Worst Academy Awards
The Worst of the
Academy Awards


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The 'Worst' of the Academy Awards

The Academy has, with limited success, tried to limit the influences of pressure groups and promotion, box office gross receipts, and studio public relations and marketing on voting results. It has also attempted to limit votes for melodramatic sentimentality, atonement for past mistakes, personal popularity, and "prestige" or epic scale, but those influences have often had a decided effect upon the outcome of some of the poll results. Unfortunately, the critical worth, artistic vision, cultural influence, and innovative qualities of many films are not given the same voting weight.

Especially since the 80s, moneymaking 'formula-made' blockbusters with glossy production values have often been crowd-pleasing titans (and Best Picture winners), but they haven't necessarily been great films with depth or critical acclaim by any measure. However, in the last decade or so, many Best Picture picks have been modest performers at the box-office, while the biggest blockbusters (i.e, superhero films) have mostly underperformed as award winners.

Please note: The following charts contain possible alternatives (albeit sometimes opinionated and subjective) for some of the awards given throughout Academy history. In some cases, the 'worst' honoree only means that some other more deserving performer or film might or should have been selected.

Academy Awards History (By Decade):
Introduction, 1927/8-39, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s
Academy Awards Summaries

Best Picture
The Worst of the Awards

(See also 'Best Pictures' Not Nominated for Best Picture)
(See also Best Picture Winners and Best Picture Milestones)
Year
Selection of 'WORST'
Best Picture Winners

(+ an unexpected, upset win)
Other Deserving LOSING Nominees for Best Picture in Same Year
Possibly Other Deserving Options That Were Not Nominated (SNUBBED)
1927-28
Wings (1927)
Sunrise (1927) (won Most Unique and Artistic Best Picture)
7th Heaven (1927)
Metropolis (1927)
Underworld (1927)
The Circus
1928-29

Broadway Melody (1929)
In Old Arizona (1928) The Wind (1928)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Fr.) (1928)
Steamboat Bill, Jr (1928)
The Divine Lady (1929)
The Kiss (1929)
1929-30
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
A very weak year for nominees. Anna Christie
City Girl
Pandora's Box (1929)
Applause (1929)
1930-31

Cimarron (1931)
The Front Page (1931) The Blue Angel (1930)
A Free Soul (1931)

City Lights (1931)
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
Little Caesar (1931)
The Public Enemy (1931)
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)
1931-32
Grand Hotel (1932)
Shanghai Express (1932) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932)
M (1931)
1932-33

Cavalcade (1933)
42nd Street (1933)
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Red Dust (1932)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Footlight Parade (1933)
Queen Christina (1933)

King Kong (1933)
Duck Soup (1933)
1934
It Happened One Night (1934)
The Thin Man (1934) It's a Gift (1934)
Twentieth Century (1934)
The Affairs of Cellini
Death Takes a Holiday
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
1935
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Top Hat
Alice Adams
The Informer
Bride of Frankenstein
A Night at the Opera
The 39 Steps

Anna Karenina
1936
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Dodsworth
San Francisco
Libeled Lady
My Man Godfrey
Modern Times

Fury
1937
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Lost Horizon
A Star Is Born
The Awful Truth
Stage Door
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Camille (1936)

You Only Live Once
1938

You Can't Take It With You (1938)
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Jezebel
La Grand Illusion
Angels with Dirty Faces
Bringing Up Baby

The Lady Vanishes
1939
Gone With the Wind (1939)
The Wizard of Oz
Dark Victory
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
Stagecoach
Wuthering Heights
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Young Mr. Lincoln
1940
Rebecca (1940)
The Grapes of Wrath
The Letter
The Great Dictator
The Philadelphia Story
His Girl Friday
The Shop Around the Corner
1941

How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Citizen Kane
The Maltese Falcon
The Little Foxes
Suspicion
Sergeant York
Meet John Doe
Ball of Fire
That Hamilton Woman
The Lady Eve
Fantasia
1942

