, with 1 still TBD; Heath Ledger has lost 1 of 2, with 1 still TBD; Brad Pitt has lost 1 of 2, with 1 still TBD

---

Photo: Meryl Streep in "Doubt." (Miramax Films)

Comments

[Nicholas]

It breaks my heart that Glenn Close is a five time loser. :(

[cinephile13]

Amy Adams has only been nominated twice, not thrice. So she has lost 1 of 2 with 1 still TBD (hopefully a win!).

[Unannouncedname]

Where is Kate Winslet in all of this? She's 0 out of 6. With 1 TBD.

[Scott Feinberg]

To "Unannouncedname," Kate is not 0 for 6 yet... she's 0 for 5 with one nomination still pending, so look for her listed among those with 5 losses... for now.

[Scott Feinberg]

To "Cinephile13," thanks for catching that. It's been corrected.

[AAH]

I believe that Rosalind Russell is 0 for 4.

[Scott Feinberg]

To "AAH," thanks for catching that. It's been corrected.

[Glenn]

Where is Streisand - she has won 2 and was nommed for The Way We Were .....

[Scott Feinberg]

To "Glenn," While Streisand has indeed won 2 Oscars, but only 1 was for acting. We're only looking at acting nominations here--she's 1 for 2, which means she's only lost 1, which is why she's not included.

[TORRENCE5]

Question: Dean Stockwell is listed as losing 2 or 3, thus implying he won once. What did he win for & in what acting category? Thanks.

[TorontoTom]

Emma Thompson is not 2 for 4 in acting nominations. She's won twice but one for screenplay

[Roxanne]

I am glad they are finally putting things in prespective.

Poor Meryl lost Oscars for Oscar worhty performances such as
1) Out of Africa
2).Ironweed
3). Bridges of Madison County
4). The Devil Wears Prada
5). Adaptation
6).A Cry In The Dark
7).Silkwood.

By right Meryl should have long surpassed Katerine Hepburn record (4 Oscars for 4Leads) and should have at least gotten 7 Oscars by now.

I hope they do the right thing with Doubt. She was by far the best actress in 2008.

Hollywood, stop taking Meryl Streep for granted!

12 loses when such glorious Leads went unrewarded???!!! What has Meryl ever done to you guys to ever deserve this???!!1

[Scott Feinberg]

To "TorontoTom," While Emma Thompson was nominated for 4 acting awards, you are correct that she only won one. And "Torrences," Dean Stockwell was only nominated once (and lost), so he's been pulled from the list. Thanks for reading this so closely and picking up my typos! They are now corrected.

[Aaron]

Hey Scott (or anyone else who knows). Is there anyone in the history of the Academy Awards that has been nominated for a Razzie AND Oscar in the same year?

[brad_W]

I didn't see Morgan Freeman.. he should be listed in the 3-time losses category.

[Scott Feinberg]

To "brad_W," Thanks for catching that. It's been corrected. And to "Aaron," I'm sorry, but I don't know. At some point I'll try to look into that for a post.

[Edward L.]

Aaron: Amy Irving was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar AND the Worst Supporting Actress Razzie for Yentl!

[Ralph]

I thought Henry Fonda and John Wayne were nominated only twice each.

[Scott Feinberg]

To "Ralph,"
You are correct -- both received a third nomination for producing a best picture nominee, as well, and I mistakenly counted those, as well. Thanks for catching that!