Buzz
The Oscar is handed to...someone else. Few moments test an actor's composure more than offering a poised smile to the camera as the envelope is opened, revealing another's triumph.
James Stewart, ever humble about his Best Actor win for The Philadelphia Story, kept his statuette in his father’s Indiana hardware store for years. Yet, despite his modesty, while an Oscar nomination is a prestigious nod, winning is the ultimate accolade. Regrettably, some of Hollywood’s brightest stars never claimed that honor.
Below, we highlight 10 Hollywood icons who never secured an Oscar for Best Picture, Actor, or Director.
10. Richard Burton
Richard Burton became famous for portraying commanding figures in movies like Becket, The Robe, and Anne of a Thousand Days. He married Elizabeth Taylor—twice—and frequently shared the screen with her. Their collaboration in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, a raw portrayal of troubled marriages, earned Oscar nominations for the entire cast. While Taylor and Sandy Dennis won, Burton and George Segal were left empty-handed.
Burton’s career spanned Shakespearean roles (Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew), historical dramas (Cleopatra), and adaptations of acclaimed works (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Equus). Over twenty-five years, he received seven nominations but never won. He even appeared as himself on Here’s Lucy and in an uncredited role in What’s New Pussycat?, though these likely didn’t influence the Academy’s decisions.
9. Peter O’Toole
Peter O’Toole outdid Burton with eight nominations over forty-four years, yet he never secured a win. Like Burton, he portrayed royalty, including Henry II—twice. Despite Katharine Hepburn winning her third Oscar for The Lion in Winter, O’Toole’s performance went unrewarded. His roles ranged from dramatic (Lawrence of Arabia) to comedic (My Favorite Year) and the uniquely bizarre (The Ruling Class).
In 2003, the Academy offered O’Toole an Honorary Award for his lifetime achievements. He humorously requested a delay, hoping to win competitively before turning 80. The Academy insisted, and he eventually accepted. Before reaching that age, he earned one last nomination for Venus, but victory eluded him once more.
8. Glenn Close
Glenn Close, already a Tony-nominated stage actress, made her film debut in The World According to Garp, which earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination. She followed this with consecutive nominations for The Big Chill and The Natural, later transitioning to Best Lead Actress nods for Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons.
Her relationship with the Oscars seems bittersweet. Despite three more recent nominations, she has yet to win. This is surprising, given her impressive accolades, including three Tony Awards for plays and Sunset Boulevard, Golden Globes, Emmys, and even an AARP Movies for Grownups Award.
Her iconic portrayal of Norma Desmond was immortalized as a Broadway Legends Holiday Ornament by Broadway Cares in 2020, a fitting tribute to her legendary status.
7. Cary Grant
If the Academy had an award for Most Charming, Cary Grant, originally named Archibald Leach, would have been a perennial winner. After a series of unremarkable films, his breakthrough came in 1933’s She Done Him Wrong, where Mae West famously quipped, “Why don’t you come up sometime…”
For three decades, Grant shared the screen with Hollywood’s brightest stars, including Marlene Dietrich, Katharine and Audrey Hepburn, Myrna Loy, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, and Sophia Loren. He earned two Oscar nominations in the 1940s for dramatic performances. From evading a plane in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest to winning hearts in comedies like The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, and Arsenic and Old Lace, Grant’s versatility was unmatched.
In 1970, he received an Honorary Award for his unparalleled contribution to screen acting, celebrated by his peers. Coincidentally, that same year, Burton and O’Toole faced yet another loss, and Grant’s wife, Dyan Cannon, though nominated for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, also went home empty-handed.
6. Ian McKellen
Sir Ian McKellen, renowned for his stage portrayals of King Lear and Richard III, earned an Oscar nomination for Gods and Monsters. However, his most iconic role remains Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which brought him a second nomination and roles in The Hobbit films.
Though he didn’t win an Oscar for his iconic wizard role, Sir Ian McKellen found solace in hosting Saturday Night Live in 2002. Unsurprisingly, his involvement in the recent adaptation of Cats didn’t earn him a red carpet moment.
5. George Lucas
In which galaxy has George Lucas never won an Oscar? Surprisingly, this one. Despite creating iconic characters like Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo, and revolutionizing sci-fi cinema, Lucas received only two nominations for American Graffiti in 1973. This film introduced Harrison Ford, then a TV actor, to the big screen.
Lucas’s lack of Oscars might be softened by the monumental success of the original Star Wars trilogy, which grossed over $750 million at 1970s-1980s ticket prices.
In 1992, Lucas was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, presented by the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis. Adding to his legacy, Disney acquired Lucasfilm, along with Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, for over $4 billion in 2012. That’s enough to fund a lifetime of popcorn for his Oscar-less film marathons.
4. James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones, renowned for his commanding baritone, made his film debut in 1964 as part of Slim Pickens’s crew in the dark comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, released during the Cold War era.
His sole Oscar nomination came in 1970 for The Great White Hope, where he portrayed boxer Jack Jefferson, a role that had already won him a Tony. Jones’s iconic voice brought life to characters like Darth Vader and Mufasa, but it wasn’t until 2012 that he finally heard, “I’d like to thank the Academy…” when he received an Honorary Award.
3. Citizen Kane
Despite topping numerous Best Of lists, including the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest American Movies, Citizen Kane failed to win Best Picture in its time. Orson Welles’s masterpiece lost to How Green Was My Valley, possibly due to the Academy’s fondness for Donald Crisp.
Although Welles earned nominations for Best Actor and Best Director, his only win was for Best Original Screenplay, shared with Herman Mankiewicz. Over the next 40 years, the versatile Welles never received another nomination in any category. In 1971, he was honored with an Honorary Award for his extraordinary artistry and contributions to filmmaking.
2. The Wizard of Oz
This beloved classic, filled with munchkins, witches, and themes of courage, heart, and brains—though perhaps not the flying monkeys—remains a timeless favorite. However, timing played a crucial role in its Oscar journey.
In 1939, The Wizard of Oz faced stiff competition, losing Best Picture to Gone With the Wind. Other classics like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Wuthering Heights, and Stagecoach also fell short. Despite this, the film won Best Original Score and Best Song for “Over the Rainbow,” performed by Judy Garland, who received a special Juvenile Award. Dorothy and her friends can take solace in the fact that their legacy has endured far beyond Rhett and Scarlett’s.
1. The Color Purple
The 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple, received an impressive eleven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Costume Design, and Original Score, alongside nods for Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey’s performances.
Despite the film’s acclaim, director Steven Spielberg, already a Hollywood heavyweight with hits like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, was notably absent from the nominees. The film’s Oscar night ended in disappointment, as it went 0 for 11, tying with 1977’s The Turning Point for the most nominations without a win.
