Lists
Ten Great Oscar-less Hollywood Icons
Posted by Nathan Deen (nathan@filmschoolrejects.com) on February 20, 2008
Going back to last year’s Academy Awards, I remember thinking how nice it was for Martin Scorsese to finally win his long overdue golden statue. Then I wondered what other film icons, past and present, have yet to or never did win an Oscar? With a couple hours of research on IMDb, I found ten very well-known filmmakers, actors and directors alike. Some of them may surprise you if you’ve never given this any thought.
It should be noted up front that, yes, I do realize there are not any women on this list. I tried, oh how I tried, but I was unable to find any name of significance. It seemed like every well-known actress I could think of did indeed receive an Academy Award(s). So I guess that’s a good thing. The closest was Mariyln Monroe and yes, she was a major icon of her time, but I didn’t feel her resume was good enough to knock one of the other candidates off the list (she wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar). So consider this an honorable mention.
Note: The Honorary Oscar Award, of which several members of this list received, doesn’t count. This list is restricted to the Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, and Actor categories.
Robert Altman
At the very least we witnessed an extraordinary moment when the legendary director received a career honorary Oscar. Sadly, after the release of his last film, A Prairie Home Companion, Altman passed away at the age of 81. Altman hit it big when he was asked to direct the movie adaptation of MASH in 1970. He collected seven Oscar nominations over his career and was nominated for Best Director five times. His most notable film is Nashville, held by many as a masterpiece. Other notable films include 2001’s Gosford Park, 1993’s Shortcuts, 1992’s The Player and 1971’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller.
Ingmar Bergman
It is no surprise, that almost half of this list features famous foreign filmmakers. The Sweedish director passed away over the summer of 2007 but proved in 2003 that he could still make an impact with the critically acclaimed Saraband, which was his first feature film in almost twenty years. Bergman was not only considered one of the very best foriegn filmmakers of all-time, but one of the best filmmakers in general. He has directed a handful of widely regarded masterpieces including 1982’s Fanny and Alexander, 1973’s Scenes From a Marriage, 1957’s Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal. Bergman was nominated for nine Oscars and two of his films are on the IMDb Top 250 list.
Federico Fellini
Fellini is also considered a foreign master behind the camera and made many of his films around the same time as Bergman. I will admit, having viewed 1963’s 8 1/2 for myself, that I’m not a fan of Fellini’s style; though I will also admit, that his vision was unlike any other director of that time. 8 1/2 is considered by many critics to be one of the greatest films of all-time. Other well-known Fellini works include 1973’s Amarcord, 1960’s La Dolce Vita, and 1957’s Nights of Cabiria. Fellini is tied for the highest number of Oscar nominations on this list with 12 total. He has helmed three films on the IMDb Top 250 list.
Harrison Ford
This may seem like a head scratcher, considering Mr. Ford has, for the most part, avoided working in films aimed at Oscar gold throughout his career; but to any fanboy, he is a hero. George Lucas was the director that made Ford’s career. After 1973’s popular American Graffiti, Lucas invited Ford to play in a groundbreaking motion picture called Star Wars. Then Lucas recommended Ford to his pal Steven Spielberg and in 1981, we were introduced to one of the most famous characters in movie history (and one of my personal favorites): Indiana Jones. Then in 1982 Ford headlined, along with Star Wars, one of the most acclaimed sci-fi films of all-time: Blade Runner. So that’s three cult phenomenons Ford played in in a span of less than a decade. Is there another actor who has accomplished such a feat that you can think of? And now we are eagerly awaiting (and that’s putting it lightly) to see if Ford has something left in him with the return of Indiana Jones in this summer’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Ford has garnered one Academy Award nomination and has played in six films listed on the IMDb Top 250.
Cary Grant
This came as the biggest surprise to me. Grant was, or at least in my opinion, one of the three most popular, if not the greatest actors of his time; the other two being Humphrey Bogart and Jimmy Stewart. Those two legends got their Oscars, but Grant was never given the honor. Grant was most well known for being one of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘golden boys.’ 1946’s Notorious is as much of a classic as Casablanca and is also, as of right now, on my ten greatest films of all-time list. He also starred in 1959’s ridiculously entertaining North by Northwest. Other of his famous films include 1941’s Suspicion, 1940’s The Philadelphia Story and 1940’s His Girl Friday. Grant was nominated for an Academy Award twice and has played in four films listed on the IMDb Top 250 list.