Mrs. Miniver (1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons
Yankee Doodle Dandy
To Be or Not to Be
Woman of the Year
This Gun For Hire
The Palm Beach Story
Cat People
Sullivan's Travels
1943
Casablanca (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident
The More the Merrier
Shadow of a Doubt
Cabin in the Sky
So Proudly We Hail
1944

Going My Way (1944)
Double Indemnity
Gaslight
Laura
Meet Me in St. Louis
Murder, My Sweet
The Curse of the Cat People
To Have and Have Not
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
1945
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Mildred Pierce Brief Encounter (1945)
Detour
National Velvet
1946

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
It's A Wonderful Life The Big Sleep
Children of Paradise
La Belle et La Bete
My Darling Clementine
Notorious
Gilda
The Killers
The Postman Always Rings Twice
1947

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
The Bishop's Wife
Miracle on 34th Street
Crossfire
Black Narcissus
Out of the Past
A Double Life
La Belle et La Bete
A Matter of Life and Death
Crossfire
1948
+ Hamlet (1948)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Johnny Belinda
The Red Shoes
The Snake Pit
The Search
Key Largo
Force of Evil

Red River
1949
All the King's Men (1949)
The Heiress
A Letter to Three Wives
White Heat
On the Town
Bicycle Thieves (1948, It.)
A Canterbury Tale
1950
All About Eve (1950)
Sunset Blvd. The Asphalt Jungle
The Third Man (1949)
Gun Crazy
1951

+ An American in Paris (1951)
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Place in the Sun
The African Queen
Strangers on a Train
The Day the Earth Stood Still
1952

+ The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
High Noon
The Quiet Man
Singin' in the Rain
The Bad and the Beautiful
Rashomon
1953
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Shane
Roman Holiday
Tokyo Story
Stalag 17
The Big Heat
1954
On the Waterfront (1954)
The Caine Mutiny Rear Window
Sabrina
A Star is Born
1955
+ Marty (1955)
A weak set of nominees (including Mister Roberts). The Night of the Hunter
Bad Day at Black Rock
Kiss Me Deadly
East of Eden
Rebel Without a Cause
1956

Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
Giant
The Ten Commandments

The King and I
Friendly Persuasion
The Searchers
Baby Doll
Written on the Wind

The Seven Samurai (1954, Jp.)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1954)
1957
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
12 Angry Men
Witness for the Prosecution
Sweet Smell of Success
Paths of Glory
The Seventh Seal
Funny Face
Wild Strawberries
3:10 to Yuma
A Face in the Crowd
1958

Gigi (1958)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Defiant Ones
Vertigo
Touch of Evil
The Seventh Seal (1957)
I Want to Live!
1959
Ben Hur (1959)
Anatomy of a Murder
The Nun's Story
Some Like It Hot
Wild Strawberries (1957)
North by Northwest
The 400 Blows
Shadows
Rio Bravo
1960
The Apartment (1960)
A weak set of nominees (including The Alamo and Elmer Gantry). Psycho
Breathless (À Bout De Souffle)
Spartacus
Inherit the Wind
The Virgin Spring
1961
West Side Story (1961)
The Hustler
Judgment at Nuremberg
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Throne of Blood
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Splendor in the Grass
1962
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird Gypsy
The Manchurian Candidate
Jules et Jim
The Miracle Worker
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Lolita
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1963

Tom Jones (1963)
America America
Cleopatra
The Great Escape
Hud
The Birds
1964
My Fair Lady (1964)
Dr. Strangelove, Or: The Night of the Iguana
A Hard Day's Night
From Russia With Love (1963)
1965
The Sound of Music (1965)
Doctor Zhivago
Darling
Repulsion
The Pawnbroker
The Collector
1966
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Professionals
1967

In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Bonnie and Clyde
The Graduate

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
In Cold Blood
The Dirty Dozen
Point Blank
Cool Hand Luke
Chimes at Midnight
Belle de Jour
1968

+ Oliver! (1968)
The Lion in Winter
Funny Girl
Romeo and Juliet
2001: A Space Odyssey
Rosemary's Baby
The Producers
1969
+ Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Another weak set of nominees (including Hello, Dolly!, Z, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). The Wild Bunch
Easy Rider
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
1970
Patton (1970)
Five Easy Pieces
M*A*S*H
Little Big Man
Women in Love
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
1971

