See also this site's designation of the Greatest Directors and Their Best Films.

The Best Director Academy Award should actually be titled the "best achievement in directing." In the first year of the Academy Awards, there were two awards for directorship: one for direction of a dramatic film, another for comedy direction. The latter award was dropped the following year.

The Top Best Director Oscar Winners:

John Ford is the only director with 4 Best Director Oscars, followed by William Wyler and Frank Capra with 3 Best Director Academy Awards. The most nominated and most frequent winners in the Best Director category are the following:

Top Best Director Oscar Winners
John Ford 5 nominations 4 wins	Wins: The Informer (1935) The Grapes of Wrath (1940) How Green Was My Valley (1941) The Quiet Man (1952) Also Nominated For: Stagecoach (1939) Note: Ford won his four Oscars for his pictures of social comment, rather than for his quintessential westerns. Only How Green Was My Valley (1941) also won Best Picture. Ford was the first director to win Best Director Oscars back-to-back in consecutive years.
William Wyler 12 nominations 3 wins	Wins: Mrs. Miniver (1942) The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Ben-Hur (1959) Also Nominated For: Dodsworth (1936) Wuthering Heights (1939) The Letter (1940) The Little Foxes (1941) The Heiress (1949) Detective Story (1951) Roman Holiday (1953) Friendly Persuasion (1956) The Collector (1965) Note: Wyler had twelve nominations over 29 years (from 1936-1965). Each of his three wins also won Best Picture.
Steven Spielberg 9 nominations 2 wins	Wins: Schindler's List (1993) Saving Private Ryan (1998) Also Nominated For: Munich (2005) E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Lincoln (2012) West Side Story (2021) The Fabelmans (2022) Note: Spielberg became the first person to be nominated as Best Director in six different decades.
Frank Capra 6 nominations 3 wins	Wins: It Happened One Night (1934) Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) You Can't Take It With You (1938) Also Nominated For: Lady for a Day (1933) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Note: Capra won three times in five years, each time for a comedy!
Billy Wilder 8 nominations 2 wins	Wins: The Lost Weekend (1945) The Apartment (1960) Also Nominated For: Double Indemnity (1944) Sunset Boulevard (1950) Stalag 17 (1953) Sabrina (1954) Witness For the Prosecution (1957) Some Like It Hot (1959)
David Lean 7 nominations 2 wins	Wins: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Also Nominated For: Brief Encounter (1946) Great Expectations (1946) Summertime (1955) Doctor Zhivago (1965) A Passage to India (1984)
Fred Zinnemann 7 nominations 2 wins	Wins: From Here to Eternity (1953) A Man for All Seasons (1966) Also Nominated For: The Search (1948) High Noon (1952) The Nun's Story (1959) The Sundowners (1960) Julia (1977)

The Top Winning Directors (with At Least Two Best Director Oscars) and Top Nominees:

Although John Ford has won more Oscars, he has only five Best Director nominations. By the year 2022, William Wyler held the record for the most nominations as director - twelve, followed by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg with 9 nominations as director, and Billy Wilder with 8 nominations. Twenty directors have two or more Best Director Oscar wins, and include the following (with no. of nominations in parentheses):

• John Ford (5) - with four wins (The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), and The Quiet Man (1952))
  

• William Wyler (12) - with three wins (Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Ben-Hur (1959))
• Frank Capra (6) - with three wins (It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), and You Can't Take It With You (1938))
  
  
• Martin Scorsese (9) - with only one win (The Departed (2006))
  
  
• Steven Spielberg (9) - with two wins (Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998))
  
• Billy Wilder (8) - with two wins (The Lost Weekend (1945) and The Apartment (1960))
• David Lean (7) - with two wins (The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962))
• Fred Zinnemann (7) - with two wins (From Here to Eternity (1953) and A Man for All Seasons (1966))
• Elia Kazan (5) - with two wins (Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and On the Waterfront (1954))
• George Stevens (5) - with two wins (A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956))
• Frank Lloyd (4) - with two wins (The Divine Lady (1928/29) and Cavalcade (1932/33))
• Joseph L. Mankiewicz (4) - with two wins (A Letter to Three Wives (1949), All About Eve (1950))
• Clint Eastwood (4) - with two wins (Million Dollar Baby (2004), and Unforgiven (1992))
• Lewis Milestone (3) - with two wins ( All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Two Arabian Knights (1927/8))
• Leo McCarey (3) - with two wins (The Awful Truth (1937), Going My Way (1944))
• Robert Wise (3) - with two wins ( West Side Story (1961) (co-winner), The Sound of Music (1965))
• Oliver Stone (3) - with two wins (Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989))
• Milos Forman (3) - with two wins (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Amadeus (1984))
• Ang Lee (3) - with two wins (Brokeback Mountain (2005), Life of Pi (2012))
• Frank Borzage (2) - with two wins (Bad Girl (1931/2), Seventh Heaven (1927/8))
• Alejandro González Iñárritu (3) - with two wins (Birdman (2014), The Revenant (2015))
  

