What actor/actress has been screwed out of an Oscar that they deserved?

Morgan Freeman for Shawshank Redemption (in my opinion).

Bill Murray for Rushmore.

 

So do ya'll remember who won Oscars when you're candidates were, in your opinion(s), screwed? Might make the thread more interesting to include those tidbits.....

 

In my opinion the actor Denzel Washington has been royally screwed out of two Oscars which should have been his because he simply nailed the parts, one was for Malcolm X and the other was for The Hurricane.

I partly agree with you LP. Al Pacino won for Scent of a Woman the year Denzel was nominated for Malcom X. In this case i think it could have gone either way, they were both magnificent performances. However, i think Denzel was royally screwed for The Hurricane. Kevin Spacey won for American Beauty. I didn't find anything great about Spacey's performance or the movie. I hope Denzel is nominated and wins this year for Training Day.

Morgan Freeman was also magnificent in Shawshank but i don't remember who he was up against.

 

Denzel's performance in The Hurricane was not the only factor in his Oscar loss, in my opinion. I think alot of people were offended that the movie was not factual in many instances- including the complete character assassination of a good cop. Denzel also toured around the country with R. Carter in an attempt to rehabilitate Carter's image. When one reads the facts of the Carter murder case, it is easy to see how the jury found him guilty.

Personally, my favorite Denzel role was when he played a Union soldier in Glory. I loved that movie, and if you have not seen it, I recommend that you rent it.

 

Denzel won Best Supporting Actor in Glory, really his breakout performance...

On the subject of Best Supporting Actor, Joachim Phoenix should've won as Commodus in Gladiator...

Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects. The gimp was classic.

 

I could continue for the longest duration, but to keep it short here are my top 10.


1.Orson Welles-Citizen Kane-Lead Actor

real winner-Gary Cooper-Sergeant York

2.Morgan Freeman-Shawshank Redemption-Lead Actor

Tom Hanks-Forrest Gump

3.Edward Norton-Fight Club-Lead Actor

Kevin Spacey-American Beauty

4.Gary Oldman-Leon-Supporting Actor

Martin Landau-Ed Wood

5.Joan Allen-The Contender-Lead Actress

Julia Roberts-Erin Brockovich

6.Jim Carrey-The Truman Show-Lead Actor

Roberto Benigni-Life is Beautiful

7.Denzel Washington-Malcolm X-Lead Actor

Al Pacino-Scent of a Woman

8.Alec Baldwin-Glengarry Glen Ross-Supporting Actor

Gene Hackman-Unforgiven

9.Tom Cruise-Born on the Fourth of July-Lead Actor

Daniel Day Lewis-My left foot

10.Ed Harris-The Truman Show-Supporting Actor

Jame Coburn-Affliction

 

Didn't Roberts win as lead actress in a movie that year?

 

I'd have to go with Ed Harris in Apollo 13. Was he even nominated for it? Denzel is a very close second for Malcom X.

 

Oh, come now, Stephen Rea in "The Crying Game" got screwed more by Al Pacino than Denzel Washington did. Al and Denzel, and Spacey for that matter, are classic type-cast actors. Not to say they can't show more range, but they don't get the chance...the very roles they are given are not on the same level of difficulty as Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson, Richard Harris and Daniel-Day Lewis. I'm sorry, Washington could be great, but we've seen little range from him, no more than Cary Grant, imo.

For instance, who is going to tell me Cary Grant shows more range in his career than Paul Newman? Grant is highly overrated, for being type cast, and I think Denzel is closer to that category of actor than falling into the Paul Newman *great* category. Denzel is a star like Grant, but great actor like Daniel-Day Lewis...hell, if Forrest Whittaker could slim down, he'd be a lead role bonanza...much better than Denzel?

Back to the question:

<b>Sean Pean for "Dead Man Walking" </b> losing to drunken' role with no range in Nicolas Cage for "Leaving Las Vegas" really pissed me off.

My personal pet peeve is Amadeus. My favorite actor at that time, Tom Hulce, who played Amadeus, losing out to another role in the very same film . . . F. Murray Abraham as Satiari. Again, it is a matter of range in the role. Hulce was more awesome in that movie.