The French Connection (1971)
The Last Picture Show
A Clockwork Orange
Klute
Harold and Maude
Sunday Bloody Sunday
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Carnal Knowledge
1972
The Godfather (1972)
Cabaret
Deliverance
Sleuth
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
1973

The Sting (1973)
American Graffiti
Cries and Whispers

The Exorcist
Mean Streets
Don't Look Now
Serpico
Badlands
Last Tango in Paris

The Last Detail
1974
The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Chinatown
The Conversation
Young Frankenstein
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Day For Night
1975
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Jaws
Nashville
Barry Lyndon
The Man Who Would Be King
Shampoo
Amarcord
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1976

Rocky (1976)
Network
Taxi Driver
All the President's Men
Seven Beauties
The Outlaw Josey Wales
1977
Annie Hall (1977)
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1978
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Coming Home
An Unmarried Woman
Interiors
Autumn Sonata
Grease
1979

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Apocalypse Now
All That Jazz
Breaking Away
Norma Rae
Manhattan
Alien
Being There
1980

Ordinary People (1980)
Raging Bull Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
The Shining
Breaker Morant
The Stunt Man
1981

+ Chariots of Fire (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Reds

On Golden Pond
Atlantic City
Ragtime
Body Heat
Gallipoli
1982
Gandhi (1982)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Tootsie
The Verdict
Das Boot
Blade Runner
Sophie's Choice
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
1983
Terms of Endearment (1983)
The Right Stuff
The Big Chill
Tender Mercies
Fanny and Alexander
Zelig
The King of Comedy
Scarface
1984
Amadeus (1984)
The Killing Fields
Places in the Heart
Blood Simple
Ghostbusters
This Is Spinal Tap
Broadway Danny Rose
The Natural
The Terminator
1985
Out of Africa (1985)
The Color Purple
Witness

Prizzi's Honor
Brazil
Ran
1986
Platoon (1986)
Hannah and Her Sisters
A Room With a View
Children of a Lesser God
Aliens
Blue Velvet
1987
The Last Emperor (1987)
Broadcast News
Moonstruck
Fatal Attraction
Hope and Glory
Empire of the Sun
The Princess Bride
Wall Street
Full Metal Jacket
1988
Rain Man (1988)
Dangerous Liaisons
Working Girl
A Fish Called Wanda
My Neighbor Totoro
Die Hard
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
My Left Foot
Born on the Fourth of July

Dead Poets Society
Field of Dreams
Glory
Batman
Do the Right Thing
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
sex, lies, and videotape...
When Harry Met Sally...
Henry V
1990

Dances With Wolves (1990)
GoodFellas Reversal of Fortune
Miller's Crossing
The Grifters
1991
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Beauty and the Beast
JFK
Thelma & Louise
Boyz N the Hood
The Fisher King
1992
Unforgiven (1992)
A Few Good Men
The Crying Game
The Player
1993
Schindler's List (1993)
The Piano
Remains of the Day
Shadowlands
Groundhog Day
The Age of Innocence
1994

Forrest Gump (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption
Quiz Show
Pulp Fiction
Bullets Over Broadway
Ed Wood
Hoop Dreams
Natural Born Killers
1995

Braveheart (1995)
Apollo 13
Babe
Sense and Sensibility
Before Sunrise
Dead Man Walking

Leaving Las Vegas
Casino
Nixon
Strange Days
Heat
The Usual Suspects
Toy Story
Se7en
1996
The English Patient (1996)
Fargo
Secrets & Lies
Trainspotting
Breaking the Waves
The People vs. Larry Flynt
Lone Star
1997
Titanic (1997)
L.A. Confidential The Sweet Hereafter
Amistad
Boogie Nights
1998

+ Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Saving Private Ryan
The Thin Red Line
Life is Beautiful
The Big Lebowski
The Truman Show
Out of Sight
Dark City
Rushmore
1999
American Beauty (1999)
The Insider
The Sixth Sense
The Green Mile
Being John Malkovich
Magnolia
Fight Club
Eyes Wide Shut
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Three Kings
Boys Don't Cry

The Matrix
2000
Gladiator (2000)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Erin Brockovich
Traffic
Almost Famous
Chicken Run
Requiem for a Dream
In the Mood for Love
2001

A Beautiful Mind (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Gosford Park
Moulin Rouge!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Memento (2000)
Amelie
Mulholland Dr.

