The 26 actors who have gotten the most Oscar nominations without winning one

• The Oscars have repeatedly nominated and neglected numerous actors.
• They include Amy Adams, Glenn Close, and Bradley Cooper, who all lost Oscars last year.
• Joaquin Phoenix scored his fourth nomination this year for "Joker" and is a favorite to win.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Each year, deserving performances lose out in the Oscars' best acting categories. But there are a handful of great actors that the Academy has repeatedly nominated and neglected. 

Joaquin Phoenix could turn his luck around this year. He nabbed his fourth acting nomination for "Joker" this week and is a favorite to win. The same can be said for Brad Pitt, who scored his fourth acting nomination for "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" (he previously won for producing the best-picture winner "12 Years a Slave").

Others haven't been so lucky. 

Amy Adams (six nominations) and Glenn Close (seven nominations) lost last year to Regina King and Olivia Colman in the supporting actress and lead actress categories, respectively.

Both Bradley Cooper and Willem Dafoe were nominated for their fourth acting Oscars last year (Cooper has a total of seven nominations including for producing "American Sniper" and "A Star is Born," and writing "A Star Is Born"). Both lost in the best actor race to Rami Malek for his performance in "Bohemian Rhapsody."

And all-time great Peter O'Toole, unfortunately, had it even worse.

John Lynch contributed to a previous version of this post.

Here are the 26 actors who have been nominated for at least four Oscars without winning once:

SEE ALSO: The Oscars snubs this year were glaring, but the 2019 box office shows why Hollywood's future is bright

Joaquin Phoenix — 4 nominations

Best actor nominations: "Walk the Line" (2005), "The Master" (2012), "Joker" (2019)

Best supporting actor nominations: "Gladiator" (2000)

Brad Pitt — 4 nominations

Best actor nominations: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008), "Moneyball" (2011)

Best supporting actor nominations: "Twelve Monkeys" (1995), "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" (2019)

Saoirse Ronan — 4 nominations

Best actress nominations: "Brooklyn" (2015), "Lady Bird" (2017), "Little Women" (2019)

Best supporting actress nominations: "Atonement" (2007)

Bradley Cooper — 4 nominations

Best actor nominations: "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012), "American Sniper" (2014), "A Star Is Born" (2018)

Best supporting actor nominations: "American Hustle" (2013)

Willem Dafoe — 4 nominations

Best actor nominations: "At Eternity's Gate" (2018)

Best supporting actor nominations: "Platoon" (1986), "Shadow of a Vampire" (2000), "The Florida Project" (2017)

Michelle Williams — 4 nominations

Best actress nominations: "Blue Valentine" (2010), "My Week with Marilyn" (2011)

Best supporting actress nominations: "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), "Manchester by the Sea" (2016)

Barbara Stanwyck — 4 nominations

Best actress nominations: "Stella Dallas" (1937), "Ball of Fire" (1941), "Double Indemnity" (1944), "Sorry, Wrong Number" (1948)

Stanwyck received the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 1981.

Rosalind Russell — 4 nominations

Best actress nominations: "My Sister Eileen" (1942), "Sister Kenny" (1946), "Mourning Becomes Electra" (1947), "Auntie Mame" (1958)

Mickey Rooney — 4 nominations

Best actor nominations: "Babe in Arms" (1939), "The Human Comedy" (1943)

Best supporting actor nominations: "The Bold and the Brave" (1956), "The Black Stallion" (1979)

Rooney received the since-discontinued Academy Juvenile Award in 1938 and the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 1982.

Claude Rains — 4 nominations

Best supporting actor nominations: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Casablanca (1942), Mr. Skeffington (1944), Notorious (1946)

Ed Harris — 4 nominations

Best actor nomination: "Pollock" (2000)

Best supporting actor nominations: "Apollo 13" (1995), "The Truman Show" (1998), "The Hours" (2002)

Agnes Moorehead — 4 nominations

Best supporting actress nominations: "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942), "Mrs. Parkington" (1944), "Johnny Belinda" (1948), "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1964)

Marsha Mason — 4 nominations

Best actress nominations: "Cinderella Liberty" (1973), "The Goodbye Girl" (1977), "Chapter Two" (1979), "Only When I Laugh" (1981)

Montgomery Clift — 4 nominations

Best actor nominations: "The Search" (1948), "A Place in the Sun" (1951), "From Here to Eternity" (1953)

Best supporting actor nomination: "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961)

Charles Boyer — 4 nominations

Best actor nominations: "Conquest" (1937), "Algiers" (1938), "Gaslight" (1944), "Fanny" (1961)

Annette Bening — 4 nominations

Best actress nominations: "American Beauty" (1999), "Being Julia" (2004), "The Kids Are All Right" (2010)

Best supporting actress nomination: "The Grifters" (1990)

Jane Alexander — 4 nominations

Best actress nominations: "The Great White Hope" (1970), "Testament" (1983)

Best supporting actress nominations: "All the President's Men" (1976), "Kramer vs. Kramer" (1979)

Arthur Kennedy — 5 nominations

Best actor nomination: "Bright Victory" (1951)

Best supporting actor nominations: "Champion" (1949), "Trial" (1955), "Peyton Place" (1957), "Some Came Running" (1958)

Albert Finney — 5 nominations

Best actor nominations: "Tom Jones" (1963), "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974), "The Dresser" (1983), "Under the Volcano" (1984)

Best supporting actor nomination: "Erin Brockovich" (2000)

Irene Dunne — 5 nominations

Best actress nominations: "Cimarron" (1931), "Theodora Goes Wild" (1936), "The Awful Truth" (1937), "Love Affair" (1939), "I Remember Mama" (1948)

Amy Adams — 6 nominations

Best actress nomination: "American Hustle" (2013)

Best supporting actress nominations: "Junebug" (2005), "Doubt" (2008), "The Fighter" (2010), "The Master" (2012), "Vice" (2018)

Thelma Ritter — 6 nominations

Best supporting actress nominations: "All About Eve" (1950), "The Mating Season" (1951), "With a Song in My Heart" (1952), "Pickup on South Street" (1953), "Pillow Talk" (1959), "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962)

Deborah Kerr — 6 nominations

Best actress nominations: "Edward, My Son" (1949), "From Here to Eternity" (1953), "The King and I" (1956), "Heaven Knows, Mr Allison" (1957), "Separate Tables" (1958), "The Sundowners" (1960)

Kerr received the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 1994. 

Glenn Close — 7 nominations

Best actress nominations: "Fatal Attraction" (1987), "Dangerous Liaisons" (1988), "Albert Nobbs" (2011), "The Wife" (2018)

Best supporting actress nominations: "The World According to Garp" (1982), "The Big Chill" (1983), "The Natural" (1984)

Richard Burton — 7 nominations

Best actor nominations: "The Robe" (1954), "Becket" (1964), "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" (1965), "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), "Anne of the Thousand Days" (1969), "Equus" (1977)

Best supporting actor nomination: "My Cousin Rachel" (1952)

Peter O'Toole — 8 nominations

Best actor nominations: "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), "Becket" (1964), "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969), "The Ruling Class "(1972), "The Stunt Man" (1980), "My Favorite Year" (1982), "Venus" (2006)

O'Toole received the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievement in 2002.