NEWS JUNKIE POST
Mar 4, 2010 at 1:35 pmOscar’s Empty Envelope: Historic Snubs Abound
Should Avatar director James Cameron lose out to his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow,director of The Hurt Locker,the self-anointed “King of the World” who picked up a few Oscar accolades a dozen plus years ago for Titanic, can put the defeat in perspective. Many of his venerable predecessors and esteemed contemporaries never scored Oscar gold.
Alfred Hitchcock was nominated five times, but the maestro of the macabre never heard his name called for a Best Director statue. Among the other casualties of Oscar’s surprising snub you’ll find Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles, each only nominated once; Stanley Kubrick and Sidney Lumet, each nominated four times; George Lucas with two nods, and Robert Altman with five. Some received honorary Lifetime Achievement Awards, including Chaplin and Altman. Altman’s came just under the wire; the quirky director who re-invented the ensemble style in a slew of unforgettable films including Mash, Nashville, Gosford Park, Cookie’s Fortune, A Prairie Home Companion and The Player, an irreverent take on Hollywood, got his overdue spotlight mere months before his death in 2006.
Still some came up empty altogether, never earning a single nomination. Among the Oscar shut-outs: Fritz Lang, D.W. Griffith and Sam Peckinpah. There’s still time for Spike Lee–who was nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar for Do the Right Thing– but has so far been ignored in the Director category. A startling omission considering his portfolio includes the aforementioned classic as well as Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Girl 6 and Summer of Sam.
The Acting A-List is also dotted with stars whose path to Oscar has been elusive. So should this year’s Best Actor front runner Jeff Bridges--now a five time nominee–lose in an unlikely wave of Hurt Locker fever to long shot Jeremy Renner, the deserving and long overdue Crazy Heart star can find consolation among a stellar constellation of stars. Among those the Academy has missed you’ll find legends like Richard Burton, a seven time nominee, Cary Grant who got two nods but no wins as well as James Mason (three); Montgomery Clift (four); Fred Astaire (one); Peter Sellers(two) and Ed Harris (four). Peter O’Toole has been nominated eight times, his most recent shot came only a few years ago for his remarkable turn as an aging actor in Venus. He lost that year to Forest Whitaker, whose powerful performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland couldn’t be denied ( though an argument could have been made that the role was more suited to the Best Supporting Actor category). Bridges, I think, is a safe bet.
The tougher call this year–and maybe the only true horse race in the acting categories– is between first time nominee Sandra Bullock and uber nominated and two time winner Meryl Streep. Bullock has already won a bushel of accolades for her acclaimed dramatic turn in The Blind Side, a flawed, but audience pleasing sentimental true story about a feisty southern belle and her family who adopt an African American high school football player and nurture both his athletic prowess and lagging academic background all the way to college and the NFL. Streep–who just earned her sixteenth nomination, making her the most nominated,but not winningest actor in Oscar history– deserves the award for her truly transformative performance as celebrated chef Julia Child in the uneven Julie &Julia.
But Bullock may have the Academy’s heart. It’s her first time out and she’s best known as a comic actress ( and they rarely get their due) making a brave dramatic turn. All true, but Streep could have easily played this role as well as Bullock. It’s doubtful the reverse could be said. In fact, it’s hard to imagine another actress tackling Julia Child with Streep’s pitch-perfect signature. She should have won last year for her stunning work in Doubt, but stayed in her seat while Kate Winslet, whose time had clearly come, picked up the statue for her compelling role in The Reader,a performance that garnered her the Best Supporting Acrtress Award at the Golden Globes. It’s hard to believe the last time Streep–beloved as much for her graciousness as her gifts–picked up an Oscar was back in 1982 for Sophie’s Choice.
Perhaps the Academy will–like the Critics’ Choice–split the difference and award a rare tie. It happened in 1968 when Katherine Hepburn–for her role in The Lion in Winter and Barbra Streisand –for her immortal performance as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl –both picked up statues.
In any case, Oscar has snubbed some of the silver screens finest actresses, too. Among the legends left empty on Oscar night: Barbara Stanwyck ( four nominations); Agnes Moorehead (four); Greta Garbo (four); Deborah Kerr ( six) and Lillian Gish(one). Among contemporary shut-outs Piper Laurie (three), Glenn Close ( five) and Julianne Moore (four; and she was shut-out twice on the same night, nominated in 2002 for Far From Heaven and The Hours, in the Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories respectively) have never heard their names called.
Actors who have never even been nominated include: Marilyn Monroe; Myrna Loy; Joseph Cotton; Maureen O’Hara; Errol Flynn; and Edward G. Robinson. Neglected contemporary stars include: Jim Carrey; Donald Sutherland; Mia Farrow; and Kevin Bacon.
I’ve got the perfect pre-Oscar elixir for both those nursing their snubbed egos and those of us playing along at home: Christopher Guest’s hilarious Hollywood send-up, For Your Consideration. Released in 2006, and now available on DVD, the romp features his usual band of merry mischief makers including the hilarious Catherine O’Hara and Harry Shearer as a pair of aging journeymen actors whose little feel-good family weepie generates Oscar buzz and all the frenetic Hollywood hoopla that swirls in the rarefied starry air. Come to think of it, besides a Best Song nomination for Guest regular Michael McKean and his wife Annette O’Toole for A Mighty Wind in 2003, the comic cadre–which has also deftly spoofed dogs shows, community theatre and the folk music circuit–has fetched nary an Oscar whiff. No worries. As one Consideration characters says: “It’s an honor to almost be nominated.”
Hooray for Hollywood. Pass the popcorn. The 82nd Annual Academy Awards airs Sunday, March 7 at 8pm on ABC.
Please follow Amy Beth Arkawy on Twitter.
it really is a shame that Deborah Kerr hasnt gotten one. she was brilliant and i loved her.
Wow! I didn’t realize so many of our great stars never received an Oscar or were even nominated for one. This was truly an interesting article. It’s amazing how you don’t realize these things. I never knew that Hitchcock never received an Oscar or that Edward G. Robinson and Maureen O’Hara were never even nominated.