The Others
Training Day
2002

Chicago (2002)
Gangs of New York
The Pianist
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Adaptation
About Schmidt
Spirited Away
Minority Report
Frida
Far From Heaven
2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Mystic River
Lost in Translation
Cold Mountain
Love Actually
City of God
In America
2004
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
The Aviator The Passion of the Christ
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005

+ Crash (2005)
Good Night, and Good Luck
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Munich
Walk the Line
King Kong
A History of Violence
Pride & Prejudice
The New World
2006
The Departed (2006)
The Queen
Babel
Letters From Iwo Jima
Pan’s Labyrinth
Dreamgirls
Children of Men
2007
No Country For Old Men (2007)
There Will Be Blood
Michael Clayton
Hairspray
Once
Across the Universe
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2008
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
The Wrestler
Doubt
2009
+ The Hurt Locker (2009)
Avatar
Up
Star Trek
Invictus
Broken Embraces
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2010

The King's Speech (2010)
The Social Network
Inception
The Fighter
Black Swan
True Grit
The Town
The Ghost Writer
2011
The Artist (2011)
Hugo
The Descendants
The Help
The Tree of Life
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Bridesmaids
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2012

+ Argo (2012)
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
The Dark Knight Rises
Moonrise Kingdom
Anna Karenina
2013
+ 12 Years a Slave (2013)
Gravity
Her
Dallas Buyers Club
Inside Llewyn Davis
2014

+ Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance) (2014)
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gone Girl
Interstellar
Foxcatcher
2015

+ Spotlight (2015)
The Revenant
Mad Max: Fury Road
Carol
Creed
The Danish Girl
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
Sicario
2016

+ Moonlight (2016)
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Handmaiden
2017
The Shape of Water (2017)
Dunkirk
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Phantom Thread
Wonder Woman
I, Tonya
Blade Runner 2049
2018

+ Green Book (2018)
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Roma
If Beale Street Could Talk
First Man
2019
+ Parasite (2019)
1917
The Irishman
The Two Popes
Pain and Glory
2020
Nomadland (2020)
The Father
Mank
One Night in Miami...
2021
CODA (2021)
The Power of the Dog  
2022
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
All Quiet on the Western Front  
2023
   

Note: Below, these winners either stole the award from a more deserving nominee or
were consolation prizes for previous losses or neglect.


