Meryl Streep continues racking up Oscar records with 21st acting nomination

20th Century Fox

(UPDATE: Story originally posted on 1/19/2017 and has been updated to reflect additional nomination tallies)

An Oscar nomination is the ultimate distinction for achievement in film anyone would love to earn. It's not unusual to see people get two Oscar nominations in one year, sometimes, for the true auteur, even three.

Over the first nine decades of its award ceremonies dozens of records and milestones have been made in regard to wins and nominations, one of the most noticeable is Meryl Streep earning 21 nominations for acting, the most for any thespian. She claimed her 20th in 2016 for "Florence Foster Jenkins" and adds another nomination plaque for her leading turn in 2017's "The Post". Her three wins - best actress in 1982 and 2011 and supporting actress in 1979 - ties her among a handful of other performers with three acting wins, but one less than was earned by the ultimate acting winner Katharine Hepburn.

With her 20th nomination for "Florence Foster Jenkins" this year, she joins an elite list of people who have earned 20 or more Oscar nominations. Streep, however, would not be the first woman to chalk up that many nominations. Edith Head earned 35 nominations and eight wins for her costume designs from 1948 to 1977.

Walt Disney is the person who has earn the most wins and nominations of any person in history: 59 nominations and 22 wins. Disney's wins were stretched among animated films and documentary subjects. The runner up is composer John Williams with five wins from 51 nominations, receiving his latest nomination in 2017 year for his original score for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

While everyone who has earned at least 20 nominations has earned, at minimum, three wins, for their efforts, sound mixer Kevin O'Connell and composer Victor Young only won one time each. Connell's luck changed last year after winning on his 21st nod for his sound mixing efforts on "Hacksaw Ridge". Young's win came posthumously with his 1956 score for "Around the World in 80 Days." He was also nominated that year for the original titular song to "Written on the Wind."

Check out who else has earned 20 or more Oscar nominations below. 

(Nominations noted by year/category. Years in which an award was won is highlighted, with concurrent nominations in a category that year noted, not highlighted.)

Walt Disney, 59 nominations/22 wins (plus special awards):

Picture- 1964

Short subject (cartoon)- 1931/32, 1931/32, 1932/33, 1932/33, 1934, 1935, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1938 (x3), 1939, 1939, 1941, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947 (x2), 1948 (x2), 1949, 1951, 1953, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1968

Short subject (two-reel)- 1948, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 

Short subject (live action)- 1958, 1959, 1960

Documentary- 1942 (x2), 1953, 1954

Documentary (short subject)- 1953, 1955, 1959

Irving G. Thalberg Award- 1941

Special Awards- 1931/32, 1938, 1941

John Williams, 50 nominations/5 wins

Original (Dramatic) Score- 1969, 1972 (x2), 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 (x2), 1987 (x2), 1988, 1989 (x2), 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 (x2), 2002, 2004, 2005 (x2), 2011 (x2), 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017

Original (Musical/Comedy) Score- 1995

Score (adaptation or treatment)- 1967, 1971, 1973

Score (musical)- 1969

Original song- 1973, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1995, 

Alfred Newman, 45 nominations/9 wins

Original Score- 1937 (as head of Samuel Goldwyn Studio Music Department), 1938, 1939 (x2), 1940, 1941 (x2), 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1959,

Scoring- 1938, 1938, 1939 (x2), 1940, 1942, 1963, 1965

Score (adaptation/treatment)- 1967

Scoring (musical picture)- 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1961

Original song- 1949, 1959

Cedric Gibbons, 38 nominations/11 wins

Art Direction- 1928/29, 1932/33, 1934, 1936 (x2), 1937, 1938, 1939

Art Direction (B&W)- 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955 (x2), 1956

Art Direction (Color)- 1941, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1951, 1952, 1953 (x3), 1954, 1956

Edith Head, 35 nominations/8 wins:

Costume Design (color)- 1948, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966,

Costume Design (B&W)- 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963 (x2), 1964, 1965.

Costume Design- 1957, 1958, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1977

Sammy Cahn, 26 nominations/4 wins:

Original Song- 1942, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955 (x2), 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 (x2), 1967, 1968, 1973, 1975, 

Woody Allen, 24 nominations/4 wins:

Actor- 1977

Director- 1977, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2011, 

Original Screenplay- 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2011, 2013

Victor Young, 22 nominations/1 win:

Original Score- 1938 (x2) 1939 (x3), 1940 (x2), 1942 (x3), 1943, 1945, 1948, 1950, 1956

Scoring- 1939, 1940

Score (dramatic picture)- 1941

Scoring (musical picture)- 1948

Original song- 1945, 1949, 1956

Billy Wilder, 21 nominations/6 wins:

Picture- 1960,

Director- 1944, 1945, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1960

Screenplay- 1939, 1941, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1954, 1960

Story- 1941

Original Screenplay- 1950, 1951, 1966

Adapted Screenplay- 1959

Irving G. Thalberg Award- 1987

Kevin O'Connell, 21 nominations/1 win:

Sound (Mixing)- 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996 (x2), 1997, 1998 (x2), 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2016

Max Steiner, 20 nominations/3 wins:

Original Score- 1934 (x2), 1935 (as head of RKO Studio Music Department), 1936 (x2), 1937, 1938, 1939 (x2) 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1944, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955
Scoring (musical picture)- 1945, 1946, 1947, 1952
Note: Nominations though 1937 were attributed to his leading various studio music departments as its director, not so much him being the sole composer. Therefore, six of his nominations were not personally his.

Meryl Streep, 20 nominations/3 wins:
Actress- 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016. 2017
Supporting Actress- 1978, 1979, 2002, 2014


Note: All nominations were researched through the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards database.