It is a truth universally acknowledged that not every actor nominated for an Oscar can take home Academy gold – and the 10 actors on this list are no exception. What sets these talented folks apart, however, is that they are the most Oscar-nominated actors of all time, yet have somehow never once taken home gold in one of the ceremony’s acting categories. One actor holds the record for most nominations in a single acting category, while another has been recognized in categories outside of acting. Of the top two contenders tied for most nominations (and losses), one has a serious shot at another nomination in the form of a role she’s already won a Tony for.
Sadly, of the talented actors and actresses on this list, five are no longer living and therefore won’t be able to win the coveted prize. The other five, however, still have a shot at nabbing their first Oscars, and since all of them have been nominated within the last seven years – and for some truly great performances – there’s a strong chance that this list will soon have to be updated. Until then, here are the 10 most Oscar-nominated actors who have never won the award, in order of how many nominations they’ve received over the course of their careers.
10
Albert Finney: 5 Nominations
The great Albert Finney passed away in 2019 at the age of 82, but by the end of his career, he’d been nominated for five Academy Awards. His Best Actor nomination streak began in 1964 with Tom Jones and continued with Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983), and Under the Volcano (1984). He was then nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his work in 2001’s Erin Brockovich, a film Julia Roberts thankfully found a lot less “dumb” than another she almost didn’t do. Though the latter would be his final nomination, Finney went on to appear in more major films and franchises, including Big Fish, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, two Bourne films, and Skyfall. He was the rare actor who could support as well as he led, playing Ebenezer Scrooge and Daddy Warbucks as easily as the timid lawyer opposite Roberts’ foul-mouthed Brockovich.
Though this list has been capped at 10 actors, it’s important to note that Arthur Kennedy was also nominated for five Oscars before his death in 1990. Though he’s perhaps best known for his stage work as Biff in Elia Kazan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning production of Death of a Salesman, he became known as an eminent character actor on screen as well. Curiously, he had the inverse of Finney’s nominations, with four Best Supporting Actor nominations for Champion (1949), Trial (1955), Peyton Place (1957), and Some Came Running (1958) and one Best Actor nomination for 1951’s Bright Victory.
9
Irene Dunne: 5 Nominations
As Kate Winslet’s character in The Holiday can attest, Irene Dunne is fantastic. That is why, like Finney and Kennedy, she scored five Oscar nominations over the course of her acting career. What sets her apart from the actresses on this list, however, is that all five of her Oscar nominations were for Best Actress, whereas the rest have been nominated for both leading and supporting roles (with the exception of #5, who holds a special record). Dunne was nominated for her work in Cimarron (1931), Theodora Goes Wild (1936), The Awful Truth (1938), Love Affair (1939), and I Remember Mama (1948), with her last film being 1952’s It Grows on Trees. She then drifted away from acting, choosing to focus on philanthropy and political work after losing interest in the roles she was offered as she aged. Her last television appearance was in 1962’s General Electric Theater 28 years before her death in 1990.
8
Michelle Williams: 5 Nominations
It seems like every time we turn around, Michelle Williams is being nominated for another brilliant performance, yet shockingly, she’s never won an Oscar. Her nomination streak began with 2006’s Brokeback Mountain, which she starred in opposite then-boyfriend Heath Ledger, and continued with 2011’s Blue Valentine, 2012’s My Week with Marilyn, 2017’s Manchester by the Sea, and 2023’s The Fabelmans. Though she hasn’t yet been recognized by the Academy, she did take home a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe – a performance that cemented her as an acting contender regardless of movie genre. Fortunately, what her movie performances lack in Oscars, her television work has made up for in Globes. Williams took one home in 2020 for her work in Fosse/Verdon and another in 2026 for Dying for Sex. She may not be as highly decorated as some of the other nominees on this list – and she’s certainly made at least one stinker – but she is slated to appear in Untitled Damien Chazelle Project, so a sixth Oscar nomination may very well be incoming.
7
Bradley Cooper: 5 Nominations
It’s hard to believe that the goofball from the Hangover movies has been nominated for five acting Oscars, but if Bradley Cooper has proven anything over the course of his dynamic career, it’s that he’s more versatile than rom-coms like Wedding Crashers and Failure to Launch would have you believe. His impressive nomination streak kicked off with 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook, and though he didn’t win for his performance, his co-star Jennifer Lawrence did, taking home the Oscar for Best Actress at only 22 years old. Cooper followed Playbook up with nominations for American Hustle, American Sniper, A Star is Born, and his tour-de-force performance as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro. The most impressive part of Cooper’s resume is that he’s actually been nominated for 12 Academy Awards – five for acting, one for Best Adapted Screenplay (A Star is Born), one for Best Original Screenplay (Maestro), and five for Best Motion Picture (American Sniper, A Star is Born, Joker, Nightmare Alley, and Maestro). In other words, he remains a star on the rise and a future Oscar contender, especially with another directing credit now under his belt.
6
Annette Bening: 5 Nominations
Of all the performers on this list, Annette Bening’s inclusion might be the most shocking. The prolific actress has appeared in over 50 films and has been Oscar-nominated for five of them: The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia, The Kids Are All Right, and Nyad. While it doesn’t compute that Bening hasn’t taken home any Oscar gold (yet), it’s worth noting that she did win Golden Globes for both Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right. Though she won for Best Actress in the Comedy or Musical category, her dramatic work in the latter is a perfect example of her willingness to mine the depths of her own humanity to fully explore her character’s raw truth. Her effortless ability to then make the viewer laugh at the same character illustrates her inherent range, cementing her place alongside fellow cinematic masters Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep. Bening’s impressive filmography and commitment to authenticity can only mean that a sixth Oscar nomination – and hopefully her first win – can’t be far behind.
