Winning the Academy Award for Best Actor etches an actor’s name into cinema’s history as one of the greatest. However, winning it twice, or even more, places the actor in an elite category that only a select few have ever reached. It demands not only raw talent but also a combination of range, consistency, the right timing, and sometimes sheer luck. To better appreciate the difficulty in achieving multiple Best Actor Oscar wins, there has only been one actor, since the inception of the Academy Awards, to win the award three times.
As one of the “Big Five” awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the Best Actor category has been awarded since the first Oscars on May 16, 1929. The category honors the most outstanding performance by an actor in a leading movie role in the year under review. Whether through historical figures, troubled antiheroes, or everyday characters, here are the only 11 actors who have won multiple Best Actor Oscars as of the 2025 Academy Awards.
11. Spencer Tracy — 2 Best Actor Wins
With nine Best Actor nominations throughout his decades-long career, Spencer Tracy made history at the Oscars for being the first actor to win two consecutive Oscars for Best Actor. His first win was his second nomination. Tracy first won Best Actor for his performance as Manuel Fidello in the 1937 adventure drama Captains Courageous, at the 10th Academy Awards. Spencer Tracy’s next win came the following year with his performance, portraying Father Flanagan in the biographical drama Boys Town, at the 11th Academy Awards.
10. Jack Nicholson — 2 Best Actor Wins
Veteran actor Jack Nicholson also joined the exclusive list of multiple Best Actor winners with his Oscar win in 1998. With a total of 12 Oscar nominations (8 for Best Actor), Nicholson has won three Oscars in his career, with two of them being for Best Actor. His first win was for playing the defiant Randle Patrick “R.P.” McMurphy in the psychological comedy-drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). He was awarded his Oscar at the 48th Academy Awards in 1976. Nicholson’s second Best Actor win was at the 70th Academy Awards in 1998. His win was for his performance as the misanthropic but endearing romance novelist Melvin Udall in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets (1997).
9. Marlon Brando — 2 Best Actor Wins
Marlon Brando’s influence on acting style continues to resonate through generations. Having received eight Oscar nominations, seven of them were for Best Actor. Brando’s first win came in 1955 for his performance as the guilt-ridden dockworker Terry Malloy in the crime drama On the Waterfront. His Oscar was presented at the 27th Academy Awards. Marlon Brando’s next Oscar win came almost two decades later in 1973 for his iconic portrayal of Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972).
8. Dustin Hoffman — 2 Best Actor Wins
Veteran actor Dustin Hoffman has won only two Oscars, both for Best Actor. Throughout his career, the actor has received seven Oscar nominations, tied only with Marlon Brando. Dustin Hoffman’s first Best Actor Oscar win was for his portrayal of Ted Kramer in the legal drama Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), in which he starred alongside Meryl Streep. He was presented with his first Oscar at the 52nd Academy Awards in 1980. Hoffman’s second Oscar win was for his portrayal of the autistic savant Raymond Babbitt in the road comedy-drama Rain Man (1988).
7. Gary Cooper — 2 Best Actor Wins
Besides his Academy Honorary Award in 1961, Gary Cooper received five Oscar nominations for Best Actor throughout his career. The actor bagged his first win in 1942 for playing the reluctant hero Sergeant Alvin C. York in the biographical war film Sergeant York (1941). His next Oscar win was for his performance as Marshal Will Kane in the Western High Noon (1952).
6. Tom Hanks — 2 Best Actor Wins
Tom Hanks remains one of cinema’s greatest living actors. Throughout his career, he has received six Oscar nominations, with five of them being for Best Actor. Hanks’ first Best Actor Oscar win was for playing Andrew Beckett, a lawyer confronting illness and prejudice in Philadelphia (1993). Following Spencer Tracy’s lead, Tom Hanks had his consecutive win for Best Actor with his performance as Forrest Gump in the iconic comedy-drama.
5. Fredric March — 2 Best Actor Wins
Although not a popular name today, Fredric March was one of the most celebrated actors of his time. He’s also one of the few actors to have won multiple Academy Awards for Best Actor. March’s first win came in 1932 for playing dual roles in the pre-Code horror Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931). His second Oscar came for his performance in the 1946 drama The Best Years of Our Lives, a film about returning veterans adjusting to post-war life.
4. Sean Penn — 2 Best Actor Wins
Over the years, Sean Penn has earned a reputation for his raw and visceral performances. As one of Hollywood’s most talented actors, his two Best Actor wins reflect his decades-long dedication to the industry. Penn’s first Best Actor Oscar came from his portrayal of Jimmy Markum, a man haunted by tragedy and loss, in Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River (2003). At the 81st Academy Awards in 2009, Sean Penn won his second Best Actor Oscar for portraying the pioneering gay rights politician Harvey Milk in the biographical drama Milk (2008).
3. Anthony Hopkins — 2 Best Actor Wins
The Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins is one of Britain’s greatest actors. With a career spanning six decades, Hopkins has received six Oscar nominations, with his only two wins being for Best Actor. Hopkins’ first win was for his performance as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), which coincidentally was his first Oscar nomination. His second win was his last nomination in 2021, for his performance as Anthony in the psychological drama The Father (2020).
2. Adrien Brody — 2 Best Actor Wins
Besides being the youngest and most recent on the list, Adrien Brody is the only actor to have won both of his two nominations. Brody’s first win came at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003 for his performance as the Jewish pianist Władysław Szpilman in The Pianist (2002). His second Best Actor Oscar came from portraying László Tóth, a Hungarian architect, in The Brutalist (2024).
1. Daniel Day-Lewis — 3 Best Actor Wins
To date, Daniel Day-Lewis remains the only actor in Oscar history to win the Best Actor Oscar three times. His first win came for playing Christy Brown, a man born with cerebral palsy who learned to write and paint using only his left foot, in My Left Foot (1989). The second Oscar was for playing the ruthless and ambitious oilman Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007). Day-Lewis’s third Oscar was for his portrayal of President Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012).
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