Notable Oscar Snubs: Classic Actors Quiz

Answer: Crassus, "Spartacus" (1960)

Peter Ustinov won an Oscar for his work in "Spartacus" (1960), but Olivier was not nominated for playing wealthy Roman senator Marcus Crassus.

Olivier directed himself to a Best Actor win in 1948 playing "Hamlet". His first nomination was for "Wuthering Heights" (1939). At the end of his career, Olivier was nominated for playing a Nazi in "Marathon Man" (1976) and a Nazi hunter in "The Boys from Brazil" (1978). Olivier died in July 1989.

Olivier was nominated for his turn as "Henry V" (1944) and for playing has-been actor Archie Rice. Olivier was well known as a Shakespearean. He was nominated for "Othello" (1965) and "Richard III" (1955) and won an Honorary Academy Award for his 1944 work on "Henry the Fifth".

Answer: Sam Craig, "Woman of the Year" (1942)

Katharine Hepburn was nominated for Tess Harding, but Tracy was not nominated for playing her husband Sam. "Woman of the Year" (1942) is the first of nine films Tracy and Hepburn did together. They played married journalists who fight when she becomes successful.

Tracy won his Academy Awards back to back, for playing a brave fisherman in "Captains Courageous" (1938) and as Father Flanagan in "Boys Town" (1939).

Tracy was nominated for "Inherit the Wind", which is a dramatization of the Scopes Evolution trial. Tracy played Henry Drummond, the fictional stand-in for Clarence Darrow. And he was nominated for the playing Elizabeth Taylor's father in "Father of the Bride."

Tracy's first nomination was in the melodrama "San Francisco" (1936), which was based on the 1906 earthquake. His last nomination was for his work with Sidney Poitier in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" (1968). Tracy, a native of Wisconsin, died in 1967.

Answer: Don Quixote, "The Man of La Mancha" (1972)

O'Toole was nominated for a Golden Globe for his 1972 turn as Don Quixote, but not an Academy Award,

O'Toole's first nomination was for "Lawrence of Arabia". His last was for "Venus" (2007), in which he played an aging actor. The film is notable as the debut of Jodie Whittaker, who went on to star in "Doctor Who".

O'Toole was nominated for playing the title role in "Goodbye, Mister Chips" (1969), a remake of the 1939 film based on the James Hilton novel about an English school teacher. Unlike Robert Donat, O'Toole did not win an Oscar. He was nominated for playing film director Eli Cross in "The Stuntman".

Other notable O'Toole performances include a flamboyant Errol Flynn type actor in "My Favorite Year" (1982) and the 14th Earl of Gurney in "The Ruling Class" (1972). He was nominated twice for playing King Henry II, in both "Becket" (1964) and "The Lion in Winter" (1967).

Peter O'Toole did win an Honorary Academy Award in 2003, a sort of lifetime achievement award for his 40 year career in films. O'Toole died in December 2013.

Answer: Henry Gondorff, "The Sting" (1973)

While Robert Redford was nominated for "The Sting" (1973), Newman was not. The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but neither of the leads won. Redford lost out to Jack Lemmon for "Save the Tiger" (1973).

And while "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) won four Oscars (Screenplay, Cinematography, Best Song and Best Score), neither Newman nor Robert Redford was nominated.

Seventh time was the charm for Newman, who finally won for reprising the role of pool hustler Fast Eddie Felson in "The Color of Money" (1986).

Newman's first nomination was as Brick Politt in the Tenessee Williams play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", playing the husband of Elizabeth Taylor. In "Cool Hand Luke" (1967) he played the title character, a rebellious prisoner who had communications issues. And in "The Verdict" (1982) he played Frank Galvin, a washed up trial attorney with a final chance for redemption. Paul Newman died in September 2008.

Answer: Fletcher Christian, "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962)

Brando played Fletcher Christian against Trevor Howard's Captain Bligh in the 1962 version of "Mutiny on the Bounty." While the film received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, none of the cast was nominated for acting awards.

Brando won his first Academy Award award as Terry Molloy, a dock worker fighting mob corruption in "On the Waterfront" (1954). Ironically, his second was for playing the leader of the Corleone Crime family in "The Godfather" (1972). Brando refused to accept this award as a protest against the treatment of Native Americans.

Brando was also nominated for playing Zapata, and for "Last Tango in Paris" (1972). He was also nominated as Marc Antony in "Julius Caesar" (1953) and as a conflicted serviceman in "Sayonara" (1957).

