MomSkoop
Winning an Oscar is one of the biggest honors in Hollywood, but some incredibly talented actresses have walked away empty-handed more than once.
These women have delivered unforgettable performances, earned nominations, and won the hearts of audiences worldwide — yet the gold statuette has somehow slipped through their fingers.
It’s a fascinating and sometimes surprising list that reminds us just how competitive and unpredictable awards season can be.
Get ready to celebrate the careers of 15 remarkable actresses who are still chasing that elusive first win.
1. Glenn Close (8 Nominations)
No one in Hollywood history has been nominated more times without winning than Glenn Close.
With eight Academy Award nominations spanning decades, she has been recognized for films like “Fatal Attraction,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” and “Albert Nobbs.”
Each performance showcased her extraordinary range and commitment to complex characters.
Her most recent nomination came for “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2021, where she disappeared completely into the role of Mamaw.
Many fans and critics alike believe she is long overdue.
Close remains one of Hollywood’s most respected and admired talents, nomination after nomination proving her unmatched staying power in the industry.
2. Amy Adams (6 Nominations)
Amy Adams has a gift for making every character feel achingly real, whether she is playing a wide-eyed Disney princess or a sharp-tongued con artist.
Her six Oscar nominations include standout roles in “Junebug,” “The Fighter,” “American Hustle,” and “Arrival.”
Critics have consistently praised her ability to bring emotional depth to wildly different characters.
What makes her story so compelling is that she keeps getting better with every film.
Adams earned her first nomination back in 2006 and has remained a consistent awards season presence ever since.
Audiences everywhere agree — her first win feels like only a matter of time.
3. Annette Bening (5 Nominations)
Annette Bening has one of the most quietly powerful careers in modern Hollywood.
She earned her five Oscar nominations for films like “American Beauty,” “Being Julia,” “The Kids Are All Right,” and “20th Century Women.”
Each performance is marked by an understated intelligence that makes audiences lean in close.
Famously, she has lost the Best Actress Oscar to her own husband Warren Beatty’s co-stars on more than one occasion — a Hollywood irony that has become legendary.
Despite never winning, Bening’s reputation as a performer’s performer remains absolutely ironclad.
She brings something genuinely special to every role she touches.
4. Michelle Williams (5 Nominations)
Few actresses work as fearlessly as Michelle Williams.
Her five Oscar nominations — for “Brokeback Mountain,” “Blue Valentine,” “My Week with Marilyn,” “Manchester by the Sea,” and “Fosse/Verdon” — span both film and television, proving her range is virtually limitless.
She transforms completely with each new role.
Williams is known for choosing challenging, emotionally demanding projects that many other actresses might avoid.
Her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe earned widespread praise for its sensitivity and precision.
Even without a win, her body of work stands as one of the most impressive of her generation.
Fans and critics are rooting hard for her next chapter.
5. Saoirse Ronan (4 Nominations)
At just 29 years old, Saoirse Ronan already has four Oscar nominations — a record that places her among the most celebrated young actresses in Hollywood history.
She first stunned audiences with “Atonement” at age 13, then went on to earn nominations for “Brooklyn,” “Lady Bird,” and “Little Women.”
Her talent announced itself early and has only grown.
What sets Ronan apart is her extraordinary emotional intelligence on screen.
She never overplays a moment, making every scene feel completely natural.
With decades of her career still ahead, most industry observers believe her first win is not a question of if, but simply when.
6. Carey Mulligan (3 Nominations)
Carey Mulligan burst onto the scene with “An Education” in 2009 and has never looked back.
Her three Oscar nominations — for “An Education,” “Promising Young Woman,” and “Maestro” — show a remarkable ability to anchor completely different kinds of stories.
She brings a quiet, burning intensity to every character she plays.
Her performance in “Promising Young Woman” was particularly celebrated for its boldness and emotional complexity, earning her widespread critical acclaim.
Mulligan is the kind of actress who makes you forget you are watching a performance at all.
Hollywood clearly agrees she belongs among the very best, and fans eagerly await her next Oscar-worthy role.
7. Michelle Pfeiffer (3 Nominations)
Michelle Pfeiffer defined a certain kind of Hollywood magic in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Her three Oscar nominations — for “Dangerous Liaisons,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” and “Love Field” — captured a performer at the absolute peak of her powers.
Her turn as Susie Diamond, draped across a piano, remains one of cinema’s most iconic images.
After a period away from the spotlight, Pfeiffer made a triumphant return with films like “mother!” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” reminding everyone exactly why she is considered a legend.
Her combination of beauty, wit, and raw vulnerability on screen is something genuinely rare and irreplaceable in Hollywood.
8. Sigourney Weaver (3 Nominations)
Sigourney Weaver rewrote the rules of what a Hollywood leading lady could be.
Her three Oscar nominations — for “Aliens,” “Gorillas in the Mist,” and “Working Girl” — all came in the same year, 1989, a feat that remains almost unbelievable.
