Reza wrote:Susan Hayward (on her 5th nod in 1958)
Gregory Peck (on his 5th nod in 1962)
Henry Fonda (on his 2nd nod but 41 years after his first)
Maureen Stapleton (on her 4th nod in 1981)
Shirley MacLaine (on her 5th nod in 1983)
Geraldine Page (on her 8th nod in 1985)
Paul Newman (on his 7th nod in 1986 - would go on to win two more nods later)
Al Pacino (on his 8th nod in 1992)
Susan Sarandon (on her 5th nod in 1995)
Kate Winslet (on her 5th nod in 2008)
Jeff Bridges (on his 5th nod in 2009 - won 2 more nods later)
Julianne Moore (on her 5th nod in 2014)
Leonardo DiCaprio (on his 5th nod in 2015)
Yes, but those winners were either up against weak competition, had something extra going on and/or were the front-runners going into the home stretch.
Hayward - strong precursor winner, representing a social cause (ending capital punishment), known to be the survivor of more than one suicide attempt - toughest competition: Rosalind Russell (4th nomination)
Peck - beloved character - toughest competition: newcomer Peter O'Toole
Fonda - the father of a two-time Best Actress winner known to be gravely ill, in one of his better performances, passed over many times for equally strong performances - toughest competition: previous winner Burt Lancaster
Stapleton - her best big screen performance with absolutely no competition
MacLaine - an iconic performance - toughest competition: Debra Winger as her daughter in the same film
Page - a makeup Oscar for sure, but a highly popular one - toughest competition: Whoopi Goldberg in her film debut
Newman - the most obvious makeup Oscar, albeit one against weak competition - toughest competition: Bob Hoskins
Pacino - the Academy loves handicapped characters - toughest competition: former winner Denzel Washington
Sarandon - playing a real-life person, a chance to make up for passing all those earlier nominated nuns by (Berman, Kerr, Hepburn, etc.) - toughest competition: Emma Thompson, who won for Best Screenplay instead
Winslet - it was widely deemed her time, would have won whether nominated in lead or support as she was campaigned for - toughest competition: Meryl Streep in serious quest of a third win
Bridges - a makeup Oscar in a weak year - toughest competition: first time nominee Colin Firth who won the following year
Moore - a really weak year and a makeup win not only for her but for a character with Alzheimer's disease - toughest competition: former winner Marion Cotillard who won over Julie Christie playing a character with Alzheimer's
DiCaprio - the anticipated winner for a whole year before his film was even released - roughest competition: Michael Fassbender on his second nomination
Close, by comparison, is in a weak spot. Hers is far from the best reviewed performance of the year. She is presumed to be in excellent health and despite her age is capable of giving a far more Oscar worthy performance. Whether she'll have the opportunity no one knows, but as long as the possibility exists she won't win on sentiment alone.