 

Can't agree with you at all on any of these. Martin Landau was amazing as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood, while Gary Oldman was more of a ham in The Professional. If you're going to give Gary Olman an award for acting, it's got to be for Sid and Nancy.

Tom Cruise is one of the worst actors of this generation, and did not even come close to the depth and physicality of Day Lewis's performance.

Finally, James Coburn had a lot more to do in his role than Ed Harris did in his. Ed Harris is a great actor and will get his eventually.

I would add that I think Robin Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam deserved the Oscar waaaaaayy more than Michael Douglas did for Wall Street. It's hard to combine comedy with drama, and Williams never did it better than in Good Morning, Vietnam .

 

Tom Hanks won for Forrest Gump the year that Morgan Freeman was nominated for Shawshank Redemption.

 

I'm sure I will get crucified for saying this, but I thought that Tom Hanks was absolutely incredible in Forrest Gump.

That role was not an easy role by no means.

I know a lot people think that the Shawshank Redemption is one of the greatest movies ever, but Hanks is a pretty damn good actor & he gave one of his greatest performances ever.

It was too bad that the Shawshank Redemption came out in the same year as FG.

Sorta like it was too bad that North by Northwest (which should have won something) came out in the same year as Ben-Hur, 1959, & thus was shut out at the Oscars.

 

Right on Manny. Tom Hanks is always good as long as he is not with Meg Ryan.

 

Sorry, meant Lead Actress.

 

These two instances came to mind the second I read the title of this thread.

I also think that Morgan Freeman should have won for Shawshank Redemption, although losing out to Tom Hanks is nothing to be ashamed of.

 

No way. I thought it was Salieri, but whatever. F. Murray was AWESOME in that movie. First he brought off TWO characters, the younger Salieri and the old bitter one. Second, the story was as much if not more about how cruel being in the shadow of genius can be. Hulce was just a giggling idiot (very well played), but if you're going to talk about RANGE, F. Murray blew Hulce away in that film. Can't you still FEEL the raging bitterness when he threw his crucifix in the fire and cast off God? Man, that was awesome.

 

I'm pretty sure there WAS no single 'good cop.' In fact one of the main criticisms of the movie was that Carter wrapped all of the police he had encountered from Juve - the murder conviction into one character in the book. The one police officer you see hounding him from childhood on in the movie did not exist.

 

word to your mother, mrpaige!!

I want to set one thing straight for everyone: morgan freeman has never, NEVER won an Oscar.

this is a crime.

it is such a crime that I actually wrote a song about it. it is the opening track on our album, and it is called The Winner.

here are the lyrics:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone should call The Academy
Because it doesn't seem academic to me
How a man could work so long and wait so hard, forever
But still be denied your electric company

And you could all Price-Waterhouse
And have them give you an account
Tell them to push the envelope and look to see
If I'll ever win your love the way I dream about

Because I know what struggle is
And I've seen what people go through
When they have their hearts set on a prize
The way that mine is set on you
And I know sometimes it's hard to see
Any justice in this world
But I'll see Morgan get his Oscar
And he'll see me get my girl
And we'll both smile

I want to lay down on a couch with you
And watch the show to find out who
The Academy Award for Best Actor goes to
Morgan Freeman!! Glory, glory, hallelu

Because Morgan Freeman deserves an Oscar
And I deserve better love than you
I need a woman who will make me feel the way that he'll feel
When they finally give the man his due

And Morgan Freeman deserves an Oscar
And I deserve to be rewarded soon

Well, maybe the dogs will throw some justice down someday
And me and Morgan should share at least an afternoon

Well, maybe the dogs will throw some justice down someday
And me and Morgan should share at least an afternoon
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

okay, so the song isn't entirely about Mo Free. . . but dammit! the man's been robbed.

and I'm willing to bet a healthy amount of money that I'm the only poster who's ever been pissed enough about an actor not winning an Oscar to go and write a song about it.

and if you want to drop 10 bones to hear it, you too can own The Lower Frequencies' Plan To Steal the Stars containg this hit song as well as others.

just drop me an e-mail, yo.

FIGHT THE POWER, MORGAN!!!!!