Sergio Leone
This Italian filmmaker was considered a master of the Western genre and very likely the most underappreciated director on this list. Leone helped make Clint Eastwood a rival to John Wayne by making such prestigious Westerns as 1964’s A Fist Full of Dollars, 1965’s For a Few Dollars More, and 1966’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. He also made 1968’s Once Upon a Time in the West, starring Henry Fonda. In 1984 he directed his final film, Once Upon a Time in America, an acclaimed gangster picture starring Robert Di Niro. Aside from directing his own films, Leone also served as an assistant director on such Academy Award winning films as 1959’s Ben Hur and 1948’s The Bicycle Thief. Leone was never even nominated for an Oscar. How does the Academy sleep at night? He has four films listed in the IMDb Top 250 and two in the Top 20.
Sidney Lumet
The 82-year old director proved he still had some gas left in the tank after directing one of 2007’s very best films, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. Unfortunately, that film didn’t collect one single Oscar nomination, further stating my disliking for the Academy. Lumet made his first classic with 1957’s 12 Angry Men and that is probably the only film outside of the 70’s, along with Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, that the director is well known for. Much like Robert Altman, Lumet dominated the 70’s with films like Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Network. He has been nominated for five Academy Awards and has directed two films on the IMDb Top 250 list. Hopefully, Lumet will have one more chance to win his Oscar as IMDb has him listed as the helmer for a 2009 production called Getting Out.
Stanley Kubrick
Along with Cary Grant, this one made me the angriest. Kubrick and his special effects team won an Oscar for best special effects (take a guess as to which film) but the visionary saint never won for best director or best screenplay. It is an absolute blunder as to how this happened because there are very few directors that you could argue are better filmmakers. Kubrick has directed a few classics that you may have heard of such as 1957’s Paths of Glory, 1960’s Spartacus, 1965’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1971’s A Clockwork Orange, 1975’s Barry Lyndon, 1980’s The Shining, and 1987’s Full Metal Jacket. Kubrick topped off his career with one of my favorites: Eyes Wide Shut, a film that Martin Scorsese himself as a guest critic with Roger Ebert called one of the best films of the 1990’s. Kubrick was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and helmed eight pictures listed on the IMDb Top 250. Damn you Academy!
Akira Kurosawa
The Japenese legend Kurosawa directed what is today considered possibly the greatest foreign language film, if not film in general, of all time: Seven Samurai. He is one of few directors who consistently, and by consistently I mean once every year or two, turned out great movie after great movie. Out of all the people on this list, no one had more films with an IMDb average rating of 8 or higher (14 in total). Kurosawa’s masterpieces include 1950’s Rashomon, 1952’s Doomed, 1961’s Yojimbo the Body Guard, 1962’s Sanjuro, and 1985’s Ran. He was nominated for one Academy Award and has five films on the IMDb Top 250 list.
Peter O’ Toole
During last year’s Academy Awards, Peter O’ Toole had to watch a golden statue be handed to someone else for the eighth time in his career. Forget about the last seven times, the Academy should’ve gotten it right the first time when O’ Toole played in 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia, my personal favorite classic film. O’ Toole was perfect in that film but I guess the Academy passed him over because they thought since it was his film debut, he would have plenty of chances to win his Oscar. Boy did he ever, but the Academy continued to pass him over time after time again. He did win an Honorary Oscar, but that’s beside the point. O’ Toole has been nominated for Best Actor eight times: Lawrence of Arabia, 1964’s Beckett, 1968’s The Lion in Winter, 1969’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips, 1972’s The Ruling Class, 1980’s The Stunt Man, 1982’s My Favorite Year, and 2006’s Venus.
Sound Off: Who do you think is the most deserving from this list? Or, is there someone that I left out that you think deserves to be on the list?
Read more articles by Nathan Deen
82 Comments
February 20th, 2008 at 11:39 am
“I remember thinking how nice it was for Martin Scorsese to finally win his long overdue golden statue.”
I strongly disagree. Either win it for a great movie or don’t win it at all. The Departed is flawed and wasn’t the best movie that year.
Since Harrison Ford has many times played Harrison Ford, I would replace him with Alfred Hitchcock.
February 20th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
The Departed wasn’t his best work but it was the best movie out of what was nominated, imo. Yeah, and you need Hitchcock on there. Fellini also won 6 Oscars, 5 best foreign films and one lifetime achievement.
February 20th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I love Hitchcock as much as anyone, but since Rebecca won best picture I decided not to include him here. I hate how the Academy lets the producers take the credit for that award when it’s the director’s film and his vision that made it great.
I hope you realize you’re in the minority about The Departed. Next to Pan’s Labyrinth, that was my favorite film of 2006 so I’m very glad it won and felt that the Academy, for once, made the right choice.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
1. You forgot Hitchcock.
2. Judy Garland was ripped off when she didn’t win for A Star is Born and the Academy instead award the statuette to politically connected Grace Kelly for a so-so performance in the Country Girl. in 1954.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Hitchcock deserves to be on this list. Aside from being one of the most influential directors ever, the guy had 5 Oscar nominations across 3 different decades, and had 2 films nominated for Best Picture in the same year (Foreign Correspondent and Rebecca).
