Academy Awards: Snubbed by Oscar
ACADEMY AWARDS
Snubbed by Oscar

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Great Actors, Great Actresses, and Great Directors That Weren't Nominated
for an Academy Award: Snubbed by Oscar

Although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® has awarded many deserving honors to its nominees over the years (Academy Awards® Winners from 1927/8 to the present), a large number of excellent performances by Film Actors and Actresses have been ignored, overlooked, snubbed, or passed over.

In all of Oscar's history, there are many Actors and Actresses who have either never been nominated for their performances, or have never won an acting Oscar, including these Most Glaring Examples (see more below):

  • Amy Adams (6 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Fred Astaire (1 nomination, 0 wins)
  • Richard Burton (7 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Jim Carrey (0 nominations)
  • Maurice Chevalier (2 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Montgomery Clift (4 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Joseph Cotten (0 nominations)
  • Glenn Close (8 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Joseph Cotten (0 nominations)
  • Kirk Douglas (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Mia Farrow (0 nominations)
  • Albert Finney (5 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Errol Flynn (0 nominations)
  • Greta Garbo (4 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Lillian Gish (1 nomination, 0 wins)
  • Cary Grant (2 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Madeline Kahn (2 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Deborah Kerr (6 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Angela Lansbury (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Piper Laurie (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Jerry Lewis (0 nominations)
  • Peter Lorre (0 nominations)
  • Myrna Loy (0 nominations)
  • Fred MacMurray (0 nominations)
  • James Mason (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Marilyn Monroe (0 nominations)
  • Agnes Moorehead (4 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Kim Novak (0 nominations)
  • Maureen O'Hara (0 nominations)
  • Peter O'Toole (8 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Edward G. Robinson (0 nominations)
  • Gena Rowlands (2 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Rosalind Russell (4 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Peter Sellers (2 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Barbara Stanwyck (4 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Donald Sutherland (0 nominations)
  • Orson Welles (1 nomination, 0 wins)

And likewise, there are many Film Directors who have either never been nominated for their Directing, or have never won a Best Director Oscar, including these Most Glaring Examples (see more below):

  • Robert Altman (5 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Charlie Chaplin (1 nomination, 0 wins)
  • Cecil B. DeMille (1 nomination, 0 wins)
  • D. W. Griffith (0 nominations)
  • Howard Hawks (1 nomination, 0 wins)
  • Alfred Hitchcock (5 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Stanley Kubrick (4 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Akira Kurosawa (1 nomination, 0 wins)
  • Fritz Lang (0 nominations)
  • Spike Lee (1 nomination, 0 wins)
  • Ernst Lubitsch (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  • George Lucas (2 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Sidney Lumet (4 nominations, 0 wins)
  • F.W. Murnau (0 nominations)
  • Christopher Nolan (0 nominations as Best Director)
  • Sam Peckinpah (0 nominations)
  • Arthur Penn (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Ridley Scott (3 nominations, 0 wins)
  • King Vidor (5 nominations, 0 wins)
  • Orson Welles (1 nomination, 0 wins)

Please note: Oscar omissions and losses are also described for each year in the complete Oscar history found on this site.


Great Actors Who Were Never Nominated or Were Snubbed for Acting Academy Awards®

(Number of Acting Nominations Received in Parentheses)
(Some of them did receive Honorary Awards, or nominations in other categories)
The most notable are in bold
Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Academy Award Winners


  • Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson (0) (Honorary Award in 1957)
  • Dana Andrews (0)
  • Fred Astaire (1) (Honorary Award in 1949)
  • Lew Ayres (1)
  • Kevin Bacon (0)
  • John Barrymore (0)
  • James Baskett (0) (Honorary Award in 1947)
  • Warren Beatty (4) (Won Best Director Award in 1981)
  • Ralph Bellamy (1) (Honorary Award in 1986)
  • Charles Bickford (3)
  • Dirk Bogarde (0)
  • Charles Boyer (4) (Honorary Award in 1942)
  • Kenneth Branagh (4)
  • Richard Burton (7)
  • Steve Buscemi (0)
  • Eddie Cantor (0) (Honorary Award in 1956)
  • Jim Carrey (0)
  • John Cassavetes (1)
  • Charles Chaplin (2) (Honorary Awards in 1927/28 and 1971, a Special Award in 1927/8, and the Original Dramatic Score Award in 1972)
  • Maurice Chevalier (2) (Honorary Award in 1958)
  • Montgomery Clift (4)
  • Lee J. Cobb (2)
  • Joseph Cotten (0)
  • Noel Coward (0)
  • Tom Cruise (3)
  • Tony Curtis (1)
  • James Dean (2) - Both awarded posthumously
  • Johnny Depp (3)
  • Kirk Douglas (3) (Honorary Award in 1995)
  • Clint Eastwood (1) (Thalberg Award in 1994)
  • Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (0) (Honorary Award in 1939)
  • Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (0)
  • W.C. Fields (0)
  • Ralph Fiennes (2)
  • Albert Finney (5)
  • Errol Flynn (0)
  • Peter Fonda (1)
  • Glenn Ford (0)
  • Harrison Ford (1)
  • John Garfield (2)
  • James Garner (1)
  • Richard Gere (0)
  • John Goodman (0)
  • Elliott Gould (1)
  • Cary Grant (2) (Honorary Award in 1969)
  • Hugh Grant (0)
  • Sydney Greenstreet (1)
  • Ed Harris (4)
  • Richard Harris (2)
  • Laurence Harvey (1)
  • Bob Hope (0) (Honorary Awards in 1940, 1944, 1952 and 1965)
  • Dennis Hopper (2)
  • Leslie Howard (2)
  • Trevor Howard (1)
  • Rock Hudson (1)
  • Jerry Lewis (0) (Honorary Award in 2008)
  • James Earl Jones (1) (Honorary Award in 2011)
  • Louis Jourdan (0)
  • Boris Karloff (0)
  • Danny Kaye (0) (Honorary Award in 1954)
  • Buster Keaton (0) (Honorary Award in 1959)
  • Gene Kelly (1) (Honorary Award in 1951)
  • Arthur Kennedy (5)
  • Alan Ladd (0)
  • Stan Laurel (0) (Honorary Award in 1960)
  • Harold Lloyd (0) (Honorary Award in 1952)
  • Peter Lorre (0)
  • Bela Lugosi (0)
  • Roddy MacDowall (0)
  • Fred MacMurray (0)
  • Dean Martin (0)
  • Steve Martin (0) (Honorary Award in 2013)
  • Groucho Marx (0) (Honorary Award in 1973)
  • James Mason (3)
  • Raymond Massey (1)
  • Marcello Mastroianni (3)
  • Joel McCrea (0)
  • Malcolm McDowell (0)
  • Steve McQueen (1)
  • Adolphe Menjou (1)
  • Burgess Meredith (2)
  • Robert Mitchum (1)
  • Robert Montgomery (2)
  • Zero Mostel (0)
  • Liam Neeson (1)
  • Nick Nolte (3)
  • Edward Norton (3)
  • Peter O'Toole (8) (Honorary Award in 2002)
  • Anthony Perkins (1)
  • Walter Pidgeon (2)
  • William Powell (3)
  • Tyrone Power (0)
  • Vincent Price (0)
  • Richard Pryor (0)
  • Dennis Quaid (0)
  • Claude Rains (4)
  • Basil Rathbone (2)
  • Ronald Reagan (0)
  • Robert Redford (1) (Won Best Director Award in 1980) (Honorary Award in 2001)
  • Burt Reynolds (1)
  • Ralph Richardson (2)
  • Alan Rickman (0)
  • Edward G. Robinson (0) (Honorary Award in 1972)
  • Will Rogers (0)
  • Mickey Rooney (4) (Honorary Awards in 1938 and 1982)
  • Robert Ryan (1)
  • Peter Sarsgaard (0)
  • George Segal (1)
  • Martin Scheen (0)
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (0)
  • Peter Sellers (2)
  • Robert Shaw (1)
  • Martin Sheen (0)
  • Wesley Snipes (0)
  • Sylvester Stallone (2)
  • Donald Sutherland (0) (Honorary Award in 2017)
  • Robert Taylor (0)
  • John Travolta (2)
  • Max Von Sydow (2)
  • Eli Wallach (0) (Honorary Award in 2010)
  • Clifton Webb (3)
  • Orson Welles (1) (Honorary Award in 1970)
  • James Whitmore (2)
  • Richard Widmark (1)
  • Bruce Willis (0)
  • Robert Young (0)