Brando's first nomination was as Stanley Kowalski (Stella!) in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1952). His last nomination was in 1990, as a human rights attorney fighting Apartheid in South Africa in "A Dry White Season" (1989). Brando died in July 2004.

Answer: Felix Ungar, "The Odd Couple" (1968)

While Neil Simon did receive an Academy Award nomination for "The Odd Couple" (1968), neither Lemmon nor Walter Matthau was nominated.

Lemmon won his first Academy Award, Supporting Actor, for playing Ensign Pulver in "Mister Roberts" (1955). He won Best Actor for playing disillusioned businessman Harry Stoner in "Save the Tiger" (1973).

Lemmon was nominated for playing scheming junior executive C.C. Baxter in "The Apartment", a man struggling with alcoholism in "The Days of Wine and Roses" and whistleblowing nuclear engineer Jack Godell in "The China Syndrome".

Other notable roles Lemmon was nominated for include Jerry/Daphne in "Some Like it Hot" (1959) and the father of a political prisoner held in Chile in "Missing" (1982). Lemmon died in June 2001.

Answer: Howard Roark, "The Fountainhead" (1949)

Cooper played Roark, the idealistic architect who is hero of the Ayn Rand novel "The Fountainhead" (1949). The film did not receive any Academy Award nominations. Since most people in Hollywood don't agree with Rand's objectivist philosophy, this is no surprise.

Cooper won his first Academy Award as pacifist turned warrior Alvin York in "Sargeant York" (1941). York was one of the most highly decorated servicemen of World War I. He won his second for playing Sheriff Will Kane in "High Noon" (1952).

Cooper was nominated for "Pride of the Yankees" and "Mister Deeds". He also received a nomination for playing Robert Jordan in "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1944), the Ernest Hemingway novel about the Spanish Civil War. Cooper died in May 1961.

Answer: Mark Antony, "Cleopatra" (1963)

Rex Harrison was nominated for playing Julius Caesar, but Burton was not nominated for playing Mark Antony. Elizabeth Taylor played Cleopatra. The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Color Cinematography.

Burton was acting against real life wife Elizabeth Taylor in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (1966), playing a couple with one of the world's most screwed up marriages. He was nominated for being the title character in "Becket" (1964) and as Henry VIII in "Anne of a Thousand Days" (1969).

Burton is right behind Peter O'Toole, with seven nominations during his career, but no wins. His first nomination was for "My Cousin Rachel" (1952) and his last was for "Equus" (1977).

In "The Robe" (1954), Burton played Marcellius Gallio, a roman soldier who commanded the troops at the crucifixion of Jesus. Burton died in August 1984.

Answer: Major Keith Mallory, "The Guns of Navarone" (1961)

"The Guns of Navarone" (1961) actually received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. It won for Best Special Effects. None of the actors, including Peck, were nominated.

Peck won for playing idealistic attorney Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird" (1962). Through both the novel and film, Harper Lee inspired an entire generation of defense attorneys.

Peck's first nomination was "The Keys to the Kingdom" (1944), in which he played a Catholic missionary in China. In "Gentleman's Agreement" he played a journalist investigating antisemitism. And in "Twelve O'Clock High" he was a tough as nails commander of a bombing unit during World War II. Peck died in June 2003.

Answer: Ransom Stoddard, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962)

In "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962), Stewart plays Ransom Stoddard, a man who built his political career taking credit for killing a notorious gunman (Lee Marvin). John Wayne played the man who actually shot Valance. Edith Head was nominated for the costumes in "Liberty Valance" but neither Stewart or Wayne was nominated.

Stewart won for playing journalist Macaulay "Mike" Connor, who is covering the wedding of Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) in "The Philadelphia Story" (1940).

He was nominated for playing idealistic Senator Jefferson Smith, who fights a corrupt political machine, in "Mister Smith Goes to Washington" (1939). He was nominated again for playing idealistic savings and loan owner George Bailey, fighting a corrupt banker, in "It's A Wonderful Life" (1950). And in "Harvey" (1950), he plays a man fighting against reality, whose best friend is a magic rabbit.

Stewart received his final nomination for playing defense attorney Paul Biegler in "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959). Stewart appeared in four Alfred Hitchock films: "Rope" (1948); "Rear Window" (1954); "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956) and "Vertigo" (1958). He was not nominated for any of them. Stewart died in July 1997.