The 90th Annual Academy Awards Ceremonies falls on Sunday, March
4th, this year. Who will win that
coveted statuette? Who will be taking
home an Oscar®?
There are many people in the movie industry who are
considered legends, those who received multiple nominations over the years and
deserved the Academy Award but never received that elusive prize. Some of the names will even strike you as What? That can't be true. He/She must have
won at least once.
So, in no particular order, here is a cross-section of very
deserving movie legends who were often nominated but missed out on the grand
prize of the movie industry's top award.
1) Alfred Hitchcock
With a string of directorial masterpieces to his credit, he
never won one of the prized statuettes for directing. However, in 1968 he was presented an honorary
Oscar® for his lifetime body of work.
2) Cary Grant
He made it look easy which sometimes prevented people from
realizing just how good he was—adept at drama and light comedy (and even
slapstick, after all he started his career as a vaudeville acrobat in England
which certainly equipped him with the dexterity and coordination to do physical
comedy). Considered by many to be the
epitome of the romantic leading man.
However, in 1970 he was presented an honorary Oscar® for his lifetime
body of work.
3) Peter O'Toole
He holds the record for the most Best Actor nominations (8)
without a win with his most famous role probably Lawrence of Arabia. My
personal favorite of Peter O'Toole's films is My Favorite Year, one of his few comedy films. However, in 2003 he was presented an honorary
Oscar® for his lifetime body of work.
4) Deborah Kerr
With many outstanding roles, certainly From Here To Eternity and also The
King And I, she was nominated six times but no wins. However, in 1994 she was presented an
honorary Oscar® for her lifetime body of work.
5) Richard Burton
Many outstanding performances including an exceptional one
in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolfe.
Six nominations, five of them for Best Actor, but no wins.
6) Albert Finney
The British actor is probably best known for Tom Jones, one of his earlier films. He's garnered five nominations but no
wins. My favorite Albert Finney film is Murder On The Orient Express with his
marvelous portrayal of Hercule Poirot (supported by an incredible cast
including several Oscar® winners and nominees, among them multiple Oscar®
winner Ingrid Bergman who won an Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress in Murder On The Orient Express).
7) Angela Lansbury
Today she's best known for her award winning role of Jessica
Fletcher, the retired school teacher turned mystery novelist and amateur sleuth
in the long running television series Murder,
She Wrote. In addition to
television, she has an impressive string of Tony award winning Broadway
performances. But oddly enough, even
though she started her career in films and received three Oscar® nominations,
it's the acting award that has remained elusive. My favorite of her Oscar® nominations was for
a riveting performance in the original film version of The Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey
(she played Laurence Harvey's mother even though they were only a few months
apart in age).
8) Fred Astaire
Although best known for a stellar career in a long string of
very successful musicals (many with his long time partner, Ginger Rogers), his
one and only nomination came for a dramatic role in Towering Inferno. I remember
being pleasantly surprised when I saw his excellent performance in his first
dramatic role, 1959's On The Beach—a
story of nuclear war aftermath starring Gregory Peck.
9) Charlie Chaplin
He is one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of
Hollywood. Even though he never won for
either acting or directing, I wasn't sure whether to add him to this list of never won an Oscar® because he did win
one for Best Original Musical Score in 1952 for Limelight. However, in 1972
he was presented with an honorary Oscar® for his lifetime body of work and
received the longest standing ovation in Academy Awards history (over twelve
minutes).
There are, of course, many more nominated actors/actresses/directors
who deserve but haven't yet had their name engraved on an Oscar®.
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