Nominated but no Oscar: Actors Quiz

Answer: Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Peter O'Toole (1932-2013) was a British actor of film and stage. During his career from 1954-2012 he received eight nominations for Best Actor but was never successful. His nominations were as follows: "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), "Becket" (1964), "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969), "The Ruling Class" (1972), "The Stuntman" (1980), "My Favourite Year" (1982) and "Venus" (2006).

However, he was awarded an Academy Honorary Award in 2002 for his career achievements. "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" is a musical and was first adapted to the screen in 1939 when Robert Donat played the same role as Peter O'Toole (schoolteacher, Arthur Chipping) and won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Answer: None but the Lonely Heart

Cary Grant (1904-1986) was a British- American actor of film, stage and radio. He was born in Bristol, England and moved to the USA in the 1930s. Although he appeared in over 70 movies between 1932-1966 he only received two nominations for Best Actor which were in "Penny Serenade" (1941) and "None but the Lonely Heart" (1944). In "None but the Lonely", Grant plays the role of a restless and irresponsible cockney after WWII. His mother in the film is played by Ethel Barrymore who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Answer: Murder on the Orient Express

Albert Finney (b. 1936) is a retired English actor of film and theatre. He has been nominated five times for an Academy Award, four for Best Actor and once for Best Supporting Actor in "Erin Brockovich" (2000). His nominations for Best Actor were in "Tom Jones" (1963), "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974), "The Dresser" (1983) and "Under the Volcano" (1984). In "Murder on the Orient Express", Finney plays the role of Hercules Poirit and is supported by an all star cast including Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins, John Gielgud, Sean Connery and Vanessa Redgrave.

Answer: Peyton Place

Arthur Kennedy (1914-1990) was an American actor of film and stage and was a five time Oscar nominee. Once for Best Actor in "Bright Victory" (1951) and four times for Best Supporting Actor in "Champion" (1949), "Trial" (1955), "Peyton Place" (1957) and "Some Came Running" (1958).
"Peyton Place" depicts a small pleasant American town where there is scandal, suicide and incest. The film stars Lana Turner, Hope Lange, Lloyd Nolan and Arthur Kennedy plays the role of the town drunk, Lucas Cross.

Answer: From Here to Eternity

Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) was an American actor who received four Academy Award nominations. Once for Best Supporting Actor in "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961) and three for Best Actor in "The Search" (1948), "A Place in the Sun" (1951) and "From Here to Eternity" (1953). "From Here to Eternity" had a star studded cast and received 13 Academy Award nominations, winning eight.

The movie depicted the lives of U.S. Army personnel stationed in Hawaii prior to the attack on Pearl Harbour. Montgomery Clift plays the role of bugler and career soldier, Private Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt. Both Montgomery Clift and Burt Lancaster were both nominated for Best Actor together with Deborah Kerr for Best Actress. Frank Sinatra won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Answer: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Richard Burton (1925-1984) was a Welsh actor who was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, once as Best Supporting Actor in "My Cousin Rachael" (1952) and six times for Best Actor. These nominations were for "The Robe" (1953), "Becket" (1964), "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" (1965), "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1965), "Anne of the Thousand Days" (1969) and "Equus" (1977).

In "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", Richard Burton plays the role George, the husband of Martha, played by Elizabeth Taylor, his real life wife at the time.

They both play a volatile and aging couple in their 50s. Both Burton and Taylor were nominated for Academy Awards with Taylor being successful. The movie received 13 nominations winning six.

Answer: The Thin Man

William Powell (1892-1984) was an American actor who was nominated three times for Best Actor. The nominations were in "The Thin Man" (1934), "My Man Godfrey" (1936) and "Life with Father" (1947). His last film was in 1955 in "Mister Roberts" opposite Henry Fonda, James Cagney and Jack Lemmon. In "The Thin Man" William Powell plays the role of a retired detective who is asked to look into a missing persons case, however, it evolves into a murder case.

Answer: Gaslight

Charles Boyer (1899-1978) was a French actor who received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor but was never successful in taking home an Oscar. In a career spanning from 1920-1976 he appeared in over 80 movies. His nominations were in "The Conquest" (1937), "Algiers" (1938), "Gaslight" (1944) and "Fanny" (1961).

He is probably best remembered for his role in the mystery thriller "Gaslight" opposite Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotton. In "Gaslight" Boyer plays the role the husband of Ingrid Bergman.

He tries to manipulate her into thinking she is on the verge of insanity as years earlier he had killed her aunt.

Answer: Lust for Life

Kirk Douglas (b. 1916) is a retired American actor and author. He has appeared in over 90 movies and was known for his character roles as an explosive type in westerns, dramas and war movies. He received three Best Actor nominations, with the first for his role in the 1949 movie as a boxing hero in "Champion" (1949). This followed with Best Actor nominations in "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) and "Lust for Life" (1956) when he portrayed the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh.

Answer: A Star is Born

James Mason (1909-1984) was an English actor who had an acting career spanning from 1931-1984. He was nominated three times for an Oscar, once for Best Actor in "A Star is Born" (1954) opposite July Garland who also received the nomination for Best Actress.

The movie received six nominations for an Oscar but was unsuccessful in all six categories. James Mason plays the role of an aging and declining matinee idol in "A Star is Born". He discovers a young singer (July Garland) who he believe can resurrect his career.

The story and movie has been remade in 1976 and 2018.The 1954 movie was nominated in six categories for Academy Awards but was unsuccessful in all of them. His other two nominations were for Best Supporting Actor in "Georgy Girl" (1966) and "The Verdict" (1982).