Best Director
The Worst of the Awards
'Worst' Best Director
Oscar Winners
Should Have Won
Frank Borzage for Bad Girl (1931) Josef von Sternberg for Shanghai Express (1932)
Frank Capra for Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) William Wyler for Dodsworth
Leo McCarey for The Awful Truth (1937) Gregory La Cava for Stage Door
Frank Capra for You Can't Take It With You (1938) Michael Curtiz for Angels With Dirty Faces
Victor Fleming for Gone With the Wind (1939) (Fleming was only one of three directors)
Frank Capra for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
William Wyler for Wuthering Heights
John Ford for Stagecoach
John Ford for How Green Was My Valley (1941) Orson Welles for Citizen Kane
William Wyler for Mrs. Miniver (1942) Michael Curtiz for Yankee Doodle Dandy
Leo McCarey for Going My Way (1944) Billy Wilder for Double Indemnity
Joseph Mankiewicz for A Letter to Three Wives (1949) Robert Rossen for All the King's Men
Joseph Mankiewicz for All About Eve (1950) Carol Reed for The Third Man
Billy Wilder for Sunset Blvd.
George Stevens for A Place in the Sun (1951) Vincente Minnelli for An American in Paris
John Ford for The Quiet Man (1952) Fred Zinnemann for High Noon
Elia Kazan for On the Waterfront (1954) Alfred Hitchcock for Rear Window
Delbert Mann for Marty (1955) Charles Laughton (unnominated) for The Night of the Hunter
George Stevens for Giant (1956) John Ford (unnominated) for The Searchers
David Lean for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Sidney Lumet for 12 Angry Men
Vincente Minnelli for Gigi (1958) Alfred Hitchcock (unnominated) for Vertigo
Billy Wilder for The Apartment (1960) Alfred Hitchcock for Psycho
Tony Richardson for Tom Jones (1963) Federico Fellini for 8 1/2
Carol Reed for Oliver! (1968) Stanley Kubrick for 2001: A Space Odyssey
George Roy Hill for The Sting (1973) William Friedkin for The Exorcist
Milos Forman for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Steven Spielberg (unnominated) for Jaws
John Avildsen for Rocky (1976) Martin Scorsese (unnominated) for Taxi Driver
Sidney Lumet for Network
Alan J. Pakula for All the President's Men
Woody Allen for Annie Hall (1977) George Lucas for Star Wars
Robert Benton for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) Francis Ford Coppola for Apocalpyse Now
Bob Fosse for All That Jazz
Robert Redford for Ordinary People (1980) Martin Scorsese for Raging Bull
Warren Beatty for Reds (1981) Steven Spielberg for Raiders of the Lost Ark
Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves (1990) Martin Scorsese for Goodfellas
Robert Zemeckis for Forrest Gump (1994) Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction
Ron Howard for A Beautiful Mind (2001) Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Tom Hooper for The King's Speech (2010) Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
The Coen Brothers for True Grit
Alfonso Cuaron for Roma (2018, Mex.) Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman

Best Actor
The Worst of the Awards
'Worst' Best Actor
Oscar Winners
Should Have Won
George Arliss in Disraeli (1929) A weak group of nominees
Spencer Tracy in Boys Town (1938) James Cagney in Angels With Dirty Faces
Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind
James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940) Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath
Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator
Unnominated Cary Grant in His Girl Friday
Gary Cooper in Sergeant York (1941) Orson Welles in Citizen Kane
Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine (1943) Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947) A weak group of nominees
Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948) Humphrey Bogart (unnominated) in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951) Equally notable:
Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire
Ernest Borgnine in Marty (1955) James Dean (unnominated) in Rebel Without a Cause
Yul Brynner in The King and I (1956) Rock Hudson in Giant
James Dean in Giant
David Niven in Separate Tables (1958) Paul Newman in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur (1959) Cary Grant (unnominated) in North by Northwest
Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry (1960) Jack Lemmon in The Apartment (1960)
Maximilian Schell in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) Paul Newman in The Hustler
Rex Harrison for My Fair Lady (1964) Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove, Or:...
Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou (1965) Rod Steiger in The Pawnbroker
Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966) Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night (1967) Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke
Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate
Cliff Robertson in Charly (1968) Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter
John Wayne in True Grit (1969) Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy
Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy
Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger (1973) Any of the other four nominees:
Al Pacino in Serpico
Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail
Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris
Robert Redford in The Sting
Art Carney in Harry and Tonto (1974) Al Pacino in The Godfather, Part II
Jack Nicholson in Chinatown
Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl (1977) Woody Allen in Annie Hall
John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever
Paul Newman in The Color of Money (1986) Dennis Hopper (unnominated) in Blue Velvet
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Robert De Niro in Cape Fear
Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992) Denzel Washington in Malcolm X
Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven
Tom Hanks in Philadelphia (1993) Liam Neeson in Schindler's List
Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994) John Travolta in Pulp Fiction
Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption
Paul Newman in Nobody's Fool
Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1996) Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade
Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful (1998) Edward Norton in American History X
Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan
Kevin Spacey in American Beauty (1999) Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story
Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001)
(Washington should have won for Malcolm X (1992) years earlier)
 
Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2002) Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York
Nicolas Cage in Adaptation.
Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt
Sean Penn in Mystic River (2003) Bill Murray in Lost in Translation

