The 91st Academy Awards are coming up toward the end of the month, and this year there are a few nominees in the acting categories who are receiving the latest of their many Oscar nominations. So to lead up to the ceremony this year, I wanted to look back at all the actors and actresses who’ve received four or more nods from the Academy. The list is pretty long, so I’ve divided them into leading and supporting, depending on where they received more nominations overall. This weekend, I’ll be looking back at the actors, and today I’m kicking it off with the ones who earned the most nominations in the supporting category.
Note: This list is in descending order, ending with the actor who’s received the most nominations. Titles that are italicized designate the movies they won an Oscar for and titles marked with an asterisk are for leading role nominations.
Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project (2017)
WILLEM DAFOE (4 nominations):
Platoon
Shadow of the Vampire
The Florida Project
At Eternity’s Gate*
Ed Harris in The Hours (2002)
ED HARRIS (4 nominations):
Apollo 13
The Truman Show
Pollock*
The Hours
Claude Rains in Notorious (1946)
CLAUDE RAINS (4 nominations):
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Casablanca
Mr. Skeffington
Notorious
Mickey Rooney in The Black Stallion (1979)
MICKEY ROONEY (4 nominations):
Babes in Arms*
The Human Comedy*
The Bold and the Brave
The Black Stallion
Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
ALAN ARKIN (4 nominations, 1 win):
The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming*
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter*
Little Miss Sunshine
Argo
Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010)
CHRISTIAN BALE (4 nominations, 1 win):
The Fighter
American Hustle*
The Big Short
Vice*
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master (2012)
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN (4 nominations, 1 win):
Capote*
Charlie Wilson’s War
Doubt
The Master
Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
WALTER HUSTON (4 nominations, 1 win):
Dodsworth*
The Devil and Daniel Webster*
Yankee Doodle Dandy
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive (1993)
TOMMY LEE JONES (4 nominations, 1 win):
JFK
The Fugitive
In the Valley of Elah*
Lincoln
Anthony Quinn in Lust for Life (1956)
ANTHONY QUINN (4 nominations, 2 wins):
Viva Zapata!
Lust for Life
Wild Is the Wind*
Zorba the Greek*
Walter Brennan in The Westerner (1940)
WALTER BRENNAN (4 nominations, 3 wins):
Come and Get It
Kentucky
The Westerner
Sergeant York
Arthur Kennedy in Champion (1949)
ARTHUR KENNEDY (5 nominations):
Champion
Bright Victory*
Trial
Peyton Place
Some Came Running
Gene Hackman in Unforgiven (1992)
GENE HACKMAN (5 nominations, 2 wins):
Bonnie and Clyde
I Never Sang for My Father
The French Connection*
Mississippi Burning*
Unforgiven
Jeff Bridges in The Last Picture Show (1971)
JEFF BRIDGES (7 nominations, 1 win):
The Last Picture Show
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Starman*
The Contender
Crazy Heart*
True Grit*
Hell or High Water
Robert Duvall in The Godfather (1972)
ROBERT DUVALL (7 nominations, 1 win):
The Godfather
Apocalypse Now
The Great Santini*
Tender Mercies*
The Apostle*
A Civil Action
The Judge
Looking at this list brings back many great movie watching experiences of so many eras. Fine actors here and some truly memorable roles.
Walter Huston’s performance in Dodsworth is out of this world. Also great to see Arthur Kennedy had so many nominations. Strangely enough, he’s still relatively underrated.
Agreed on all counts. I think despite how many nominations Arthur Kennedy received, he seems oddly overlooked, but he was a fantastic actor all-around. I love seeing him pop up in movies.