Notable Oscar Snubs: Current Actors Quiz

Answer: Jack Torrance, "The Shining" (1980)

"All Work and No Play" means no Academy Award nomination for Nicholson despite one of the greatest displays of psychotic possession ever put on film. "The Shining" received not a single Academy Award nomination. Shelley Duvall and Stanley Kubrick were actually nominated for Golden Raspberries.

Nicholson was nominated for playing cynical private investigator Jake Gittes in "Chinatown" (1974), hitman Charley Partanna in "Prizzi's Honor" (1985) and world weary retiree Warren Schmidt in "About Schmidt" (2002).

Nicholson won his Best Acting Oscars for playing maverick mental patient Randall McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" (1975) and wonderfully cynical novelist Melvin Udall in "As Good as it Gets" (1997). He won his second Oscar, a Supporting award, for playing astronaut Garrett Breedlove in "Terms of Endearment" (1983).

Nicholson received his first nomination for playing George Hanson in the quintessential biker film "Easy Rider" (1969). Other notable performances by Nicholson appear in "Five Easy Pieces" (1970), "The Last Detail" (1973) and "Reds" (1981).

And who can forget his "You can't handle the truth!" speech from "A Few Good Men" (1992). His role as Colonel Nathan Jessup got him another Supporting Actor nod.

Answer: Louis Degas, "Papillon" (1973)

Remarkably, "Papillon" (1973) received only one Academy Award nomination, for the musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. Neither Steve McQueen nor Hoffman was nominated.

Hoffman won two Academy Awards in the 1980s. His first was for playing single father Ted Kramer in the family drama "Kramer vs Kramer" (1979). He also won for autistic savant Raymond Babbitt in "Rain Man" (1988), proving that being an excellent driver can help you win an Oscar.

Hoffman was nominated for playing down and out hustler Ratso Rizzo in "Midnight Cowboy", political comedian Lenny Bruce in "Lenny" (1974) and an actor who dresses in drag in "Tootsie" (1983). He was also nominated for playing Stanley Motss, one of the greatest producers of all time ("This is nothing!") in "Wag The Dog" (1997). Hoffman received his first nomination for playing Benjamin Braddock in "The Graduate" (1968).

Answer: Hawkeye, "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992)

Daniel Day-Lewis had the lead in "Last of the Mohicans" (1992), but none of the acting cast was nominated. The film did win an Oscar, for Best Sound. Day-Lewis was nominated for a BAFTA Award.

He was nominated for playing brutal gang leader Bill "The Butcher" Cutting, as wrongfully convicted Irish activist Gerry Conlon, and as British fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock in "Phantom Thread" (2017).

Daniel Day-Lewis won his first Academy Award as disabled artist Christy Brown in "My Left Foot" (1989). Almost two decades later he won for playing ruthless oilman Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood" (2007). He won his third Best Actor award for playing President Abraham Lincoln during the last days of the Civil War in "Lincoln" (2012).

Day-Lewis is one the most celebrated actors of his time, with over 140 awards along with the Oscars. He has Golden Globes, BAFTA awards and SAG Awards amongst his collection of trophies.

Answer: Joe Miller, "Philadelphia" (1993)

Perhaps they were blinded by Tom Hanks' performance, but Academy Award voters did not recognize Washington's work as attorney Joe Miller in "Philadelphia" (1993). The film did win Hanks his first Oscar and Bruce Springsteen an Oscar for Best Song.

Washington was nominated for playing cocaine snorting airline pilot Whip Whitaker, wrongfully convicted boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and martyred South African anti-Apartheid activist Steven Biko. He also did great work as "Malcolm X" (1992). Washington was nominated in 2018 for his work as an attorney in "Roman J Israel, Esquire."

Washington won his first Oscar, a Supporting Actor Award, for his work as Private Tripp in "Glory" (1989), which tells the story of the Massachusetts 54th, an African-American unit fighting during the Civil War. His second Oscar was for the much more morally ambiguous Detective Alonzo Harris in "Training Day" (2002).

Answer: James Conway, "Goodfellas" (1990)

Perhaps Academy votes were blinded by Joe Pesci, because he was only one of the three male leads in "Goodfellas" to be nominated. Pesci won for playing crazy gangster Tommy DeVito. The movie did earn a Director nomination for Martin Scorsese, and acting nomination for Lorraine Bracco.

