Actresses Who Never Won an Oscar
Four Women Never Receiving Academy Awards for Best Actress
Jul 13, 2008
This is not a definitive list and does not include those still highly active, although one actress still makes occasional screen appearances.
Rosalind Russell (1907-1976)
In a nearly 40 year career, the talented Russell ran the acting gamut from comedy-dramas (The Women, 1939), to screwball comedies (His Girl Friday, 1940) to bio-pics (Sister Kenny, 1946) to musicals (Auntie Mame, 1958, and Gypsy, 1962) to enjoyable family fluff pieces (The Trouble with Angels, 1966).
During this time, Russell was nominated as best actress four times for My Sister Eileen (1942), Sister Kenny, Mourning Becomes Electra (1949) and Auntie Mame without a win. She was also nominated as best supporting actress for Picnic (1955), but refused the nomination, despite being considered the favorite to win it.
The Academy did present Rosalind Russell with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1973 for her work with various charities.
Deborah Kerr (1921-2007)
Ms Kerr is the hard-luck champion among actresses, having been nominated the most times (six) for the best actress Oscar without a win. Her nominations were for Edward, My Son (1949), From Here to Eternity (1953), The King and I (1956), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Separate Tables (1958), and The Sundowners (1960).
Among her other fine performances were Black Narcissus (1947), Tea and Sympathy (1956), The Night of the Iguana (1964), and The Chalk Garden (also 1964). Kerr did receive an Honor Award from the Academy in 1994 that summed up her career: “An artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance.”
Lauren Bacall (1924- )
Bacall began her acting career playing sultry young women in movies such as To Have and To Have Not (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946) both of which co-starred her future first husband, Humphrey Bogart. She later went on to act in such notable comedies as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and Designing Woman (1957) and in dramas such as Written on the Wind (1956) and Harper (1966).
One of Bacall’s best later efforts was in The Shootist (1976) as the landlady who develops empathy toward her boarder, a dying gunfighter played by John Wayne.
In a long career, she has only received one Oscar nomination, that being for best supporting actress in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) for which she was the pre-ceremony favorite. Bacall has won many other awards, including two Golden Globes and two Tonys, the latter for her work on Broadway in Applause (1970) and Woman of the Year (1981).
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962)
Unfortunately, Monroe is often remembered today as a not very bright and tormented super sex symbol. This is unfortunate because it diminishes the fact that she was a well read, intelligent actress who did have more than physical skills. She is best remembered for her comedy roles in such well-received films as The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) and Some Like It Hot (1959), but she was also capable of giving fine dramatic performances. Among her best were Niagara (1953), Bus Stop (1956), and her final film, The Misfits (1961).
She was never nominated by the Academy for an Oscar or honored in any way by them, in part because of her unpredictable work habits and untimely death. She did receive a Golden Globe for her work in Some Like It Hot.
Related articles: Academy Awards Neglected Actresses, Academy Awards Neglected Actors, More Actors Who Never Won an Oscar
