25 iconic celebrities who have never won an Oscar

Not only had Donald Sutherland never won an Academy Award, he’s never even been nominated. And this is a guy who earned eight Golden Globe nominations (and won two) for his roles in acclaimed films such as “M*A*S*H,” “Ordinary People,” “Citizen X,” “Without Limits,” and “Path to War.” Now 81 and still working just as hard, when will it be Sutherland’s turn to win?

Harrison Ford’s career has spanned six decades and six of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry: 1973’s “American Graffiti,” 1974’s “The Conversation,” 1977’s “Star Wars,” 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and 1982’s “Blade Runner.” Yet somehow he has only received a single Academy Award nomination, and it wasn’t even for any of the aforementioned movies. Ford’s sole nomination was a Best Actor nod for “Witness” in 1986.

Nowadays it seems like a movie can’t be made without Samuel L. Jackson appearing in it somewhere, yet not only has the actor never won an Oscar, he’s only received one nomination, for 1994’s “Pulp Fiction.” The Academy has since failed to offer Jackson a nomination for any other film, including “A Time to Kill,” “Eve’s Bayou,” “Shaft,” “Django Unchained,” and all of his superhero blockbusters.

Primarily a comedic actor (and an outstanding one, at that), Bill Murray actually first expanded his repertoire to include dramatic films way back in 1984 with “The Razor’s Edge.” However, only one role in Murray’s 37-year film career has earned him an Oscar nomination: a Best Actor nod for 2003’s “Lost in Translation.”

Somehow, Liam Neeson has received three Golden Globe nominations (1993’s “Schindler’s List,” 1996’s “Michael Collins,” and 2004’s “Kinsey”), but was only recognized by the Academy for “Schindler’s List,” and lost to Tom Hanks and “Philadelphia.” We suppose if he wants the award, it’ll just have to be taken. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.)

Even more surprising than the fact that Gary Oldman has never won an Oscar is the fact that he’s only been nominated once. The sole nod was for 2012’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” which means he was completely shafted for films such as “Nil by Mouth” (which Oldman wrote and directed), “Sid and Nancy,” “JFK,” “The Dark Knight,” and his recurring role in the Harry Potter films.

Last year we said goodbye to Gene Wilder, who passed away on August 29 at the age of 83. Surprisingly, Wilder never won an Oscar during his impressive and wildly popular career, and was only nominated once (for 1968’s “The Producers”). Comedies aren’t often recognized by the Academy, but they should have made an exception for Wilder’s roles in the classic films “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971), “Blazing Saddles,” (1974), “Young Frankenstein” (1974), and “Silver Streak” (1976).

Obviously Robert Downey Jr.’s stints in jail and rehab hampered his acting career for a bit in the middle, but it’s still shocking that the respected actor has never won an Oscar and only been nominated twice. The Academy decided his outstanding portrayal of Charlie Chaplin in 1992’s “Chaplin” wasn’t quite as good as Al Pacino in “Scent of a Woman”, and his comedic role in 2008’s “Tropic Thunder” was understandably beat out by the late Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight."

Ralph Fiennes might not be at the top of your list of most deserving actors, but don’t forget the guy starred in 1996’s “The English Patient” and had a supporting role in 1993’s “Schindler’s List” - both of which earned him Oscar nominations and both of which won Best Picture. And that’s to say nothing of “The Constant Gardener,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” or his role as Lord Voldemort in all of the Harry Potter films.

Actor (and Patrick Stewart’s BFF) Sir Ian McKellen owns six Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a whole host of other accolades, but no Oscars. In fact, the distinguished actor has only received a nomination twice, for 1998’s “Gods and Monsters” and 2001’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Only two! To compare, McKellen, not often thought of for his TV work, has already earned five Emmy nominations.

Bette Midler owns three Emmys, three Grammys, and a Tony, but is still looking for her first Oscar in order to complete her E.G.O.T. Midler has four Golden Globes to her name, but has only earned Best Actress nods from the Academy for 1979’s “The Rose” and 1991’s “For the Boys.”

John Travolta was outstanding in both 1977’s “Saturday Night Fever” and 1994’s “Pulp Fiction,” but not quite as good as Richard Dreyfuss in “The Goodbye Girl” or Tom Hanks in “Forrest Gump,” according to the Academy. Although Travolta has only earned two nominations thus far, his biggest issue has clearly been bad timing.

Tom Cruise has won three Golden Globes, but remains winless in regard to his three Academy Award nominations for “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Jerry Maguire,” and “Magnolia.” Most of Cruise’s recent and upcoming roles are of the action/adventure variety, so it’s not likely that Cruise will get another Oscar nod soon - and yes, that includes his reprisal of Maverick in the rumored “Top Gun” sequel.

