<P> The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has given Academy Awards to actors and actresses for their performances in films since its inception . Throughout the history of the Academy Awards, there have been actors and actresses who have received multiple Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, or Best Supporting Actress . The only restriction is that actors cannot receive multiple nominations for the same performance . This rule was implemented after Barry Fitzgerald received a Best Actor and a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in Going My Way . </P> <P> As of 2018, 41 actors and actresses have received two or more Academy Awards in acting categories . Katharine Hepburn leads the way with four Best Actress awards . Five have won three Academy Awards: Ingrid Bergman (two Best Actress awards and one Best Supporting Actress award), Walter Brennan (three Best Supporting Actor awards), Jack Nicholson (two Best Actor awards and one Best Supporting Actor award), Meryl Streep (two Best Actress awards and one Best Supporting Actress award), and Daniel Day - Lewis (three Best Actor awards). Brennan was the first to receive three or more Academy Awards in 1940, followed by Hepburn in 1968, Bergman in 1974, Nicholson in 1997, Streep in 2011, and most recently Day - Lewis in 2012 . Of the six, only Nicholson, Streep, and Day - Lewis are still living . </P> <P> While there is no restriction on a performer winning the Best Actor / Actress and Best Supporting Actor / Actress awards in the same year for two different roles in two different movies, this has yet to happen . </P>

Who has won the most best actress awards