February 21st, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I concur that The Departed was the best of the nominated films of 2006, but I disagree that it was the best film. I think that distinction goes to Children of Men which was also unfairly vastly overlooked by the Academy
February 24th, 2008 at 3:14 am
I’d just like to echo everyone else: Hitchcock is THE greatest director ever. His film Rebecca may have won but in terms of an actual oscar, Hitchcock himself never got a statue declaring him ‘Best Director’.
‘I love Hitchcock as much as anyone, but since Rebecca won best picture I decided not to include him here’.
But by your logic, Bergman shouldn’t be on this list either, since three of his films have won Best Foreign Language Film, not the same as Best Picture, but his films have been recognised.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:23 am
Until last year, I would’ve put Alan Arkin at the top of that list. It’s difficult to think of a more versatile or reliable actor. Not all of the films were good, but he never gave a performance that could ever be considered lazy. (Not surprisingly, he was overshadowed by the histrionics of everyone else in GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, but watch his performance again. There’s not a moment when he’s not totally in tune with the scene.)
Along the same lines as Hitchcock, Joseph Cotten never scored a single nomination in his career - yet was a consistent force for over 40 years. CITIZEN KANE, SHADOW OF A DOUBT, THE THIRD MAN, TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING …
February 24th, 2008 at 3:46 am
Out of the list all but Altman and Leone were deserving of an Oscar. Altman and Leone were not the great directors people believe them to be. One person not on your list is of course Hitchcock.
February 24th, 2008 at 4:00 am
A certain Mr. Richard Burton (nominated 7 times, no honorary Oscar even) doesn’t figure here besides Hitchcock whom the others here have already pointed out.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:05 am
Whenever I see certain people being named as Oscar-less, I always feel like I’m in the
minority of thinking, “If a person won an Oscar in any category, or received some kind
of Honorary Oscar, they aren’t Oscarless.” I realize you make note at the beginning that
this is based on specific categories, that you’re basing this on directors who never won
Best Director, actors who never won Best Actor, etc.
But I just can’t stand that kind of thinking. Altman, Fellini, Kurosawa, Grant, all died with
Honorary Oscars. Lumet and O’Toole both have Honorary Oscars. Kubrick won a Special
Effects Oscar, and was the leading candidate for the Honorary Oscar the very year he
died. None of them won competative Oscars in their typical categories simply because
they weren’t the best in that given year. And, to a lesser extent, Bergman (and
Hitchcock, to all those who wanted him on this list) both received Irving G. Thalberg
Memorial Awards. This isn’t an Oscar Statuette, but a bust of Thalberg, so to some
extent they are “Oscarless,” but they HAVE been honored/recognized by the Academy.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:23 am
Not that I mean to have a negative comment on your list but are Fellini, Kurosawa, Bergman and Leone Hollywood icons? All four worked in their native countries.
Also, Kubrick won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects for 2001.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:30 am
I don’t know if you could call them Hollywood icons, but they certainly made an impression on young American directors. Richard Matheson should have been nominated for his script for “The Incredible Shrinking Man”. I would have nominated the 1933 version of King Kong for Best picture. Gary Oldman should have been nominated for his terrific performance in “State of Grace”. He is one of the great actors of the last quarter century.
February 24th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Joe, you are kidding. Robert Altman is and always will be considered one of the greatest
directors of all time. Groundbreaking, innovative and revolutionary. Man, you need to get
out more. If you don’t believe me just ask some of his peers.
February 24th, 2008 at 7:51 am
No. Robert Altman was not a director. He was a drinker who let other people do his work for him. Any idiot with a terrific crew and cast can make a movie. Altman’s lazy improvisational style was a result of being “out of it” on the set most of the time. By the way, I’ve seen every single Altman film (including the James Dean Story) so I think I know what I’m talking about. If you like him, that’s just fine. There’s millions of people that don’t like his work, myself included. Just because your friends(peers) like your movies don’t make you a master. I hate PT Anderson(a BIG Altman fan) as well because of his laziness.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Peter O’Toole is not “Oscar-less”. He was given an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, which he fully deserved! I know the Academy calls it an “honorary” Oscar, but that is a misnomer. When someone gets an honorary degree from a college, it means they didn’t go to that college, didn’t attend classes and didn’t take tests, but they did something else nice for it like contribute money. But a Lifetime Achievement Oscar is just the opposite. It means you didn’t give just one great performance, you gave a lifetime full of them. The whole idea of giving this Oscar is often to make up for that person not being given an individual award. They should call it what it is - a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, not an “honorary” Oscar. What is the point of giving out this award if people are going to keep acting like it’s not a “real” Oscar? As far as I’m concerned, Peter O’Toole has already won a real Oscar, and he should display it with pride!