She was nominated in both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories simultaneously.
Best known for her groundbreaking role as Ellen Ripley in the “Alien” franchise, Weaver brought intelligence and physicality to roles that had previously been reserved for men.
Her influence on action movies and science fiction storytelling is immeasurable.
Despite never winning a competitive Oscar, her cultural impact on cinema is absolutely undeniable.
9. Helena Bonham Carter (2 Nominations)
Helena Bonham Carter has built a career out of being magnificently, unforgettably odd — and audiences absolutely love her for it.
Her two Oscar nominations, for “The Wings of the Dove” and “The King’s Speech,” showed a different side of her talent: restrained, emotionally precise, and deeply human beneath the theatrical exterior.
Whether playing a tragic Victorian heiress or the quirky Queen Mother, she brings a spark of unpredictability that keeps viewers completely riveted.
Her long creative partnership with Tim Burton produced some of cinema’s most visually inventive films.
Bonham Carter remains a true original in an industry that often rewards conformity, and fans adore her for it.
10. Deborah Kerr (6 Nominations)
Deborah Kerr is one of classic Hollywood’s great heartbreaks — six Oscar nominations and zero wins.
She earned recognition for films like “Edward My Son,” “From Here to Eternity,” “The King and I,” “Heaven Knows Mr. Allison,” “Separate Tables,” and “The Sundowners.”
Her grace and emotional honesty made her one of the most admired actresses of her era.
The Academy eventually acknowledged their oversight by awarding Kerr an Honorary Oscar in 1994, celebrating her career of “impeccable grace and beauty.”
That belated recognition was warmly received, but many film historians still consider her one of the most glaring omissions in Oscar history.
Her films remain beloved classics to this day.
11. Thelma Ritter (6 Nominations)
Thelma Ritter had one of the sharpest tongues in Hollywood history, and audiences could not get enough of her.
She earned six Oscar nominations — all in the Supporting Actress category — for films including “All About Eve,” “With a Song in My Heart,” “Pickup on South Street,” and “Pillow Talk.”
Every single one was a loss.
Her record of six supporting nominations without a win remains unmatched.
Ritter specialized in playing no-nonsense working-class women who delivered perfectly timed one-liners with deadpan brilliance.
Film buffs consider her one of the greatest character actresses Hollywood ever produced.
Her performances hold up beautifully, still funny and heartbreaking all at once.
12. Angela Bassett (2 Nominations Plus Honorary Oscar)
Angela Bassett has been one of Hollywood’s most commanding presences for over three decades.
Her two competitive Oscar nominations came for “What’s Love Got to Do with It” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the latter making her the first person nominated for an Oscar for a Marvel Studios film.
Both performances were electrifying in completely different ways.
In 2024, the Academy honored her with an Honorary Oscar, recognizing her extraordinary contributions to cinema.
Bassett accepted with the poise and power she brings to everything she does.
Her portrayal of Tina Turner remains one of the most celebrated biographical performances in film history, a true landmark of 1990s cinema.
13. Toni Collette (1 Nomination)
One nomination barely scratches the surface of what Toni Collette has given to cinema and television.
Her single Academy Award nomination came for “The Sixth Sense” in 2000, where she played a grieving mother with shattering emotional authenticity.
Many critics argued she deserved the win outright, and the debate has never fully gone away.
Since then, she has delivered performance after performance that left audiences and critics stunned — “Hereditary,” “Knives Out,” and “United States of Tara” among the most celebrated.
The fact that none of those earned nominations remains a genuine Hollywood head-scratcher.
Collette is the rare actress who makes every project she joins feel instantly more alive and urgent.
14. Winona Ryder (2 Nominations)
Winona Ryder was the defining face of 1990s indie cinema, and her talent was recognized early.
She earned two Oscar nominations — for “Little Women” and “The Age of Innocence” — both in the same remarkable year, 1994.
At just 22, she was already competing at the highest level the film industry has to offer.
After a turbulent period in the early 2000s, Ryder made a celebrated comeback with the “Stranger Things” television series, reminding a whole new generation of her magnetic screen presence.
Her journey from teenage icon to beloved character actress is one of Hollywood’s more heartwarming second-act stories.
Fans remain fiercely loyal to her throughout every chapter.
15. Judy Garland (2 Nominations)
Judy Garland is one of the most beloved entertainers in entertainment history, yet the Oscar consistently eluded her.
She received two Academy Award nominations — a Special Juvenile Oscar in 1940 and a Best Actress nomination for “A Star Is Born” in 1955.
The 1955 loss is considered one of the most shocking upsets in Oscar history.
Her performance in “A Star Is Born” was so overwhelming that the studio reportedly installed a camera in her hospital room after childbirth just to capture her reaction if she won.
She lost to Grace Kelly.
Garland’s extraordinary talent — her voice, her vulnerability, her magnetism — transcended any award, and her legacy only continues to grow.