# Who has the most Oscar nominations, but all in different categories?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 28, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358 "2018-03-28T15:46:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/1 "2018-03-28T15:46:46Z")

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I heard an Arcade Fire song on the radio yesterday. It wasn’t “Afterlife,” but I started thinking about the live video they did for it with Greta Gerwig performing and Spike Jonze directing. Gerwig’s recent Best Director Oscar nomination got me thinking about Jonze’s nomination history, so I looked it up.

It turns out Jonze got three nominations for _Her_ – picture, original screenplay, and song, the latter of which he won. He also got a directing nom for _Being John Malkovich_ back in 2000, making a total of four.

Interestingly, those four nominations are all in different categories. Has anyone else done this? Has anyone else come close? Wikipedia’s Oscar records page didn’t help and I couldn’t find anything by googling. (I found a [goldderby.com](http://goldderby.com) forum link that mentioned a few people with noms in 5+ categories, but didn’t see anything about their nom/category ratio.)

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**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/2 "2018-03-28T16:05:15Z")

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I’m not much of a “Hollywood” guy, and wouldn’t even know how to research it, but I wonder how many Clint Eastwood has?

Star, Producer, Director… maybe somethin’ else?

(Okay, that wasn’t so hard. Looks like Actor, Director and Picture. So, three.)

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**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/3 "2018-03-28T16:11:24Z")

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Warren Beatty got four different nominations for one picture, and then came back and got the same four nominations for another picture.

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**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/4 "2018-03-28T16:19:12Z")

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Heh. Actually, I’m underselling Beatty, there — provided we count screenplay two separate times, since one was adapted and another _wasn’t._

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/5 "2018-03-28T16:26:47Z")

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Kenneth Branagh wins, I think.

He’s been nominated for: Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Live Action Short.

5 categories, no cheating by changing the name of categories.

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**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/6 "2018-03-28T16:29:53Z")

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And only once each. Branagh is a clear winner.

Joel Coen, George Clooney, Stanley Kubrick, Warren Beatty and a few others have been nominated in five modern categories but more than once in at least a few of them.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/7 "2018-03-28T16:45:59Z")

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Walt Disney: Best Animated Short Subject (or the equivalent), Best Picture (_Mary Poppins_), Best Live Action/Documentary Short Subject, Best Feature Documentary. Plus a couple of honorary Oscars for _Fantasia_ and _Snow White_

Orson Welles: Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Director. Plus an honorary award.

Charlie Chaplin: Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Original Score plus two honorary awards.

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**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/8 "2018-03-28T17:06:43Z")

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> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Kenneth Branagh wins, I think.
> 
> He’s been nominated for: Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Live Action Short.
> 
> 5 categories, no cheating by changing the name of categories.

Very nice! I’m guessing 5 total nominations in 5 categories won’t be beaten, but I also though that about 4 in 4, so…

Guillermo del Toro has 4 nominations in 3 categories – Original Screenplay, Director, and Picture for _The Shape of Water_, along with a second original screenplay for _Pan’s Labyrinth_. Wikipedia’s [list of GdT awards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Guillermo_del_Toro) mentions the Best Foreign Film nomination for _Pan’s Labyrinth_, which he directed/produced/wrote, but that award technically goes to the film’s country (Mexico). So, sorta kinda maybe it’s 5 in 4? Maybe?

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**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/9 "2018-03-28T17:52:02Z")

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> [@RickJay](#):
>
> And only once each. Branagh is a clear winner.
> 
> Joel Coen, George Clooney, Stanley Kubrick, Warren Beatty and a few others have been nominated in five modern categories but more than once in at least a few of them.

Clooney has 6: Actor, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Director, Picture. He holds the record among living filmmakers.

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**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/10 "2018-03-28T18:01:37Z")

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> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Walt Disney: Best Animated Short Subject (or the equivalent), Best Picture (_Mary Poppins_), Best Live Action/Documentary Short Subject, Best Feature Documentary. Plus a couple of honorary Oscars for _Fantasia_ and _Snow White_
> 
> Orson Welles: Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Director. Plus an honorary award.
> 
> Charlie Chaplin: Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Original Score plus two honorary awards.

Mary Poppins did not win B Picture.

ETA, sorry, thought the criteria was “winning” not “nominated”. You are correct, of course.

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**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/11 "2018-03-29T14:14:03Z")

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> [@MovieMogul](#):
>
> Clooney has 6: Actor, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Director, Picture. He holds the record among living filmmakers.

I totally forgot about “The Ides of March.”

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/12 "2018-03-29T14:20:06Z")

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> [@MovieMogul](#):
>
> Clooney has 6: Actor, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Director, Picture. He holds the record among living filmmakers.

Cool, so I guess Branagh has the record without winning any.

I think Branagh was robbed for Hamlet, which should have won Best Picture and Director. And best cinematography, costume design, and probably a couple more.

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**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-the-most-oscar-nominations-but-all-in-different-categories/811358/13 "2018-03-31T11:32:58Z")

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> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> Warren Beatty got four different nominations for one picture, and then came back and got the same four nominations for another picture.

I don’t have a cite, but have heard that his contracts used to stipulate that he be put up for as many Oscars as he qualified for. I think he gave up on that requirement after **Dick Tracy**. The “For Your Consideration” ads in _Variety_ were a bit of an embarrassment.