February 24th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Ok, so Harisson Ford is on that list, but not George Lucas ?
I mean, c`mon now.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:21 am
imo 1954;
Grace Kelly (Country Girl) - no
Dorothy Dandridge (Carmen Jones) - YES
http://imdb.com/name/nm0199268/
February 24th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I think Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock are the biggest mistakes what academy has ever done. Also Steve McQueen would have been the biggest star if he only didnt died so young.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Dick Van Dyke gave such an unforgettable performance in Mary Poppins , he should have won the Oscar. A great part of the movie’s success can be credited to his wonderful talent as a performer and comedian.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Irene Dunne!!!!!!
February 24th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Peter Sellers
February 24th, 2008 at 9:54 am
STEVE McQUEEN
Your article said Hollywood Icon, yet half of your list are from outside tinseltown. Harrison Ford got screwed out of a nomination for THE MOSQUITO COAST years ago and his career has taken a much different path than any of us would has expected.
McQueen was one of the great screen actors of all time, and should have won for PAPILLON in 1973, but failed to get nominated because he didn’t play nice with the Academy.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:55 am
STEVE McQUEEN
Nothing else needs to be said.
February 24th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Garbo should replace any of them
February 24th, 2008 at 10:19 am
As far as women go, I think that Barbara Stanwyck was very deserving of an Oscar for Stella Dallas. And in 1941, had she been nominated for The Lady Eve or Meet John Doe instead of Ball of Fire (good don’t get me wrong, but not great), she possibly would have received one. But as it stands she was kind of ripped off four times before the Academy gave her the lifetime award.
February 24th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Definately Kubrick was the most deserving. He’s my favorite director and has made some of the most varied and incredible masterpieces of all time. He can do it all: Horror, Drama, Comedy, Romance, War, you name it. The Academy is all about politics and marketing now.. most of the time the people who win deserve it less than others.
February 24th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Harrison Ford? Come on! What’s he going to win an academy award for playing Harrison Ford? The guy’s an emotionless, overrated stone face hack. Watch Red October and Sum of all Fears and tell me who’s a better Jack Ryan Him or Alec Baldwin.
February 24th, 2008 at 10:46 am
You could argue that Peter O’toole’s biggest obstacle was timing. Yes, Lawrence of Arabia is a legendary performance, but he lost because he was up against Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird. The list of other actors who beat him reads like a who’s who of legendary performances including 1965: Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady; 1970: John Wayne, True Grit; 1973: Marlon Brando, The Godfather; 1981: Robert De Niro - Raging Bull; 1983: Ben Kingsley - Ghandi.
February 24th, 2008 at 10:58 am
George Lucas? Really? He doesn’t deserve any awards unless there’s ever an Oscar for best story. His scripts are terrible (see Star Wars IV) and his directing is miserable (the prequels). He was best when he let Spielberg or Kershner make his movie for him. That said, Hitchcock didn’t win an Oscar as many others have pointed out, so he needs to be the first on this list.
February 24th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Regarding real vs. honorary oscars, we need to ask…. Do these people technically have oscars? yes. Were their individual accomplishments recognized? No, and I think thats what the point getting an oscar is . To be able to warch a movie and see a great performance and say “oh, he won an oscar for that.” and recognize the greatness of a performance I don’t watch Rebecca and remark to myself that Hitchcock won an honorary oscar for directing that and 30 other movies. Its a dilluted, lesser award.
That being said….Kirk Douglas was amazing in Spartacus, Ace in the Hole,Paths of Glory, The Bad and The Beautiful and many others. He has his honorary oscar but should have won any number of other times for great performances.
February 24th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Hitchcock is the obvious choice, but consider two others: Barbara Stanwyck and Thelma Ritter. Stanwyck made several classic films, made more memorable by her work alone, Stella Dallas, Double Indemnity, The Lady Eve, Sorry Wrong Number. Unlike a lot of the classic Hollywood actresses, i.e. Hepburn, Davis, Stanwyck’s acting holds up today, it’s still believable and does not come across as dated, hammy or overblown. Her performances were gritty, with a look in her eyes that made you believe she really believed she was that character, unlike other actresses of her time which, today, simply look like they were more concerned whether or not their “star was shining”. In essence, Stanwyck’s work was egoless, she disappeared in her roles, whether it was as a desperate clinger or an obsessive driven to desperate acts. Her performance in Stella Dallas alone, (while dismissed by some as a weepy “woman’s film”), is multi-layered and quite complex. My test of a true Oscar performance is whether or not the actor shows a believable, full range of emotions throughout the course of the character’s arc, and in SD, Stanwyck lays it all out, from naive young girl to honky tonk honey to agressive stage mother to an older woman resigned to the twist of the fates against her. It’s all there. Stanwyck lost the Oscar that year to Luise Ranier in “The Good Earth”, a head scratcher.
