Spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier have received the most Oscar nominations for best actor: nine. Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, and Peter O’Toole are next with eight nominations each. Four actors have received seven nods: Denzel Washington, Marlon Brando, Jack Lemmon, and Dustin Hoffman. Then there are Leonardo DiCaprio, Richard Burton, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Paul Muni, all of whom have six nominations for best actor.
While most of these actors eventually won the best actor Oscar, Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton never won an Academy Award for acting. However, O’Toole did receive an honorary Oscar.