More Actors Who Never Won an Oscar
Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton & More
Jul 13, 2008
This is by no means a definitive list and only includes one who is presently active and another who actually won best actor but barely squeaked in.
Robert Mitchum (1917-1997)
Mitchum’s nonchalant, disinterested style of acting masked his intense acting skills. After receiving his only Oscar nomination for a supporting role in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945), he rapidly rose to stardom, but never seemed to gain the respect of Hollywood. His villainous roles as the psychotic “preacher man” in The Night of the Hunter (1955) and as the escaped convict in Cape Fear (1962) were two of the most creepy and terrifying performances in film history and were definitely worthy of Oscar consideration.
Equally puzzling is the fact that despite a full body of work extending over six decades, Mitchum did not even receive an Honorary Award.
Kirk Douglas (1916- )
Douglas did receive nominations as a boxer in Champion (1949); as an unscrupulous producer in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952); and as Van Gogh in The Lust for Life (1956), only to lose to Broderick Crawford, Gary Cooper, and Yul Brynner respectively.
He also gave fine performances as the get-a-story-at-any-cost reporter in Ace in the Hole (1951); the troubled police officer in Detective Story (1951); and as the rebel Roman slave in Spartacus (1960) to name only a few more in his long career.
Douglas was given an Honorary Award in 1990 for “50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community.” His son, Michael Douglas, does have one best acting Oscar for Wall Street (1988).
Peter O’Toole (1932- )
Starting with Lawrence of Arabia (1963) through Venus (2007), O’Toole has been nominated eight times for best actor, the most nominations ever without winning an Oscar. In six of the years he lost to actors that gave career performances: 1962 (Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird); 1964 (Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady); 1968 (Cliff Robertson, Charlie); 1972 (Marlon Brando, The Godfather); 1980 (Robert De Niro, Raging Bull); and, 1982 (Ben Kingsley, Gandhi).
In 1969, he lost to sentimental favorite John Wayne (True Grit) and in 2007 to Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood).
As of 2008, O’Toole has completed one more movie and is scheduled to appear in five more. Perhaps his luck will change.
Richard Burton (1925-1984)
In second place in the hard-luck category is this Welsh-born actor who was nominated seven times with no wins. Arguably, Burton’s most deserving nominations were as the title character in Becket (1964); as the world-weary secret agent in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965); and as King Henry VIII in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969).
Like O’Toole, Burton lost to Rex Harrison in 1964 and to John Wayne in 1969. A factor that undoubtedly worked against both men in 1964 is that both were nominated for the same movie (Becket). In 1965, Burton lost to Lee Marvin for the latter's performance in Cat Ballou.
Henry Fonda (1905-1982)
Why is Fonda included here? After all he did win an Oscar in 1982 for his role in On Golden Pond, a year after receiving an Honorary Award and shortly before his death. The answer is that he would not have had the opportunity to do so had it not been for Jane Fonda’s determination to have the film made with her father as the star.
In a long career in movies, stage, and television, Fonda gave terrific performances as mankind’s conscience in such movies as The Grapes of Wrath (1940, for which he received a nomination), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), and Twelve Angry Men (1957). His interests in such roles came about as the result of having witnessed a lynching as a young boy.
Fonda was also a capable light comedy actor and could even play against type as he did playing the cold-blooded rancher/killer in Once Upon a Time in the West.
Related articles: Academy Awards Neglected Actors, Academy Awards Neglected Actresses,Actresses Who Never Won an Oscar
