Wait, WHO Never Won an Oscar?
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3 min readMovie fans often measure actors' greatness by the number of Academy Awards they have won. But some of the greatest film actors of all time — Richard Burton, Natalie Wood, Albert Finney, Gene Wilder, Marlene Dietrich — were never honored with an Oscar. Here are 14 brilliant performers who you'd think surely should have won — but never did.
Albert Finney (1936-2019)
Getty Images / Sygma / Eric Robert
The great Albert Finney was brilliant on the screen but never won a Best Acting Oscar. He was nominated four times for "Tom Jones," "Murder on the Orient Express," "The Dresser," and "Under the Volcano."
Richard Burton
Getty Images / Mondadori Portfolio
One of the greatest British actors of the 20th century, Richard Burton was nominated for seven Academy awards for movies spanning from the 1950s to the '70s. His best performances include 1958's "Look Back in Anger," 1963's "Cleopatra," 1965's "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold," 1966's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", and 1977's "Equus." But he never won an Oscar.
Natalie Wood
Getty Images / Silver Screen Collection
Natalie Wood first made her mark at 16 in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) and was honored with an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. She then had an incredible run of great performances in the 1960s. For her role as Wilma in 1961's "Splendor in the Grass," she was nominated for a best actress Oscar. "West Side Story," which also came out in 1961, won 10 Academy awards, but Wood was not even nominated for her acclaimed performance as Maria. She was nominated again for best actress for her leading role in 1963's "Love With the Proper Stranger," but she did not receive nominations for "Gypsy" (1962), "This Property Is Condemned" (1966), or "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1969).
View Natalie Wood's memorial page
Gene Wilder
Getty Images / Silver Screen Collection
Nominated for a supporting role as Leo Bloom in 1967's "The Producers" and for screenwriting for 1974's "Young Frankenstein," comic genius Gene Wilder was not even nominated for such iconic acting roles as Willy Wonka or Dr. Frederick Frankenstein. ("It's pronounced Frahn-ken-steen!")
View Gene Wilder's memorial page
Marlene Dietrich
Getty Images / John Kobal Foundation / William Walling Jnr
The glamorous German-American actress Marlene Dietrich has become a Hollywood icon; she was honored as one of the 50 greatest screen legends by the American Film Institute in 1999. She was nominated for a best actress Oscar in 1930 for her role in "Morocco," and was not even nominated for her leading roles in such classics as 1930's "Blue Angel," 1932's "Shanghai Express," 1957's "Witness for the Prosecution," and 1961's "Judgment at Nuremberg."
View Marlene Dietrich's memorial page
James Dean
Getty Images / Hulton Archive
Nominated posthumously for best actor Oscars for his roles in "East of Eden" (1955) and "Giant" (1956), and closely identified with his iconic role in 1955's "Rebel Without a Cause," James Dean nonetheless never won an Academy Award.
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