who has won the most academy awards for best actress

Winning an Oscar is the highest award any actress can get. Winning one is a huge honor in itself, but throughout the history of cinema, there have been cases when a certain actress managed to win more than one Academy Award. The list of the most successful actresses includes a lot of well-known, beloved names.

18 Hilary Ann Swank 

Hilary Swank is an American actress famous for her award winning performances in films like ‘Million Dollar Baby’ and ‘Boys Don’t Cry’. The recipient of Academy Award for Best Actress twice, this talented actress is open to experimentation with roles and does not shy away from playing unglamorous characters. Her interest in acting was evident from her childhood when at the age of eight she announced to her family that she was going to be an actress. She had a difficult childhood, plagued with poverty, and her story is a classic example of how one can surmount life’s challenges with hard work and determination to achieve great success.

17 Luise Rainer 

Luise Rainer, German:12 January 1910 – 30 December 2014) was a German-American-British film actress. She was the first thespian to win multiple Academy Awards and the first to win back-to-back; at the time of her death, thirteen days shy of her 105th birthday, she was the longest-lived Oscar recipient, a superlative that has not been exceeded as of 2022

16 Helen Hayes

 MacArthur (née Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award (an EGOT). She was also the first person to win the Triple Crown of Acting; as of December 2020.
she won a Best Actress Academy Award for The Sin of Madelon Claudet and the airport.

15.Dianne Evelyn Wiest

Dianne Evelyn Wiest is an American actress. She has won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress for 1986’s Hannah and Her Sisters and 1994’s Bullets over Broadway (both of which were directed by Woody Allen), 

She is best known for her motherly roles in films, such as ‘Parenthood,’ ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ ‘The Birdcage’ among others. Born and raised in the US, she was a dancer since childhood and studied theater later.

14 Sally Margaret Field

Sally Margaret Field is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, During the 1980s she won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice for Norma Rae (1979) and Places in the Heart (1984),Sally Field is an actress who is most remembered for her dramatic roles in both films and television.

13 Renée Kathleen Zellweger

Renée Kathleen Zellweger is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid actresses by 2007

12 Shelley Winters 

Shelley Winters was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for The Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue, and received nominations for A Place in the Sun and The Poseidon Adventure.

11 Glenda May Jackson  

Glenda May Jackson CBE (born 9 May 1936) is an English actress and politician. She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: for her role as Gudrun Brangwen in the romantic drama Women in Love (1970); and again for her role as Vickie Allessio in the romantic comedy A Touch of Class (1973).

10 jodie foster

Two-time Academy winner Jodie Foster is a veteran actress, director, and producer held in high regard in Hollywood for her acting skills. Beginning her career as a child model at the age of three in 1965. She Foster moved to act two years later and debuted in the sitcom Mayberry R.F.D. in the late 1960s.

9 Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor 

DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She then became the world’s highest paid movie star in the 1960s, remaining a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute named her the seventh-greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood cinema.

8 Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland

 DBE July 1, 1916 – July 26, 2020) was a British-born naturalized American actress who lived in France for most of her lifetime. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actors of her time. At the time of her death in 2020 at age 104, she was the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner and was widely considered as being the last surviving major star from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Olivia de Havilland winning two Best Actress Oscars (for 1946's “To Each His Own” and 1949's “The Heiress”).

7 Maggie Smith

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than 60 films and 70 plays. She is one of the few artists to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having received highest achievement for film, television and theatre, winning two Academy Awards, Smith won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role of the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and California Suite (1978)

10 Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has earned worldwide acclaim for her work in theater, cinema, and television. She began her career as a model and was discovered by film producer Dino De Laurentiis while modeling for Wilhelmina modeling agency. Lange made her film debut in the 1976 flick ‘King Kong,’ for which she won her first Golden Globe Award. She went on to act in many other movies including ‘Tootsie’, ‘Country’, ‘Music Box’, ‘Sweet Dreams’, ‘Frances’, ‘Grey Gardens’, and ‘Blue Sky’, to name a few. Over the course of her extensive career, she has won several prestigious awards including the Academy Award. In fact, she is one of the 26 actresses to earn an Academy Award for a comedic role. In addition to being an actress, Lange is also a professional photographer who has her artwork displayed in numerous galleries like Howard Greenberg Gallery, Butler Institute of American Art, Rosegallery, Polk Museum of Art, Centro Cultural de Cascais and A Gallery for Fine Photography. Currently, she is a UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador who specializes in HIV/AIDS in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Russia. A less known fact about the American artiste is that she has also contributed to a number of songs as a singer.

6 Jane Seymour Fonda

Jane Seymour Fonda is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, 
1971 klute and 1979 coming home for best actress

5 Catherine Elise Blanchett

  born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation,  she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. Blanchett is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
77th Academy Awards (2004): Best Supporting Actress, win, The Aviator
86th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actress, win, Blue Jasmine

4 Ruth Elizabeth

Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical films, suspense horror, and occasional comedies, although her greater successes were in romantic dramas. A recipient of two Academy Awards, she was the first thespian to accrue ten nominations.

4 Frances Louise McDormand

Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. She has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and one Tony Award, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting". Additionally, she has received two Golden Globe Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Although primarily recognized for her roles in small-budget independent films, McDormand's worldwide box office gross exceeds $2.2 billion helped by her appearances in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)

3 Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman (29 August 1915 – 29 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.With a career spanning five decades, she is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cinematic history

2 Mary Louise

Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a record 21 Academy Award nominations, winning three, and a record 32 Golden Globe Award nominations, winning eight. She has also received two British Academy Film Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and six Grammy Awards.

1 Katharine Houghton Hepburn

Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress of film, stage and television. Hepburn's career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. Her work was in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer. In 1999, Hepburn was named the greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute