Top 50 Oscar-Worthy Performances who Didn't Win

Seemingly every year, the oscars get it wrong.

And over the years, these mistakes have accumulated. None more evident than in the acting categories.

We all know the 'give Leo a damn Oscar already' memes, but there's a great deal more actors who missed their chance at the trophy. Some more egregious than others.

Here is the top 50 performances who deserved the Academy Award for either Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor or Best Supporting Actress.

Like all other lists on this site, this is an opinion piece, but opinion based on facts. All images are obtained by a basic google search and I do not claim ownership of any of them.

Some of these are age-old grievances, some are less known. Ranks vary depending on the competition that year, how the performance/movie has stood the test of time and whether the Academy gave the performer what is known as a 'payback' Oscar in later years.

50 - 41 the 'Tough breaks'

Sometimes, you get so unlucky that while you may have one of the great performances in cinema history, someone else does the same year. While these are worthy of being Oscar-winning performances, the competition in that year justifies the loss:

50. Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men (1992)

Unfortunately for Nicholson, Gene Hackman happened to be in Unforgiven that same year. But his performance as Colonel Nathan Jesop in A Few Good Men is one of the great movie villains, including the famous 'You can't handle the truth!' speech.

49. Jeremy Renner in The Town (2010)

Renner's scene-stealing Jem in Ben Affleck's Boston Crime Thriller The Town failed to beat out Cristian Bale's recovering drug-addict boxer in The Fighter. Tough break.

48. Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Lawrence of Arabia is a classic of Hollywood cinema. But also is To Kill a Mockingbird, which won Gregory Peck the Best Actor Award that year.

47. Angela Bassett in What's Love Got to do With It (1993)

Angela Bassett nailed Tina Turner and goes head to head with Lawrence Fishburne's Ike in this biopic. The Academy didn't see it as better than Holly Hunter's turn in The Piano.

46. Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl (2014)

Pike earned her first and only Oscar-nom in portraying the psychotic Amy Elliot Dunne. But unfortunately for her, Julianne Moore was getting hers after missing out on 4 previous nominations.

Back of the line, Pike! Back of the line!

45. Jack Nicholson in Chinatown (1974)

Jack appears on the list twice in our 'Tough Breaks'. He has three Oscars, they made it up to him.

Amazingly, not even the top performance of that year, more on that later.

44. Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind (2001)

He had just won for Gladiator the year before, Denzel was amazing in Training Day. It's fair. But Russell Crowe gave an all-time performance as the unhinged genius John Nash.

43. Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (1992)

Perhaps undeservedly so, Denzel didn't win Best Actor for Spike Lee's 1992 biopic of civil rights leader Malcolm X. The award went to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman.

42. Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

'Hey Stella!!!' Yeah he lost to Humphrey Bogart, for The African Queen. They paid him back, he won twice, rejected one of them famously, no biggie.

41. Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (1990)

A star-making performance, Roberts was unlucky enough to be pit against Kathy Bates' Annie Wilkes in Misery. But she'd get her Oscar soon for Erin Brokovich.

40 - 31 The 'Meh's

As in, 'meh', shrug-a-the shoulders, 'I suppose' they should have won. Not as egregious as the later entries on this list.

40. Bill Murray in Rushmore (1999)

The first entry on this list not to be nominated in the given year. Bill Murray's first Wes Anderson performance was snubbed by the Academy. Oscar that year went to James Coburn in Affliction, a film nobody remembers.

39. Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Mara was the best performance of the year, but they gave it to Meryl Streep for playing Margaret Thatcher. When in doubt, give it to Streep.

38. Helena Bonham Carter in Fight Club (1999)

A commonality in David Fincher movies, Fight Club was snubbed all over the place at the 2000 Oscars. Bonham Carter is yet to win an Oscar.

37. Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn (2015)

They gave it to Brie Larson for The Room. Come on. Ronan will probably get one at some stage, but this was a bad call that has aged poorly.

36. Paul Newman in The Verdict (1982)

It's astonishing he lost to Ben Kingsley for Gandhi. Newman as the down on his luck, alcoholic Boston lawyer lost to an English actor wearing brown-face. That's aged well!

35. Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction (1987)

The highest-grossing movie in America in 1987, Fatal Attraction was a monster hit. She lost to Cher in Moonstruck. I mean, Cher, really?