Thelma Ritter, while nominated many times for Supporting Actress also never won. While her roles were never as meaty or substantial as Stanwyck’s, she was nevertheless the epitome of the classic supporting cast member. Quite simply, she steals every scene in which she appears and is often the only cast member one remembers after viewing her films. Ritter was nominated for Oscar six times from 1951 to 1963 but never won. Equally adept at comedy or gritty dramatic turns, Ritter was the all-knowing sage and wise-cracker, the classic character actor.
One more classic performance which really should have won Oscar, Mary Tyler Moore in “Ordinary People”. As much as I love Sissy Spacek in “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, MTM’s performance that year was taut, chilling and one of mature, controlled ability. The performance was all at once frightening, believable and even shocking, in that we had never seen MTM in a role of this type, and pre-OP, probably didn’t believe she could pull it off. Beth Jarrett ranks right up there with Anton Chigurh and Hannibal Lector as the scariest of all screen villians.
February 24th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Hitchcock. Rebecca may have won movie of the year but it didn’t bring him an oscar. Charles Chaplin, perhaps the greatest movie icon ever, deserves a mention.
Cary Grant, AFI’s number 1 screen legend, deserved to be higher. Orson Welles could have also been on the list IMO.
Garbo, Irene Dunne, Barba Stanwyck and Myrna Loy are some of the leading ladies who could have made the list.
Strongly disagreed with Harrison Ford being on the list. He is a competent actor in my book but not much more. And you list too many directors who didn’t work in Hollywood for any extended periods (Kubrick included). Seeing that the Academy usually nominates Hollywood made films, I am not shedding tears for those directors who worked outside of Hollywood for the majority of their careers.
February 24th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
How can you not think of any women? All of these women deserved the oscar!!!!
Irene Dunne (5 noms)
Barbara Stanywick (4 noms)
Myrna Loy (0 noms)
Judy Garland (2 noms)
Greta Garbo (3 noms)
Thelma Ritter (supporting- 6 noms)
and men!
William Powell (3 noms)
King Vidor (5 noms)
Fred Astaire (1 nom)
Jean Arthur (1 nom)
Gene Kelly (1 nom)
Peter Lorre (0 noms)
Errol Flynn (0 noms)
Fritz Lang (0 noms)
February 24th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Eyes Wide Shut is one of your favorite Kubrick films???
I’m sorry, but that pretty much nullifies any credibility you may have had anywhere in your entire argument.
February 24th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Wow, finally someone who makes top 10-lists I can almost totally agree with. The inclusion of Harrison Ford is really daring because those who only accept art cinema as real cinema will certainly consider this list worthless just because of his inclusion. But Ford did create 3 of the most influencing characters in movie history and he is my favorite actor (sorry, Marlon Brando!). Sidney Lumet was another great pick a lot of people wouldn’t have thought of. Awesome list!
February 24th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Don’t forget Richard Burton.
February 24th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Jim Carrey
February 24th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Great work on the directors!!! My initial thought was for hitch as well, but hey I understand your reasoning…
I would personally add Lynch to that list and replace Harrison.
Hell just make a top 10 directors list and that would make me happy!
February 24th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Nathan, I appreciate your listing all the great directors that have never received an Academy Award. I’m an actor & I definitely agree with you on Cary Grant and Peter O’Toole; however, I want to re-iterate what Arthur (Rimbaud) stated–I think one of the finest & most overlooked actors was Richard Burton! (Can’t say that I agree with you on Harrison Ford). However, I think the biggest “rip-off” in film-making history is that “Citizen Kane” didn’t reap more awards–for best film, best director & best actor–yet, it is continually listed as one of the “Top Ten”. Of course, alot of that was for “political” reasons. Also, don’t forget many of the great actors, directors, etc that weren’t recognized for their fine work during the McCarthy era, when so many of them were “blacklisted”.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
You should take that cold, cerebral Kubrick out, and most deffinitely include Hitchcock. Shame on you!!!!!
February 24th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Ok. I know they have not had nearly as many nominations as most of the people discussed,
but what about Mamet and Gilliam. I second the Lynch nomination - he should have won
for Mulholland Drive, but that is far too controversial for the academy.
Kubrick is hands down the most deserving on the list.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I agree that a woman could have been included. I know she isn’t quite the “icon” yet, but if the Academy doesn’t wise up soon, Kate Winslet should easily wind up on this list. She already has five noms and I don’t think she’ll stop giving great performances anytime soon.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Three Six Mafia: 1
Stanley Kubrick: 0
February 24th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Umm.. KATE WINSLET ANYONE?
