When you think of great actors, who do you think of?  I guarantee that most people’s lists will include at least one of the following:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Edward Norton, Tom Cruise, Will Smith, or Robert Downey Jr.  These leading men all have something in common (other than their spectacular acting talents).  None of them has ever won an Oscar.  Shocked?  You should be.

EDWARD NORTON isn’t as much of a household name as some of the men on this list, but everyone knows him as the Narrator in Fight Club (which, despite being consistently on “top movies of all time” lists, was only nominated for one Oscar and no Golden Globes).  Norton, though, was nominated for 2 Oscars.  One was for his powerhouse performance in American History X.  The other was for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Primal Fear which did garner him a win at the Golden Globes… but not the Oscar. 

WILL SMITH is one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, and considered one of the most successful. He is the only actor in history to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in domestic box office sales. He also has had eight consecutive movies open at #1.  He’s starred in hit films including Bad Boys, Men in Black, Independence Day; I, Robot; Ali; I Am Legend; Hancock; and Seven Pounds. He’s been nominated for 4 Golden Globes, and 2 Academy Awards, but has yet to take one home… 

 

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. can be funny, dramatic, crazy… he can be anything…but he has only been nominated for 2 Oscars:  lead actor for Chaplin in 1993 and supporting actor for Tropic Thunder in 2009.  He has done much better at the Golden Globes winning the Lead Actor in a Comedy or Musical category for Sherlock Holmes and two other surprising awards.  He was part of the ensemble cast of Short Cuts (a collection of short films) which won a “special award” for the star-studded cast; and he won a TV award for his work on “Ally McBeal”… but hasn’t tasted Oscar gold.

JOHNNY DEPP has been nominated for 3 Oscars, all of which were in the ‘Actor in a Leading Role category’ (Sweeney Todd:  The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Finding Neverland, and Pirates of the Caribbean:  The Curse of the Black Pearl).  He also has been nominated for TEN GOLDEN GLOBES!  He only won one of those (Sweeney Todd:  The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), but it’s an impressive amount of nominations.  Despite being one of the most memorable and talented actors in Hollywood… he hasn’t won an Oscar.

TOM CRUISE is one of the most well-known, recognizable actors today and he has been nominated 3 times at the Oscars.  He was nominated for supporting actor (Magnolia) and for lead actor in Jerry Maguire and Born on the Fourth of July.  For each of these three films, he won the Golden Globe that year… but not the Oscar.

MORGAN FREEMAN is widely regarded as one of the greatest character actors of all time. He holds one of the most recognizable voices in Hollywood history. He’s acted for more than 40 years in over sixty different productions. Freeman has taken home a SAG award as well as a Golden Globe. He received 4 Academy Award nominations for Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption, and Invictus…but still has yet to give an acceptance speech… 

LEONARDO DICAPRIO has been acting since he was a teenager.  And, as a teenager, he actually got his first Oscar nomination for his supporting role in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.  Since then he has been nominated twice more for his leading roles in Blood Diamond and The Aviator.  He also has been nominated for 8 Golden Globes, but he only won for Lead Actor in a Drama (The Aviator).  DiCaprio might be one of the most shocking members of this list because he is fantastic in almost everything he’s played in… but he doesn’t have an Oscar gracing his mantle.

BRAD PITT has been nominated for 4 Oscars (3 as an actor, one as a producer).  He was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work in Moneyball and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  He also was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for the sci-fi flick, Twelve Monkeys.  He actually won the supporting actor Golden Globe for Twelve Monkeys, and he has been nominated for another 4 Golden Globes… but hasn’t won an Oscar.

PETER O’TOOLE has been nominated for a whopping 8 Oscars and never won.  All of the nominations were for Actor in a Leading Role and span from 1962 (Lawrence of Arabia) to 2007 (Venus).  That is quite impressive.  He also has been nominated for 11 Golden Globes, 4 of which he won.  Ironically, despite not winning any of the 8 Oscars he was nominated for, he won an honorary award because his “remarkable talents have provided cinema history with some of its most memorable characters”… which earned him an Oscar statue!

Other Oscar-worthy actors worth mentioning include Don Cheadle, Martin Sheen, Laurence Fishburne…the list can go on. Who would you say the Academy has shamefully overlooked?!