Johnny Depp has a knack for starring in both critically acclaimed films and blockbusters, yet he only has three Oscar nominations to show for it. “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Finding Neverland,” and “Sweeney Todd” couldn’t cash in on their chances, but films like “Edward Scissorhands,” “Donnie Brasco,” “Blow,” and “Public Enemies” were ignored altogether.

Despite powerful performances in films such as “American History X,” “Primal Fear,” and “Birdman,” Edward Norton has yet to cash in on an Oscar nomination. His role in 2016’s “Collateral Beauty” could have earned him a nod this year (but it didn’t), and we were really holding out hope for the animated raunch-fest “Sausage Party.” (Just kidding, although we did enjoy him in it.)

Although she hasn’t been acting an awful lot lately, Michelle Pfeiffer previously received three Oscar nominations in the four years between 1988 and 1992. However, her strong performances in “Dangerous Liaisons,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” and “Love Field” weren’t enough to overtake the competition, which included Jessica Tandy’s winning performance in 1989’s “Driving Miss Daisy.”

Joaquín Phoenix doesn’t have the ubiquity many actors possess, but when he does choose a role, it almost always seems to generate Oscar buzz (with the exception of “I’m Still Here,” perhaps). He has already received nominations for “Gladiator,” “The Master,” and “Walk the Line,” but never even got a look for his roles in “Hotel Rwanda” or the star-studded “Inherent Vice.”

Legendary actor Peter Sellers’ first Academy Award nomination was actually a Best Live Action Short Film nod for “The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film” in 1959, which he lost. Sellers also lost nominations for 1964’s “Dr. Strangelove” and 1979’s “Being There,” in addition to getting passed over completely by the Academy for his roles in “Lolita” and the “Pink Panther” films.

On the heels of her performance in “20th Century Women,” 2017 really looked like it would be the year Annette Bening finally won her long-coveted first Oscar. Yet the Academy didn’t even give her a nomination, as they did in previous years for “The Grifters” (1990), “American Beauty” (2000), “Being Julia” (2004), and “The Kids Are Alright” (2014).

Although George Lucas was the recipient of the Academy’s Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1991, he has yet to win a competitive Oscar, despite four nominations for both writing and directing “American Graffiti” and “Star Wars.” In fact, this was even pointed out at the 2007 Academy Awards when Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola presented alongside Lucas and poked fun at his lack of Oscar hardware. Lucas hasn’t directed a film since 2005, but is still active as both a screenwriter and producer...so there’s hope! (Or is that a “new hope”?)

Amy Adams is still only 42 years young, yet she has already amassed five Academy Award nominations for her work in “Junebug,” “Doubt,” “The Fighter,” “The Master,” and “American Hustle.” For our money, we think she was robbed in 2009 with “Doubt,” when Penélope Cruz (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) was instead given the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Also, despite receiving critical praise, Adams did not receive a nomination this year for “Nocturnal Animals.”

Albert Finney put together an acting career that has lasted for almost 60 years and earned five Academy Award nominations, but he has yet to leave the event with a win. In addition to Best Actor nods for “Tom Jones” (1963), “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974), “The Dresser” (1983), and “Under the Volcano” (1984), many thought Finney would win Best Supporting Actor in 2001 for his role as Ed Masry in “Erin Brockovich.” 

Alfred Hitchcock is often referred to as the greatest director of all time, yet he never took home a coveted golden statue for any of his five Academy Award-nominated films. This means no directorial wins for “Rebecca,” “Lifeboat,” “Spellbound,” “Psycho,” or “Rear Window” (his five nominations), to say nothing of “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest,” or “The Birds.” 1941’s “Rebecca,” however, did take home Best Picture honors.

To date, Glenn Close has been nominated for four Best Supporting Actress Oscars (“The World According to Garp,” “The Big Chill,” “The Natural,” and “Albert Nobbs”) and two Best Actress Oscars (“Fatal Attraction” and “Dangerous Liaisons”), but has yet to win one. Although Close has won three Emmys, three Tonys, and two Golden Globes, she didn’t receive any nominations for the 89th Academy Awards, which means at least another year of waiting for the accomplished veteran actress.

Richard Burton never won an Oscar in his storied career, but not for lack of effort. Burton earned a startling seven Academy Award nominations in his lifetime without winning a single one, including performances in 1964’s “Becket,” 1966’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and 1977’s “Equus.” Burton died in 1984.