February 24th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Fellini is the stock pick for anyone without any foreign wherewithal. The fact that you admit to not even really liking him makes your pick even more suspect. Michelangelo Antonioni was a far more deserving filmmaker, and even if he too received an honorary Oscar, he never had a film (let alone, what, Fellini’s five?) win a foreign film Oscar. He fought constantly against hardship, be it financial or physical later in life with a stroke to still transcribe his artful vision, even if his mod died with the sixties.
But still, Fellini, Antonioni, Kubrick, Altman, O’Toole, Grant et al. have all received Oscars at some point. A more telling list would have included masters who were forever neglected. For directors alone: Robert Bresson, Eric Rohmer, Andrei Tarkovsky, Roberto Rossellini, John Boorman, Sam Peckinpah, Peter Bogdanovich, Elaine May, Bob Rafelson, Dario Argento and Alejandro Jodorowsky to name but a few.
Having a list about “Hollywood” icons not only further perpetrates the continued global shortsightedness of the Academy and North American filmgoers, but also reveals itself to be problematic when half the directors on the list worked almost exclusively in their native land. The fact that they are included here though shows that they’ve been adopted by the establishment as figureheads for all the other neglected voices over the world that continue to be overshadowed by Hollywood tinsel. Trust me, it’s a bigger world out there than Hollywood would make it seem.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Martin Sheen should have won for Apocalypse Now…!
February 24th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Well the article did list a lot of great talents whom the academy awards unfairly passed over for someone else.however,i wud like tu point out 2 great talents that are not mentioned here…the great Richard Burton and Deborah Kerr.It’s almost sinful that they never got the golden statue because they truly deserved it for some of their performances.
February 24th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
How about Kate Winslet? She was nominated for 5 Oscars. She’s the best of her generation and has gathered most attention at such young age. Give the woman an Oscar already!
PS: I find it strange that there are no woman in your list.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
How could you omit that wonderful actress,Deborah Kerr? “From Here to Eternity”,”An Affair to Remember”,”Tea and Sympathy”,”Witness For the Prosecution” I rest my case.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I am with you, Elizabeth, on Deborah Kerr. She was in so many wonderful movies, including the Powell-Pressburger films like Black Narcissus.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Marilyn Monroe is consistently underrated because male reviewers look at the sex appeal and never go deeper. They never get to the greatness underneath it that attreacted them in the first place.
Other female actors have suffered similarly, as do comic actors in general of both genders.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Definitely Richard Burton should be there. In the 1978 awards, when the Best Actor award was announced, everyone thought he would win for “Equus.” Then the winner was announced: “Richard…Dreyfuss” (for “The Goodbye Girl”).
I am a huge Harrison Ford fan (well, Han Solo and Indiana Jones fan), but don’t think he has really performed so well in a film that he should have won an Oscar.
Deborah Kerr should be there as well. And the greatest performance never to have won was Peter O’Toole’s for “Lawrence of Arabia” of curse.
I would have liked George Lucas to have won one (he was beaten by his own wife, who was an Oscar for Best Editing for “Star Wars”!). And Oscar Welles should have won more than just a Best Screenplay Oscar for “Citizen Kane.”
February 24th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
What do you mean, you couldn’t think of any women who deserved to be on the list? What about Gloria Swanson, nominated three times (”Sadie Thompson,” 1927; “The Trespasser,” 1929; “Sunset Boulevard,” 1950) and passed over in favor of talented but far less brilliant actresses Janet Gaynor, Mary Pickford and Judy Holliday? What about Greta Garbo, with at least four performances that should have won (”Grand Hotel,” 1932; “Queen Christina,” 1933; “Camille,” 1936; “Ninotchka,” 1939)? What about Barbara Stanwyck, a phenomenal actress whose incredible range allowed her to star in comedies like “The Lady Eve,” soap operas like “Stella Dallas” and thrillers like “Double Indemnity” with equal facility? And for a woman director, what about Dorothy Arzner, who brought restraint and quiet passion to films like “The Wild Party” (1929), “Christopher Strong” (1933), “The Bride Wore Red” (1937) and “Dance, Girl, Dance” (1940)?
February 24th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Directors Arthur Penn and Louis Malle and most obviously Alfred Hitchcock (already discussed). Malle was only nominated once (Atlantic City) and was NOT nominated for Au Revoir Les Enfants, My Dinner with Andre, or Lift to the Gallows (however you translate it). As a sidenote, Life to the Gallows had Miles Davis performing the score so c’mon, how could they not nominate THAT?