Great Actresses Who Were Never Nominated or Were Snubbed For Acting Academy Awards®

(Number of Acting Nominations Received in Parentheses)
(Some of them did receive Honorary Awards, or nominations in other categories)
The most notable are in bold
Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Academy Award Winners

  • Amy Adams (6)
  • Jane Alexander (4)
  • Judith Anderson (1)
  • Jennifer Aniston (0)
  • Jean Arthur (1)
  • Lauren Bacall (1) (Honorary Award in 2009)
  • Lucille Ball (0)
  • Tallulah Bankhead (0)
  • Brigitte Bardot (0)
  • Annette Bening (5)
  • Jacqueline Bisset (0)
  • Beulah Bondi (2)
  • Carol Burnett (0)
  • Glenn Close (8)
  • Doris Day (1)
  • Catherine Deneuve (1)
  • Marlene Dietrich (1)
  • Cameron Diaz (0)
  • Irene Dunne (5)
  • Deanna Durbin (0) (Honorary Award in 1938)
  • Mia Farrow (0)
  • Greta Garbo (4) (Honorary Award in 1954)
  • Ava Gardner (1)
  • Judy Garland (2) (Honorary Award in 1939)
  • Lillian Gish (1) (Honorary Award in 1970)
  • Paulette Goddard (1)
  • Jean Hagen (1)
  • Jean Harlow (0)
  • Jessica Harper (0)
  • Julie Harris (1)
  • Rita Hayworth (0)
  • Miriam Hopkins (1)
  • Madeline Kahn (2)
  • Deborah Kerr (6) (Honorary Award in 1993)
  • Elsa Lanchester (2)
  • Angela Lansbury (3) (Honorary Award in 2013)
  • Piper Laurie (3)
  • Janet Leigh (1)
  • Jennifer Jason Leigh (1)
  • Carole Lombard (1)
  • Jennifer Lopez (0)
  • Myrna Loy (0) (Honorary Award in 1990)
  • Ida Lupino (0)
  • Marsha Mason (4)
  • Bette Midler (2)
  • Hayley Mills (0) (Honorary Award in 1960)
  • Marilyn Monroe (0)
  • Demi Moore (0)
  • Agnes Moorehead (4)
  • Kim Novak (0)
  • Merle Oberon (1)
  • Margaret O'Brien (0) (Special Award in 1944)
  • Maureen O'Hara (0) (Honorary Award in 2014)
  • Eleanor Parker (3)
  • Michelle Pfeiffer (3)
  • Charlotte Rampling (1)
  • Debbie Reynolds (1)
  • Thelma Ritter (6)
  • Mimi Rogers (0)
  • Gena Rowlands (2) (Honorary Award in 2015)
  • Rosalind Russell (4) (Hersholt Award in 1972)
  • Meg Ryan (0)
  • Jean Simmons (2)
  • Kim Stanley (2)
  • Barbara Stanwyck (4) (Honorary Award in 1981)
  • Margaret Sullavan (1)
  • Gloria Swanson (3)
  • Shirley Temple (0) (Honorary Award in 1934)
  • Gene Tierney (1)
  • Kathleen Turner (1)
  • Lana Turner (1)
  • Liv Ullmann (2)
  • Sigourney Weaver (3)
  • Tuesday Weld (1)
  • Debra Winger (3)
  • Natalie Wood (3)


