Which actress has won both an acting Oscar and an Oscar for writing?

Emma Thompson is the actress who has won both an acting Oscar and an Oscar for writing.

Thompson won Best Actress at the 65th Academy Awards for playing Margaret Schlegel in Howards End, the 1992 period drama directed by James Ivory. Three years later, she won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 68th Academy Awards for Sense and Sensibility, adapting Jane Austen's 1811 novel and starring as Elinor Dashwood.

Her achievement is unusual because the two Oscars recognize different kinds of work: performance in one case and literary adaptation in the other. Thompson was also nominated for Best Actress for Sense and Sensibility, so the film brought her both a writing victory and another acting nomination.

Jodie Foster and Frances McDormand are two-time acting winners but have not won for writing. Meryl Streep has received writing-related recognition through nominations and other honors, yet Thompson is the canonical Oscar answer because she won competitively in both acting and screenwriting.