Emma Stone & Other Multi-Oscar Queens

The suspense surrounding whether Emma Stone could clinch her second Best Actress Oscar might have been one of the biggest question marks of the just-concluded 96th Academy Awards. Now that the suspense has been lifted, it's both surprising and within expectations. She secured her second Oscar for Best Actress with "Poor Things," defeating four strong contenders (Lily Gladstone in "Killers of the Flower Moon," Sandra Hüller in "Anatomy of a Fall," Carey Mulligan in "Maestro," and Annette Bening in "Nyad").

In the nearly century-long history of the Oscars, whilst it seems like there haven't been many actresses who have won the Best Actress award twice (or more), surprisingly, there are fifteen of them! If the first win could be attributed to fortuitousness or the synergistic effect of a combination of factors like timing, opportunity, and talent, the second win requires ample skill and justification. Let's take a look back at the remarkable achievements of these two-time (or even three or four-time) Oscar-winning actresses and the indelible mark they've left on Oscar history.

1. Luise Rainer was the first actress to win the Best Actress Oscar twice, and she was also the first to win the award consecutively for two years. Additionally, she holds the record for being the oldest Oscar-winning actress (1910-2014, aged 104). Both of her Oscar wins ("The Great Ziegfeld" and "The Good Earth") were due to strong support from MGM, Hollywood's most famous film studio at the time, which aimed to make her the one and only superstar. However, things did not go as planned and her career took a downturn afterward, almost as if she had fallen under a spell.

2. Bette Davis won the Best Actress Oscar at the 8th and 11th ceremonies. She was also the first woman to serve as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars. Her first Oscar was seen as compensatory, as her exceptional performance in "Of Human Bondage" two years before was controversially snubbed. Her second Oscar was for "Jezebel" in 1939. Interestingly, the background and personality of her character in the film were deemed too similar to those of Scarlett O'Hara from "Gone with the Wind," causing her to lose the role in the latter.

3. Olivia de Havilland won the Best Actress Oscar at the 19th and 22nd ceremonies. Her biological younger sister, Joan Fontaine, was also an Oscar-winning actress. It's often said that her first Oscar win was to avenge her loss to her sister at the Oscars. They were the only blood-related siblings in the world to both win acting awards at the Oscars, and both lived very long lives. However, surprisingly, their relationship remained strained for decades, with them almost not contacting each other even after they turned 95, as if they were never to reconcile.

4. Vivien Leigh won her second Best Actress Oscar 12 years after her first, at the 24th ceremony. Despite gaining immense fame for "Gone with the Wind," she didn't dominate Hollywood as expected, partly due to her personal beliefs. She considered herself an actress rather than a movie star and was reluctant to live for false values and public adoration. Her second Oscar win for "A Streetcar Named Desire" marked her return to Hollywood and showcased her superb performance.

5. Like Vivien Leigh, Ingrid Bergman also took 12 years to win her second Best Actress Oscar (at the 17th and 29th ceremonies). Her acting career was marked by drama, because she had an affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini during the filming of "Stromboli," and abandoned her husband and children to elope with Rossellini to Italy. Bergman was an idolized star back then in America so her affair became a huge scandal. After parting ways with Rossellini, she starred in "Elena and Her Men" and won her second Oscar, signaling her return to Hollywood.

6. Elizabeth Taylor won two Best Actress Oscars within six years, between the 33rd and 39th ceremonies, for "BUtterfield 8" (1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966). Her first win was soul-stirring, while her second was a straightforward recognition of her talent. Taylor's personal life was a hot topic of discussion; she married eight times and had affairs with married men twice, which polarized views of her public image in the conservative 1950s and 60s but also contributed to her immense fame.

7. Katharine Hepburn, a four-time Best Actress Oscar winner, deserves a warm round of applause. Her first win at the 6th ceremony marked her as a rising star, and Hollywood soon realized that this woman was unstoppable. Over 30 years later, she won her second golden statuette for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" at the 40th ceremony, followed by consecutive wins at the 41st and 54th ceremonies (for "The Lion in Winter" and "On Golden Pond" respectively). Hepburn was known for defying societal expectations of women and resisting Hollywood's publicity machine. She portrayed numerous independent characters on screen, embodied the modern American woman of the 20th century, and became a cultural icon for future generations.

8. Glenda Jackson won Best Actress Oscars at the 43rd and 46th ceremonies. Her wins were an outcome of British influence on America. She represented a new, independent European female image in the eyes of American audiences. However, she might probably be one of the least publicly known Oscar-winning actresses, mainly recognized only by fans of classic British cinema. Jackson's withdrawal from the limelight was largely her own choice, as she spent over 20 years in British politics in the latter part of her life.

9. Jane Fonda was the eye of the storm when she won her first Best Actress Oscar for "Klute" at the 44th ceremony, due to her anti-Vietnam War activism and involvement in radical movements. At the 51st ceremony, with the end of the Vietnam War, she achieved another win for the poignant film "Coming Home" reflecting on the war, marking her "glorious return". Seven years had passed since and she was no longer publicly criticized as "Hanoi Jane," but someone who truly understood the pain of the war.

10. Sally Field's first Best Actress win for "Norma Rae" at the 52nd ceremony was unquestionably deserved. However, her second win for "Places in the Heart" at the 57th ceremony puzzled people, as it was tough to determine the winner given how ordinary the nominees were at the time. This also reflected the scarcity of good female roles and actresses during that period.

11. Meryl Streep took almost 30 years to win her second Best Actress Oscar, perhaps because her first win for "Sophie's Choice" set an exceptionally high standard that was almost impossible to surpass. It wasn't until after 2000, when she became a box office star with "The Devil Wears Prada" and attracted younger audiences, that her career saw a resurgence, leading to her second win for "The Iron Lady."

12. Jodie Foster won Best Actress Oscars at the 61st and 64th ceremonies for "The Accused" (1988) and "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), respectively. Her performances and wins represented a rise of the new female power, as she portrayed unconventional female characters who are strong and far from virtuous wives and mothers. Foster's unconventional female qualities continue to resonate on screen, as evidenced by her role as a detective in "True Detective Season 4," which has gained her new young fans.

13. Frances McDormand won her third Best Actress Oscar for "Nomadland" in 2020, alongside her wins for "Fargo" (1996) and "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" (2017). These achievements were based on her own abilities. The overall quality of "Nomadland" also undoubtedly influenced its votes for Best Picture and Best Director.

14. Hilary Swank won Best Actress Oscars for "Boys Don't Cry" (1999) and "Million Dollar Baby" (2004), making her one of the few in Oscar history: she was only nominated twice, but won on both occassions (100% win rate). Despite this, after winning her first Oscar, she reportedly struggled financially to the extent that she couldn't afford health insurance and had to pay for medication herself.

15. The most enthusiastic applause this time goes to Emma Stone!

Looking back at the history of the Oscars, these actresses who have won the Best Actress award two or more times have either made a strong comeback, received belated recognition, simply deserved the honor, or got them by chance due to weak competition. Regardless, they have demonstrated enduring artistic charm, profound acting skills, and unwavering pursuit of art, leaving an indelible mark on the film industry and becoming legends in Oscar history.