Meryl Streep and Katharine Hepburn are responsible for holding variousOscarsrecords, and the two legends made 1982’s Best Actress race a defining moment for the Academy Awards. Looking back on the history of the Oscars, Streep and Hepburn are two performers who have been constant forces in the Best Actress category. They collectively earned 29 nominations in the category, racking up six wins between them. As two of the 15 women to have multiple Best Actress Oscar wins, the Hollywood icons and their careers can often be linked and compared.
Both actresses are part of the Oscars' history books. Katharine Hepburn holds therecord for most acting Oscar winsat four, something no other performer, regardless of gender, has done. Meanwhile, Meryl Streep holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for any actor with her staggering 17 nominations. Due to the nature of their career paths, though, there was only everone instance where Streep and Hepburn were nominated for Oscars in the same year. It proved to be a Best Actress race for the ages that signified a changing of the guard.
Katharine Hepburn & Meryl Streep Were Both Nominated For Best Actress In 1982
One Of Them Won Too
The 1982 Oscars, celebrating movies released in 1981, had a stacked Best Actress lineup headlined by Katharine Hepburn and Meryl Streep. Hepburn was nominated for her performance as Ethel Thayer inOn Golden Pond, which co-starred Jane Fonda and Henry Fonda. Streep was also nominated thanks to her dual performance as Sara Woodruff and Anna inThe French Lieutenant’s Woman. While Streep is solidified as a major Oscars favorite nowadays, this was her breakthrough performance for the Academy.
On Golden Pond also marked Henry Fonda’s last movie appearance
Katharine Hepburn ultimately won the 1982 Best Actress Oscar, beating out Meryl Streep and some other notable nominees. The other nominees included Diane Keaton forReds, Marsha Mason forOnly When I Laugh, and Susan Sarandon forAtlantic City. At the time, it was Mason’s fourth nomination, Sarandon’s first, and Keaton’s first since winning forAnnie Hall. Katharine Hepburn won on the back of her overall career andOn Golden Pond’s status as a major Oscar contender. It received ten nominations and won three, including Best Actor for Henry Fonda and Best Actress for Hepburn.
The 1982 Oscars Was Katharine Hepburn’s Last Nomination & Win After 50 Years Of Dominance
Her Best Actress Reign Ended On Top
The 1982 Best Actress Oscar race goes down in history for Katharine Hepburn. She had already claimed the record for the most acting nominations and wins previously, but she broke the record again withOn Golden Pond. It gave her what was then a record 12 nominations for acting and a fourth win, which is a record that still stands to this day. Those records are notable, especially when it comes to Meryl Streep, butthis recognition for Hepburn ultimately ended her dominant Oscars run. Despite being in eight more movies before retiring, she did not receive another Oscar nomination.
Woman of the Year(1942)
On Golden Pond(1981)
Yes
This makes 1982 the conclusion of nearly 50 years of being a major force in the Best Actress category. Her first nomination and Oscar win came with the 6th Academy Awards in 1934, as she won forMorning Glory. She didn’t win again until the 1960s asshe won Best Actress in back-to-back years.On Golden Pondsnapped a 13-year streak of her not getting any nominations. Despite all these wins, Katharine Hepburn is among some notableactors who didn’t accept their Oscars liveby going to the ceremony.
1982 Was Meryl Streep’s First Of 17 Best Actress Oscar Nominations
The Start Of Meryl Streep’s Record-Breaking Oscars Legacy
While 1982 marked the end for Katharine Hepburn as a nearly constant Oscar contender, it had the opposite impact for Meryl Steep.The French Lieutenant’s Womanmarked her first Oscar nomination, but it was far from her last.Streep went on to win Best Actress the following yearforSophie’s Choice. With nominations in back-to-back years and her first win coming when she was only 33 years old, this stretch set her up to emerge as an Oscars favorite for decades to come as she solidified her place as one of the best actresses of all time.
Postcards from the Edge(1990)
Music of the Heart(1999)
The Post(2017)
No
Meryl Streep’s record number of Oscar nominations in Best Actress all started withThe French Lieutenant’s Woman. She went on to securenominations in back-to-back years on six different occasions, including a three-year streak where she was nominated from 1981 to 1983. This allowed Meryl Streep to breakKatharine Hepburn’s recordfor most acting Oscar nominations only 28 years after her first nomination. However, Streep only managed to win one Oscar during this stretch, as it took her 29 years to win her second Academy Award. She’s still two wins away from tying Hepburn’s record as a result.
Meryl Streep Is In The Midst Of The Biggest Oscars Drought Of Her Incredible Career
Meryl Streep is typically a perennial contender for the Oscars, but the actress is in the midst of the biggest drought of her incredible career.
Of course, Streep’s Oscars records do not stop with nominations as a lead. Factoring in her recognition for supporting performances,she has a record 21 Oscar nominations overall.Meryl Streep is the only actor with over 20 Oscars nominationsacross the lead and supporting categories.
Katharine Hepburn & Meryl Streep’s 1982 Connection Makes Their Oscars Records Even Better
Their Oscars History Is Forever Linked
Meryl Streep and Katharine Hepburn’s careers for the Oscars are notable on their own, but the fact that the 1982 Best Actress race played out as it did makes their connection all the better. The year is an unofficialpassing of the torch for the category between the two stars. 1982 was the end of Hepburn’s incredible record-breaking run, and she was able to essentially go out on top with a record fourth win. It was not easily thought that someone else would eventually beat Hepburn’s nomination record, much less one of her fellow nominees from 1982.
The 1982 Best Actress race ultimately became the turning point for the Oscars, closing the book on Hepburn and igniting an impressive run for Streep that spans decades.Streep broke Hepburn’s record 28 years after they shared the category as nominees, solidifying her spot as the Academy’s new favorite actress to honor. It makes the 1982Oscarsthe intersection of the two most prominent figures in Best Actress of the last 90 years.