Best Actress
The Worst of the Awards
'Worst' Best Actress
Oscar Winners
Should Have Won
Mary Pickford in Coquette (1929)  
Marie Dressler in Min and Bill (1930) Norma Shearer in A Free Soul
Bette Davis in Dangerous (1935) Katharine Hepburn in Alice Adams
Luise Rainer in The Great Ziegfeld (1936) Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey
Luise Rainer in The Good Earth (1937) Any of the other nominees, including
Greta Garbo in Camille
Greer Garson in Mrs. Miniver (1942) Bette Davis in Now, Voyager
Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette (1943) Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier
Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight (1944) Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity
Loretta Young in The Farmer's Daughter (1947) Rosalind Russell in Mourning Becomes Elektra
Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday (1950) Most of the other nominees
Shirley Booth in Come Back, Little Sheba (1952) Julie Harris in The Member of the Wedding
Grace Kelly in The Country Girl (1954) Any of the other nominees, including
Judy Garland in A Star is Born
Anna Magnani in The Rose Tattoo (1955) Susan Hayward in I'll Cry Tomorrow
Ingrid Bergman in Anastasia (1956) Carroll Baker in Baby Doll
Simone Signoret in Room at the Top (1959) Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story
Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8 (1960) A weak group of nominees, possibly
Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment
Sophia Loren in Two Women (1961) Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass
Piper Laurie in The Hustler
Patricia Neal in Hud (1963) Leslie Caron in The L-Shaped Room
Julie Christie in Darling (1965) Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music
Katharine Hepburn in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Most of the other nominees, including
Faye Dunaway for Bonnie and Clyde
Anne Bancroft for The Graduate
Glenda Jackson in Women in Love (1969/70) Most of the other nominees
Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class (1973) Ellen Burstyn in The Exorcist
Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were
Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful (1985) Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple
Cher in Moonstruck (1987) Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction
Holly Hunter in Broadcast News
Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets (1997) A weak year of nominees, possibly
Helena Bonham Carter in The Wings of the Dove
Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love (1998) Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth
Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999) Annette Bening in American Beauty
Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich (2000) Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream
Halle Berry in Monster's Ball (2001) Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!
Sissy Spacek in In the Bedroom
Unnominated Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr.
Nicole Kidman in The Hours (2002) Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven
Diane Lane in Unfaithful
Renee Zellweger in Chicago
Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line (2005) Felicity Huffman in Transamerica
Keira Knightley in Pride & Prejudice
Kate Winslet in The Reader (2008) Winslet's (unnominated) in Revolutionary Road
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side (2009) A group of weak nominees, possibly
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine (2013) Sandra Bullock in Gravity
Olivia Colman in The Favourite (2018, UK) Glenn Close in The Wife

Best Supporting Actor
The Worst of the Awards
'Worst' Best Supporting Actor
Oscar Winners
Should Have Won
Walter Brennan in Kentucky (1938)  
Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (1939) Claude Rains in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Donald Crisp in How Green Was My Valley (1941) Sydney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon
Van Heflin in Johnny Eager (1942) Any of the other competitors
Charles Coburn in The More the Merrier (1943) Claude Rains in Casablanca
Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way (1944) Clifton Webb in Laura
Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Claude Rains in Notorious
Dean Jagger in Twelve O'Clock High (1949) Ralph Richardson in The Heiress
Edmond O'Brien in The Barefoot Contessa (1954) Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, or Rod Steiger in On the Waterfront
Red Buttons in Sayonara (1957) Sessue Hayakawa in The Bridge on the River Kwai
Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur (1959) George C. Scott in Anatomy of a Murder
Peter Ustinov in Spartacus (1960) A weak group of competitors
Ed Begley in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia
Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses (1968) Gene Wilder in The Producers
Gig Young in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) Tie with Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider
John Mills in Ryan's Daughter (1970) Chief Dan George in Little Big Man
Ben Johnson in The Last Picture Show (1971) Roy Scheider in The French Connection
Joel Grey in Cabaret (1972) Al Pacino in The Godfather (also nominated with James Caan and Robert Duvall)
John Houseman in The Paper Chase (1973) Jason Miller in The Exorcist
George Burns in The Sunshine Boys (1975) A weak group of competitors
Jason Robards in All the President's Men (1976) Tie with Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man
Jason Robards in Julia (1977) Alec Guinness in Star Wars
Melvyn Douglas in Being There (1979) Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now
Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields (1984) Adolph Caesar in A Soldier’s Story
Don Ameche in Cocoon (1985) A weak group of competitors
Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987) A weak group of competitors
Jack Palance in City Slickers (1991) Michael Lerner in Barton Fink
Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive (1993) Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List
Martin Landau in Ed Wood (1994) Any of the other competitors, including Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction
Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Jerry Maguire (1996) William H. Macy in Fargo
James Coburn in Affliction (1998) Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love
or
Ed Harris in The Truman Show
Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules (1999) Any of the other competitors, including
Tom Cruise in Magnolia
Benicio del Toro in Traffic (2000) Any of the other competitors
Jim Broadbent in Iris (2001) Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast
Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006) Any of the other competitors
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds (2009) Christopher Plummer in The Last Station