In addition, Billy Wilder has a total of twenty-one career nominations and six Oscars for various roles:

• Nominated eight times for director (with two Best Director wins - see below) between 1944 and 1960
• Nominated twelve times for screenwriting (with three wins for The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and The Apartment (1960))
• Nominated (and won) once as producer for the Best Picture-winning The Apartment (1960)

Best Director-Winning Directors With Consecutive Oscars:

Among them are the only three directors who have received two consecutive Best Director statuette wins:

• John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and How Green Was My Valley (1941)
• Joseph L. Mankiewicz for A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950)
  (Mankiewicz is the only writer-director to have back-to-back double wins for both screenwriting and directing)
• Alejandro González Iñárritu for Birdman (2014) and The Revenant (2015)

Best Director Summary of Multiple Nominees and Winners:

It appears that thirty-seven directors have been nominated three or more times (some have never won).

• John Ford (5 nominations, 4 wins):
  Oscar wins: The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), and The Quiet Man (1952).
  Nominated: Stagecoach (1939)
  
  
• William Wyler (12 nominations, 3 wins):
  Oscar wins: Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Ben-Hur (1959)
  Nominated: The Collector (1965), Friendly Persuasion (1956), Roman Holiday (1953), Detective Story (1951), The Heiress (1949), The Little Foxes (1941), The Letter (1940), Wuthering Heights (1939), Dodsworth (1936)
  
  
• Frank Capra (6 nominations, 3 wins):
  Oscars wins: It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), and You Can't Take It With You (1938)
  Nominated: It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Lady for a Day (1933)
  
  
• Billy Wilder (8 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: The Lost Weekend (1945) and The Apartment (1960)
  Nominated: Some Like It Hot (1959), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Sabrina (1954), Stalag 17 (1953), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Double Indemnity (1944)
  
  
• Steven Spielberg (9 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998)
  Nominated: Munich (2005), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Lincoln (2012), West Side Story (2021), The Fabelmans (2022)
  [Note: Spielberg was nominated for Best Director in six consecutive decades.]
  
  
• Martin Scorsese (9 nominations, 1 win):
  Oscar win: The Departed (2006)
  Nominated:The Aviator (2004), Gangs of New York (2002), GoodFellas (1990), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Raging Bull (1980), Hugo (2011), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), The Irishman (2019)
  
  
• David Lean (7 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
  Nominated: A Passage to India (1984), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Summertime (1955), Great Expectations (1946), Brief Encounter (1946)
  
  
• Fred Zinnemann (7 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: From Here to Eternity (1953) and A Man for All Seasons (1966)
  Nominated: Julia (1977), The Sundowners (1960), The Nun's Story (1959), High Noon (1952), The Search (1948)
  
  
• Woody Allen (7 nominations, 1 win):
  Oscar win: Annie Hall (1976)
  Nominated: Bullets over Broadway (1994), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Interiors (1978), Midnight in Paris (2011)
  
  
• Clarence Brown (6 nominations, 0 wins):
  Nominated: The Yearling (1946), National Velvet (1944), The Human Comedy (1943), A Free Soul (1941), Anna Christie (1929/30) and Romance (1929/30)
  
  
• Elia Kazan (5 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and On the Waterfront (1954)
  Nominated: America, America (1963), East of Eden (1955), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
  
  
• George Stevens (5 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956)
  Nominated: The More the Merrier (1943), Shane (1953), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
  
  
• George Cukor (5 nominations, 1 win):
  Oscar win: My Fair Lady (1964)
  Nominated: Born Yesterday (1950), A Double Life (1947), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Little Women (1933)
  
  
• John Huston (5 nominations, 1 win):
  Oscar win: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
  Nominated: Prizzi's Honor (1985), Moulin Rouge (1952), The African Queen (1951), The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
  
  
• King Vidor (5 nominations, 0 wins):
  Nominated: War and Peace (1956), The Citadel (1938), The Champ (1931), Hallelujah (1929), The Crowd (1928)
  
  
• Alfred Hitchcock (5 nominations, 0 wins):
  Nominated: Psycho (1960), Rear Window (1954), Spellbound (1945), Lifeboat (1944), Rebecca (1940)
  