Apart from the actresses already mentioned, Rosalind Russell, who was nominated 4 times and never won.
I agree the “honorary Oscar” is underrated and truly does honor someone who is deserving for a lifetime of work. It should be given out more freely though to prevent giving out superlative (Best ___) Oscars to those who shouldn’t win that year. A great example is John Wayne, who had more deserving performances during his career yet won for True Grit over O’Toole, Hoffman, Burton, and Voight. An was deserved but probably not that year for Lead Actor.
February 24th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I couldn’t agree more with your list. Thankfully Marty Scorsese doesn’t get lumped into that list anymore.
A filmaker to consider on your list would be Werner Herzog and Orson Welles. I think Welles won best orginal screenplay for Kane, but he was never recognized as Best Director.
February 24th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
A couple Documentary Filmakers have yet win as well. Dave and Albert Maysles have been nominated for best documentary, yet have not won that golden statue. Frederick Wiseman also no wins in best documentary, I think he is always disqualified, due to the Academy’s rule on no documentaries cannot air on television before the Awards.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I have to say I don’t get this list at all. Ingmar Bergman has won three oscars. Felini has won four. They have been honored by the academy. Do some research.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Sorry, but need to disagree with you about Cary Grant. Although he was dashing and in a lot of entertaining films, I never found him to be much of an actor. His performances always looked stiff and uncomfortable and his good looks are all he had going for him in the romance department. Mr. Grant might have been worthy of being a movie star, but most certainly not an Oscar winning actor.
February 24th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Umm… Jason… Where do you see Ingmar Bergman’s 3 Oscars? I looked him up on IMDB:
http://imdb.com/name/nm0000005/awards
He’s been nominated 9 times, with zero wins. As well, if you read Nate’s article you will find that he is not counting honorary Oscars and any of the ancillary categories. This list is about the major awards, ones that each of the men on this list should have probably won at some point in their careers.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Of all of the list I would recommend Ingmar Bergman as most deserving, if for nothing else than The Seventh Seal, which to my mind is the greatest piece of artistry ever committed to film. I would not argue with the inclusion of the other great directors on the list namely Altman, Fellini, Kubrick and Kurosawa.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum and Barbara Stanwyck. It is a crime that none of these actors have one Oscar between them, I want to add that I agree with your assessment of O’Toole and Cary Grant. I believe the only reason Grant has been denied a Oscar is because he did a lot of comedy and his good looks. Burton because of him being one of the the English bad boys. I have been looking at a lot of Irene Dunne’s movies and I am surprised she has never won a Oscar even though nominated a million times. She was very versatile and she could also sing. Edward G Robinson is another actor who has been ignored. This man has played anyone form men on death row to a dictatorial father and comedy with equal ease I have never seen him do a bad movie. Richard Widmark is a actor who has been ignored too. His roles run the gauntlet of all genres and I am not even sure if he was nominted.
I know that Robert Altman is good, but I never understood the fuss. I find him like Woody Allen very self indulging. I do not understand Sergio Leone’s inclusion either His films at the time they were made were not considered great, For some reason age and time has made them legendary, they were entertaining but they were schlock
February 24th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
This is like pro wrestling or amateur figure-skating. Some people are better at this form of entertainment, but why should we care who is picked to win or lose? As deep throat said, “Follow the money.”
For me, I like Hitchcock Lamut, and Kubrick. I like Peter O’Toole and Charlie Chaplin. Humphrey Bogart reminds me of Jack Webb; competent but lacking depth.
However, Bogart played the Oscar game better, as did the other winners. The losers were often playing a different game, or simply didn’t know the rules. Technically excellent, popular, and Oscar-winning film makers are three different categories, like apples, oranges, and bananas.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I would ad Richard Burton, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone and Sir Cedric Hardwick to the list. Burton had many nominations but no wins. Karloff, Lorre, Rathbone and Hardwick would have many nominiations today. Robert Mtchum alos was underappriciated in his day.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
johnny depp should be up there
February 24th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Edward G. Robinson. Astoundingly, he never even got a nomination.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
The oscars have always been a farce (just look at the trail leading to the 1968 best picture winner.) The years that pop out to me as the biggest travesties are 1947 and 1955 in which a great film wasn’t even nominated and neither was the lead actor Robert Mitchum. As far as I can tell he never won and he was a better actor than many being mentioned here, who could forget his portrayal in Night of the Hunter or Out of the Past.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Okay, Neil I’ll help you. Here’s the list.