Best Supporting Actress
The Worst of the Awards
'Worst' Best Supporting Actress
Oscar Winners
Should Have Won
Gale Sondergaard in Anthony Adverse (1936) Alice Brady in My Man Godfrey
Katina Paxinou in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) A weak group of competitors
Ethel Barrymore in None But the Lonely Heart (1944) Most of the other competitors
Anne Revere in National Velvet (1945) Ann Blyth in Mildred Pierce
Celeste Holm in Gentleman's Agreement (1947) Gloria Grahame in Crossfire
Gloria Grahame in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain
Jo Van Fleet in East of Eden (1955) Natalie Wood in Rebel Without a Cause
Miyoshi Umeki in Sayonara (1957) Any of the other competitors
Wendy Hiller in Separate Tables (1958) A weak group of competitors
Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry (1960) Janet Leigh in Psycho
Goldie Hawn in Cactus Flower (1969) A weak group of competitors
Helen Hayes in Airport (1970) Karen Black in Five Easy Pieces
Maureen Stapleton in Airport (1970)
Eileen Heckart in Butterflies are Free (1972) A weak group of competitors
Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon (1973) Tie with Linda Blair in The Exorcist
Ingrid Bergman in Murder on the Orient Express (1974) Madeline Kahn in Blazing Saddles
Talia Shire in The Godfather, Part II
Lee Grant in Shampoo (1975) Ronee Blakley in Nashville
Lily Tomlin in Nashville
Beatrice Straight in Network (1976) Piper Laurie in Carrie
Maggie Smith in California Suite (1978) A weak group of competitors
Mary Steenburgen in Melvin and Howard (1980) Any of the other competitors
Maureen Stapleton in Reds (1981) Jane Fonda in On Golden Pond
Jessica Lange in Tootsie (1982) Glenn Close in The World According to Garp
Peggy Ashcroft in A Passage to India (1984) A weak group of competitors
Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck (1987) A weak group of competitors
Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist (1988) Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Liaisons
Joan Cusack in Working Girl
Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl
Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost (1990) Annette Bening in The Grifters
Lorraine Bracco in Goodfellas
Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny (1992) Judy Davis in Husbands and Wives
Miranda Richardson in Damage
Anna Paquin in The Piano (1993) Emma Thompson in In the Name of the Father
Dianne Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway (1994) Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction
Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite (1995) Joan Allen in Nixon
Kate Winslet in Sense and Sensibility
Juliette Binoche in The English Patient (1996) (surprise win)  
Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential (1997) Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights
Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love (1998)
(This was for about 8 minutes of screen time)
 
Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted (1999) Any of the other competitors
Marcia Gay Harden in Pollock (2000) Kate Hudson in Almost Famous
Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind (2001) Marisa Tomei in In the Bedroom
Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain (2003) Shohreh Aghdashloo in House of Sand and Fog
Holly Hunter in Thirteen
Patricia Clarkson in Pieces of April
Cate Blanchett in The Aviator (2004) Any of the other competitors, including
Natalie Portman in Closer
Virginia Madsen in Sideways
Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener (2005) Amy Adams in Junebug
Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls (2006) Any of the other competitors, including
Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine
Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler
Mo'Nique in Precious (2009) A weak group of competitors
Octavia Spencer in The Help (2011) Jessica Chastain in The Help
Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables (2012) Helen Hunt in The Sessions


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