5
Thelma Ritter: 6 Nominations
Unlike every other actress on this list, Thelma Ritter was only nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category, and even though she passed away in 1969, she still holds the record for most Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations without a win. She was nominated four years in a row for her work in All About Eve (1951), The Mating Season (1952), With a Song in My Heart (1953), and Pickup on South Street (1954) and was nominated again in 1960 for Pillow Talk and 1963 for Birdman of Alcatraz. Though she never won an Oscar, she did win a Tony Award for her work as Marthy Owen in New Girl in Town, this time in the Best Actress category. She wasn’t the sole winner of the award, however; she shared it with her co-star Gwen Verdon, who would go on to marry the show’s choreographer, Bob Fosse.
4
Amy Adams: 6 Nominations
Amy Adams has been gunning for her Oscar since 2005, when she co-starred in Phil Morrison’s independent family dramedy, Junebug. Since then, she’s been nominated for her work in Doubt, The Fighter, The Master, American Hustle, and Vice, reaching Leonardo DiCaprio-level anticipation from viewers who want her to finally win. Fortunately, like some of her fellow actresses on this list, Adams is a Golden Globe winner, with her work in American Hustle and Big Eyes being recognized in the Best Actress – Comedy or Musical category. She continues to challenge herself, singing her way through sequels like Disenchanted, turning into dogs in Nightbitch, and even joining Ryan Gosling in the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter. Given that she’s only 51 at the time of writing, Adams has plenty of time to finally nab Oscar gold, especially given her wide range and commitment to diverse projects.
Only one other actress has been nominated for six acting Oscars and not won, and that is Deborah Kerr, who starred in such films as An Affair to Remember, From Here to Eternity, and The King and I. She was nominated for the latter two (despite not doing her own singing in King) as well as Edward, My Son, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, Separate Tables, and The Sundowners. Though she never received an official Oscar for her work, Kerr was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1994, which recognized her for her outstanding contributions to cinema. Fun fact: the most-nominated actress who has never won (and happens to be #1 on this list) gave Kerr her Honorary Oscar!
3
Richard Burton: 7 Nominations
Richard Burton is so much more than the man Elizabeth Taylor married twice – he was also nominated for seven Oscars: six in the Best Actor category and one in Best Supporting. Like Thelma Ritter, he experienced some back-to-back success, with his first nominations coming in 1953 and 1954 for My Cousin Rachel and The Robe. He was then nominated in 1965 and 1966 for Becket and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, with his final three nominations coming in 1967 (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), 1970 (Anne of the Thousand Days), and 1978 (Equus). Also like Ritter, Burton was a fixture of the stage and took home a Tony Award for his role as King Arthur in 1961’s Camelot. He was famously the Antony to Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra, and following their scandalous affair, they married and divorced twice. Unfortunately for Burton, he fell just short of being the most Oscar-nominated actor of his time – an honor that went to none other than…
Despite receiving an Honorary Oscar in 2003 for his vast body of work, Peter O’Toole has been kept on this list given that he remains tied for having the most Oscar nominations in movie history without a single win. The veteran actor was nominated for Lawrence of Arabia (1963), Becket (1965), The Lion in Winter (1969), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1970), The Ruling Class (1973), The Stunt Man (1981), My Favorite Year (1982), and Venus (2006), all in the Best Actor category. His performance in Lawrence of Arabia is considered one of the greatest in film history, though contemporary viewers are more likely to remember him as Priam in Troy, the King in Stardust, or as the voice of feared food critic Anton Ego in Ratatouille. Though O’Toole died in 2013 at the age of 81, his legacy as one of cinema’s greatest actors lives on – and the only way he’ll be trumped is if the next actress on this list finally manages to take home a well-deserved statuette.
1
Glenn Close: 8 Nominations
Tied with O’Toole for the title of most Oscar-nominated actor without a win is cinematic legend Glenn Close. When she took home the 2019 Golden Globe for The Wife, it felt like her Best Actress Oscar might finally be at hand. Alas, she lost to Olivia Colman, whose work in The Favourite ultimately won over Academy voters. In addition to The Wife, Close has been Oscar-nominated for The World According to Garp, The Big Chill, The Natural, Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs, and Hillbilly Elegy. With a resume that also includes Cruella de Vil in Disney’s live-action 101 Dalmatians and Eleanor in The Lion in Winter (which nabbed her a Golden Globe), it’s astonishing that Close has yet to win an Oscar. Fortunately, her turn in the upcoming Sunset Boulevard will see her step back into the shoes of Norma Desmond, a role that won her her third Tony Award back in 1995. If Close manages to take home Oscar gold for the big-screen adaptation, then she would only need a Grammy to achieve full-blown EGOT status, like her Hook director Steven Spielberg.
No matter what happens from here, every actor on this list has cemented their place in cinematic history, producing an impressive body of work that far exceeds the glamor of a single gold statue. But if the five who are still living continue to vie for acting’s top prize….who do you think is most likely to win Oscar gold first? Sound off below!
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