1975 Best foreign film Dersu Uzala (Kurosawa)
1974 Amarcord - (Felini)
1963 Ferderico FELINI’S 8-1/2 - (Felini)
1961 Through a Glass Darkly - (Bergman)
1960 The Virgin Spring - (Bergman)
1957 The Nights of Caberia - (Felini)
1956 La Strada - (Felini)
1954 Gates of Hell (Kurosawa) (Honorary)
1951 Rashomon (Kurosawa) (Honorary)
Like I said. Do some research.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
How did no one catch this.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Its Gate of Hell and it was not directed by Kurosawa.
Angela Landsbury’s performance in “The Manchurian Candidate” is one of the finest portrayals given by a female performer.
February 25th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Howard Hawks only got one nomination (for Sgt. York) and never won. he should be on that list with Hitch.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:02 am
As many have said Hitchcock should be on that list (Rebecca winning best picture doesn’t count as a win for Hitch)
Charlie Chaplin
Tim Burton
Kate Winslet (but she will win, eventually…)
and of course, many many many others…
February 25th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
You are right Joe it’s Gate of Hell, but the others are correct and it doesn’t change the face that Felini, Kurosawa, and Bergman have all won multiple oscars and should not be on this list.
It’s ridiculous that this got on the home page of IMBD.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Why does nobody understand that when a director’s film wins an Oscar, that doesn’t make him an Oscar winner. A director does not win an Oscar unless it is a Best Director Oscar. He may have produced the film, and get an Oscar for producing a Best Film winner, but he himself is not an Oscar winner until he wins for his specific contribution to a film
February 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
It would also be pointless to create a list of non-Hollywood icons that weren’t honored. The list would be too long and too esoteric. And to count an Honorary Oscar is noble, but it’s more a situation of the Academy seeing someone who’s never won that should have and righting that wrong. This list is for people that achieved incredible feats but never directly won the statue.
Yeah, I love Peckinpah, and it would have been cool for him to snag an Oscar, but is he a Hollywood Icon? Doubtful. His name isn’t well known outside of film101 classes - not in the way Fellini’s or certainly Cary Grant’s is. And saying that foreign directors are Oscar winners because their film was named best foreign film is a little misleading. Best Film awards usually go to Producers because of their oversight of the entire project. The director is obviously a major part of the process, but there’s more to movie-making than that. It’s like an actor claiming he/she is an Oscar winner because their film won Best Pic. They’d never get away with that. Why should a director?
I really dig the conversation this list started though.
My only complaint at first reading was the lack of women. Maybe that should be its own list? The Top Female Icons that are Oscarless? Care to write a sequel Nate?
February 26th, 2008 at 12:49 am
This is ridiculous, the directors won what they could win, they were honored as much as possible. If a film has won an academy award for best foreign film what other honor at the oscar ceremonies is he/she, the director, eligible for. Since freaking when are foreign films and foreign directors nominated for best picture and best director at the oscars when they have a separate catagory of their own. Some people just can’t admitt when they are wrong. Here’s a little headline for you idiots that appeared just after Ingmar Bergmans death. I’ll just give you the first little bit emphasis mine …
“Legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman has died at the age of 89. The THREE-TIME OSCAR WINNER created some of the most acclaimed films of the past century, including “Fanny and Alexander” and “The Seventh Seal.”
February 26th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Peter O’Toole is one of the 5 best actors OF ALL TIME! He should have at least two or three oscars by now. It is a crime that he never won even once. Lawrence of Arabia; Beckett; Lion in Winter. Each time he should have won. No one on this planet is more deserving of an Oscar.
Well done Mr. Peter O’Toole. Even without an actual Oscar win, we all recognize your brilliance.
February 26th, 2008 at 5:16 am
Natalie Wood should have won for SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS
February 28th, 2008 at 1:41 am
I wonder how Lawrence of Arabia won best picture? Would Jason have relegated it to the best foreign film category? Back to the research… I’m with Brian on this one.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Actually Jason, the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film is NOT awarded to the
director. The director only accepts the Oscar at the award ceremony. The Oscar is then
given to the film academy of the respective country who won, and they can do with it as
they please (Canada, for instance, has the Oscar for The Barbarian Invasions on display
in a museum in Quebec). Therefore, Fellini, Kurosawa, and Bergman certainly accepted
many Oscars - on behalf of Italy, Sweden, Japan, and in that bizarre case with
Kurosawa, the Soviet Union, would only be able to keep those Oscars if their respective
film academies allowed them to.
There was only one instance where individuals were given the award, and that was in
1956 when Best Foreign Language Film first became an official category. “La Strada”
won, but guess what? They didn’t put the directors’ names on the ballot - the producers
were nominated. Therefore, Fellini didn’t receive an Oscar for “La Strada” - his
producers Carlo Ponti and Dino De Laurentis did.
March 1st, 2008 at 6:11 pm
i agree with wooser johnny depp is da bomb
March 11th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Steve McQueen definitely!!!!!!