Great Directors Who Were Never Nominated or Were Snubbed For Directing Academy Awards®

(Number of Best Director Nominations Received in Parentheses)
(Some of them did receive Honorary Awards, or nominations in other categories)
Best Director Academy Award Winners


  • Ben Affleck (0)
  • Robert Altman (5) (Honorary Award in 2005)
  • Michelangelo Antonioni (1) (Honorary Award in 1994)
  • Ingmar Bergman (3) (Thalberg Award in 1971)
  • Richard Brooks (3)
  • Clarence Brown (6)
  • Tim Burton (0)
  • John Cassavetes (1)
  • Charles Chaplin (1) (Honorary Award in 1971)
  • Merian C. Cooper (0) (Honorary Award in 1952)
  • Roger Corman (0) (Honorary Award in 2009)
  • Cecil B. De Mille (1) (Honorary Award in 1949, Thalberg Award in 1953)
  • Brian De Palma (0)
  • Stanley Donen (0) (Honorary Award in 1997)
  • Blake Edwards (0) (Honorary Award in 2003)
  • Federico Fellini (4) (Honorary Award in 1992)
  • David Fincher (3)
  • John Frankenheimer (0)
  • Jean-Luc Godard (0) (Honorary Award in 2010)
  • D.W. Griffith (0) (Honorary Award in 1935)
  • Howard Hawks (1) (Honorary Award in 1974)
  • Alfred Hitchcock (5) (Thalberg Award in 1968)
  • James Ivory (3)
  • Norman Jewison (3) (Thalberg Award in 1999)
  • Buster Keaton (0) (Honorary Award in 1959)
  • Gene Kelly (0) (Honorary Award in 1951)
  • Stanley Kramer (3) (Thalberg Award in 1962)
  • Stanley Kubrick (4)
  • Akira Kurosawa (1) (Honorary Award in 1989)
  • Gregory La Cava (2)
  • Fritz Lang (0)
  • Spike Lee (1) (Honorary Award in 2015)
  • Mervyn LeRoy (1) (Thalberg Award in 1976)
  • Joshua Logan (2)
  • Ernst Lubitsch (3) (Honorary Award in 1946)
  • George Lucas (2) (Thalberg Award in 1992)
  • Sidney Lumet (4) (Honorary Award in 2004)
  • David Lynch (3) (Honorary Award in 2019)
  • Terrence Malick (2)
  • Rouben Mamoulian (0)
  • Michael Mann (1)
  • Paul Mazursky (0)
  • F.W. Murnau (0)
  • Hal Needham (0) (Honorary Award in 2012)
  • Christopher Nolan (0)
  • Laurence Olivier (1) (Honorary Award in 1946 and 1978)
  • Alan J. Pakula (1)
  • George Pal (0) (Honorary Award in 1943)
  • Sam Peckinpah (0)
  • Arthur Penn (3)
  • Michael Powell (0)
  • Otto Preminger (2)
  • Satyajit Ray (0) (Honorary Award in 1991)
  • Jean Renoir (1) (Honorary Award in 1974)
  • Hal Roach (0) (Honorary Award in 1983)
  • Herbert Ross (1)
  • Robert Rossen (2)
  • Ridley Scott (3)
  • Mack Sennett (0) (Honorary Award in 1937)
  • George Sidney (0)
  • Barbra Streisand (0) (winner of acting and songwriting awards)
  • Francois Truffaut (1)
  • W.S. Van Dyke (2)
  • King Vidor (5) (Honorary Award in 1978)
  • Josef von Sternberg (2)
  • Andrzej Wajda (0) (Honorary Award in 1999)
  • Peter Weir (3)
  • Orson Welles (1) (Honorary Award in 1970)
  • William A. Wellman (3)
  • Lina Wertmuller (1) (Honorary Award in 2019)
  • Gordon Willis (0) (Honorary Award in 2009)
  • Sam Wood (3)

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