  
• Robert Altman (5 nominations, 0 wins):
  Nominated: Gosford Park (2001), Short Cuts (1993), The Player (1992), Nashville (1975), M*A*S*H (1970)
  
  
• Frank Lloyd (4 official nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: The Divine Lady (1928/29) and Cavalcade (1932/33)
  Nominated: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), Weary River (1928/9) and Drag (1928/29) (unofficial)
  
  
• Joseph L. Mankiewicz (4 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: A Letter to Three Wives (1949), All About Eve (1950)
  Nominated: Five Fingers (1952), Sleuth (1972)
  
  
• Clint Eastwood (4 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: Million Dollar Baby (2004), and Unforgiven (1992)
  Nominated: Letters From Iwo Jima (2006), Mystic River (2003)
  
  
• Francis Ford Coppola (4 nominations, 1 win):
  Oscar win: The Godfather, Part 2 (1974)
  Nominated: The Godfather, Part 3 (1990), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Godfather (1972)
  
  
• Michael Curtiz (4 nominations, 1 win):
  Oscar win: Casablanca (1942)
  Nominated: Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Four Daughters (1938)
  
  
• Mike Nichols (4 nominations, 1 win):
  Oscar win: The Graduate (1967)
  Nominated: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), Silkwood (1983), Working Girl (1988)
  
  
• Stanley Kubrick (4 nominations, 0 wins):
  Nominated: Barry Lyndon (1975), A Clockwork Orange (1971), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Dr. Strangelove or: How... (1964)
  
  
• Sidney Lumet (4 nominations, 0 wins):
  Nominated: The Verdict (1982), Network (1976), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), 12 Angry Men (1957)
  
  
• Federico Fellini (4 nominations, 0 wins):
  Nominated: Amarcord (1974), Fellini Satyricon (1970), 8 1/2 (1963), La Dolce Vita (1961)
  
  
• Peter Weir (4 nominations, 0 wins):
  Nominated: Witness (1985), Dead Poets Society (1989), The Truman Show (1998), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
  
  
• Lewis Milestone (3 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Two Arabian Knights (1927/8)
  Nominated: The Front Page (1931)
  
  
• Leo McCarey (3 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: The Awful Truth (1937), Going My Way (1944)
  Nominated: The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
  
  
• Robert Wise (3 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: West Side Story (1961) (co-winner), The Sound of Music (1965)
  Nominated: I Want to Live! (1958)
  
  
• Oliver Stone (3 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
  Nominated: JFK (1991)
  
  
• Milos Forman (3 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Amadeus (1984)
  Nominated: The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
  
  
• Ang Lee (3 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: Brokeback Mountain (2005), Life of Pi (2012)
  Nominated: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
  
  
• Alejandro González Iñárritu (3 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: Birdman (2014), The Revenant (2015)
  Nominated: Babel (2006)
  
  
• David O. Russell (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  Nominated: The Fighter (2010), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), American Hustle (2013)
  
  
• Alexander Payne (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  Nominated: Sideways (2004), The Descendants (2011), Nebraska (2013)
  
  
• Paul Thomas Anderson (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  Nominated: There Will Be Blood (2007), Phantom Thread (2017), Licorice Pizza (2021)
  
  
• Frank Borzage (2 nominations, 2 wins):
  Oscar wins: Bad Girl (1931/2), Seventh Heaven (1927/8)
  
  
• Jane Campion (2 nominations, 1 win):
  Oscar win: The Power of the Dog (2021)
  Nominated: The Piano (1993)

Best Director Oscar Omissions and Non-Winners:

Some of the greatest directors of all time have never won a competitive Academy Award for Best Director (and many were never nominated - see Great Directors Who Have Not Won), including Clarence Brown, Charlie Chaplin, King Vidor, Howard Hawks, D. W. Griffith, Brian De Palma, George Sidney, John Cassavetes, Cecil B. DeMille, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, F.W. Murnau, William A. Wellman, Otto Preminger, Sam Wood, Gregory La Cava, Norman Jewison, Sidney Lumet, Ernst Lubitsch, Terrence Malick, Robert Altman, Robert Rossen, Fritz Lang, Spike Lee, Rouben Mamoulian, W.S. Van Dyke, Stanley Kubrick, Herbert Ross, Tim Burton, Blake Edwards, Stanley Kramer, Joshua Logan, James Ivory, Alan J. Pakula, Paul Mazursky, Arthur Penn, Richard Brooks, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, David Lynch, Peter Weir, Akira Kurosawa, Barbra Streisand, Ingmar Bergman, and Sam Peckinpah.