As well as the record for total number of acting nominations, Streep holds the record for most Best Actress nominations with 17, ahead of Katharine Hepburn with 12 and Bette Davis with 10. Jack Nicholson is the most nominated male performer in the acting categories with 12 nominations. The most Best Actor nominations is nine, for both Spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier (Nicholson has eight). Thelma Ritter is the most nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category with six, while in the Best Supporting Actor category six actors have each received four nominations, they are Walter Brennan, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, Robert Duvall and Jeff Bridges. The record for most nominations in the acting categories without a win, is eight by Peter O'Toole, followed by Richard Burton with seven, and Deborah Kerr, Thelma Ritter and Glenn Close all with six. Both O'Toole and Kerr did receive the Academy 's Honorary Oscar.
who is the most nominated actor for an oscar
Streep