Glenn Close has yet to win an Oscar.

34. John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977)

John Travolta was the biggest star in the world in 1977, he was in two of the biggest movies of the year, soundtracks of which were the biggest albums of the year. He lost to Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl

33. Jean Hagen in Singin' in the Rain (1952)

The only nominee from the classic musical Singin' in the Rain, Jean Hagen just should've won, plain and simple. She did not receive the Best Supporting Actress award in 1953.

32. Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise (1991)

Susan Sarandon lost the Best Actress Award to Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs. Not totally unreasonable, but Thelma & Louise is a classic movie and she deserved the Oscar. They paid her back with Dead Man Walking, it all worked out for Suzie.

31. Ian McKellen in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Thank GOD Sean Connery turned down doing Gandalf. Ian McKellen is iconic.

Jim Broadbent won Best Supporting Actor for Iris ... are you kidding me?

30-21 Come on, Really?

Also known as the 'no way!'s. The kind of Oscar loses that make you grab the iPhone and look it up. And yes, these are real.

30. Robert Duvall in The Godfather (1970)

Hard to think the consigliere (or however you spell that word) of the Corleone family didn't win Best Supporting Actor. He lost to Joel Grey for Cabaret, a movie which holds the world record for being re watched the least times.

29. Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls (2006)

All signs indicated Eddie was in the Best Supporting Actor Award '07. It was a comeback performance, in a slow movie year, it was the 'comedy actor does dramatic performance' thing. But Alan Alda won it for 'Little Miss Sunshine'.

28. Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960)

I guess the Oscars just weren't ready for all that damn nudity. It's a shame. Janet Leigh gave us one of the most famous scenes in cinema history. She was nominated, but lost to Shirley Jones for Elmer Gantry.

27. Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Will Smith's best chance to win came in 06, when he portrayed homeless wannabe stockbroker Chris Gardener. He lost to Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland. Isn't James McAvoy the lead in that movie??

26. Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

A star-making role, Redford launched his mainstream career in this George Roy Hill classic. Amazingly, not nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

25. Anne Bancroft in The Graduate (1967)

This one isn't as bad. While she should have won, I could see the argument for Katherine Hepburn in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

24. Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon A Time ... in Hollywood (2019)

A man not immune to snubbery, Leo missed out on the gold once again for his tour de force performance in Tarantino's latest film. The scene in the trailer alone is worth the Oscar.

The most recent entry on the list, he lost out to Joaquin Phoenix's Joker. We'll pay Joaquin back later on in this list.

23. Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Gloria Swanson was one of the biggest and most extravagant stars of the silent era. It's strange to think he self-conscious performance as an eccentric has-been trying to make a comeback didn't win.

22. Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)

As Rick Blaine, Bogie delivered some of the of the most famous lines in cinema history. His stoic and charismatic presence the perfect foil to Ingrid Bergman. His missed out on this Best Actor Oscar, but won later for The African Queen.

21. Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)

'41 and '42, two straight mistakes in the Best Actor category.

Citizen Kane, one of the best movies ever, this snub is more famous for not winning Best Picture that year. But Welles more than deserved the Best Actor award for his portrayal of the tortured mogul Charles Foster Kane.

He did win the award for Best Original Screenplay that year, that's cool, I guess.

20-11 the hall of famers

Or Hall of Shame, maybe? Either way, these are ones that will live forever.

20. Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire (1996)

It looks as if Tom Cruise will never have an Oscar, and he did deserve one. Before he began just making blockbuster sequels, he was one of the finest dramatic actors in Hollywood. Jerry Maguire is an all-time classic.

Geoffrey Rush won for Shine that year ...

19. Michael Keaton in Birdman (2013)

Much like Gloria Swanson's performance, Keaton's self-aware performance was critically-acclaimed. With his portrayal as Bruce Wayne/Batman serving as the parallel for his character's 'Birdman', Keaton garnered his first Oscar-nom. But he lost to Eddie Redmayne's Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

18. Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

His second attempt at a dramatic role, and Supporting Actor nom in Moneyball, Hill lost this year to the worst Joker actor of all time - Jared Leto. Hill may very well get one down the road, but he is yet to get another nomination.

17. Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Not a complete travesty due to the fact she won for Roman Holiday, Hepburn was unforgettable in this '60s classic. She lost to Sophia Loren in Two Women.

16. Sylvester Stallone in Creed (2015)

This one is a shocker. In his re-emergence as the iconic character he created, Stallone lost the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies. The latest throw-away Spielberg-Hanks movie, and he beat cancer-riddled Rocky Balboa, astounding.

15. Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997)

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won the screenplay Oscar that year. I think that hurt his chances in the acting category. An all-time performance, Damon is yet to win an Oscar in any acting category.

He lost this year to Jack Nicholson, who won his third for As Good As it Gets.

14. Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born (2018)

Cooper pulled off the seemingly impossible. In his first outing as writer-director-star, his re-imaging of A Star is Born was a monster success. He lost to Rami Malek, who (unlike Cooper!) lip-synced his way to the trophy.

13. Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids (2011)

One of the great scene-stealing/star-making roles. McCarthy contributed to the 'comedies don't win Oscars' legacy in 2011. She lost to Octavia Spencer in The Help.

12. Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Meryl Streep is phenomenal in The Devil Wears Prada, one of the most memorable movie-villains in recent years. She lost this year to Helen Mirren, in the 17,432nd time somebody won an Oscar for portraying royalty in The Queen.

11. Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)

Decades before she and Warren Beatty messed up the Moonlight/La La Land fiasco, Dunaway was one the big-screen's great Femme Fatale's in 1974. She lost to Ellen Burstyn for Best Actress, who won for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. She won two years later for Network.

10-1 The eternals

The all-time blunders. These iconic performances were horrendous in the moment, and are even more so as time goes on.

10. Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator (2000)

Told you we'd pay him back! Joaquin Phoenix was perfectly cast as the petulant, patricide-committing, incest-wishing emperor in Ridley Scott's classic. Benicio del Toro won for Traffic.

9. Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained (2012)

In his first collaboration with Quentin Tarantio, Leo wasn't even nominated for Best Supporting Actor. His co-star Christoph Waltz won his second for the much less memorable Dr.King Shultz in the same movie.

8. Tom Cruise in Magnolia (1999)

I think after this, Cruise said 'enough! I'm not winning an Oscar, I don't care anymore!' It's a great shame. He gives one of the best crying scenes ever in this movie, combined with him playing his dark charisma perfectly. He lost to Michael Caine, who won his second for The Cider House Rules.

7. Emma Stone in Birdman (2013)

The struggling addict daughter of Keaton's aforementioned Birdman. Emma Stone missed out on the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to Patricia Arquette, who won for Boyhood.

6. Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (1994)

When you have a year-in year-out Halloween costume in your honour, you're doing something right. Thurman's troubled but lovable gangster-wife Mia Wallace lost out to Dianne West for Bullets Over Broadway. Nobody's dressing up as Helen Sinclair for Halloween!

5. Edward Norton in American History X (1998)

Edward Norton's stellar performance as the reformed Neo-Nazi in American History X lost out to Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful. A travesty in hindsight. Norton has yet to be reimbursed for this highway robbery.

4. Brad Pitt in Moneyball (2011)

Brad Pitt's nuanced, charismatic portrayal of Oakland A's GM Billy Beane failed to win Best Actor.

He lost, amazingly, to Jean Dujardin, who won for The Artist. He didn't even say 2 sentences and beat Pitt. But they paid Brad back this year with Once Upon A Time... in Hollywood.

3. Kate Winslet in Titanic (1997)

As the lead in the biggest movie of all time, Kate Winslet lost Best Actress to Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets. I guess acting like you're attracted to Jack Nicholson is a lot harder than getting swept away by Leo.

2. Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Jules Winfield is one of the most recognizable characters in modern cinema. Jackson delivers arguably the greatest monologue ever put to film. His reaction to losing to Martin Landau for Ed Wood says it all.

Jackson is yet to receive another Oscar nomination.

1.Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part 2 (1974)

I mean, come on. On the Mount Rushmore of the greatest acting performances ever. Pacino lost the Best Actor Oscar to Art Carney for Harry and Tonto. What??? Also that year, Nicholson in Chinatown, HOW did Art Carney win that year?? Pacino would later win Best Actor for Scent of a Woman. But this snub is the biggest Oscar mistake of all time.

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