DeNiro has had a close relationship with director Martin Scorsese, and Scorsese directed him to an Oscar as boxer Jake LaMotta in "Raging Bull" (1980). DeNiro won his first Oscar for playing the young Vito Corleone in "The Godfather 2" (1974).

"Are you Talking to Me?" Naturally, DeNiro was nominated for playing obsessed cab drive Travis Bickle in Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" (1976). And he perfectly captured menacing evil as Max Cady in the 1991 remake of "Cape Fear". He was amazing as Vietnam soldier/veteran Michael Vronsky in "The Deer Hunter" (1978). He was also nominated for Leonard Lowe, a catatonic man who has a remarkable recovery in "Awakenings" (1990).

DeNiro may be best known to younger audiences for his turn in the "Meet the Parents" series and as Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller on "Saturday Night Live".

Answer: Paul Edgecomb, "The Green Mile" (1999)

Hanks was not nominated for playing death row prison guard Paul Edgecomb.
"The Green Mile" did receive four Oscar nominations, but lost all of them. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Sound and Michael Clarke Duncan was nominated for his role as John Coffey.
Hanks did win a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for his work on "The Green Mile".

Hanks won back to back Oscars in 1994 and 1995, the first actor since the great Spencer Tracy to do so. He won his first for playing Andrew Beckett, an attorney who was fired for having AIDS in "Philadelphia" (1993). He followed that with "Forrest Gump" (1994), playing a mentally challenged man who found himself mixed up in history in odd ways. Hanks first nomination was for Josh Baskin in "Big" (1988), playing a young boy in a grown body.

Hanks was nominated for both "Saving Private Ryan" in which he played the leader of a platoon on a rescue mission during World War II, and "Cast Away" in which he was a Fed Ex executive stranded on a desert island.

Many of Hanks' later roles have been real life figures: Walt Disney in "Saving Mister Banks" (2013), pilot Chesley Sullenberger in "Sully" (2016), editor Ben Bradlee in "The Post" (2017) and children's television pioneer Fred Rogers in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" (2019).

Answer: Tony Montana, "Scarface" (1983)

"Say hello to my little friend!" While it is one of Pacino's more memorable roles, his turn as drug dealer Tony Montana was snubbed by the Academy. As a matter of the fact, the entire film was snubbed by the Academy; not a single nomination. Pacino was nominated for the Golden Globe, but lost out to Robert Duvall and Tom Courtenay.

Pacino finally won an Academy Award for playing blind military man Lt Colonel Frank Slade in "Scent of a Woman" (1992). Pacino was nominated as disillusioned defense attorney Arthur Kirkland, and as real estate closer Ricky Roma. Pacino was nominated twice as Michael Corleone: Best Actor for "Godfather II" and Best Supporting Actor for "The Godfather" (1972). He protested the Supporting nomination, thinking he should have been nominated for Best Actor.

Other notable roles by Pacino include whistle blower cop Frank Serpico in "Serpico" (1973) and bank robber Sonny Wortzik in "Dog Day Afternoon" (1973).

Answer: Paul Rivers, "21 Grams" (2003)

While Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro received nominations for their work in "21 Grams" (2003), Penn did not. He played a mathematician trapped in a bad marriage.

Sean Penn's first Oscar was for his work in the Clint Eastwood crime drama "Mystic River" (2003) in which he played a small time Boston criminal. The second was as gay icon San Francisco politician Harvey Milk in the bio-pic "Milk" (2008).

Penn did receive nominations for playing death row inmate Matthew Poncelet, and for playing Sam Dawson, a mentally challenged man seeking custody of his daughter. He was also recognized for his work as jazz musician Emmett Ray in "Sweet and Lowdown" (1999).

Answer: Sidney Cochran, "California Suite" (1978)

Maggie Smith won an Academy Award for playing Diana Barrie in "California Suite" but she was the only member of the cast nominated. Caine played Barrie's husband Sidney. The film is based on the play by Neil Simon, and the playwright was nominated for the screenplay.

Michael Caine started acting in films in 1956, and six decades later was still going strong. He has won two Academy Awards in the Supporting Actor category. He won his first for the Woody Allen comedy "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1987) and his second was for portraying a wise country doctor in "The Cider House Rules" (1999).

Caine received his first nomination as charming playboy Alfie in the 1966 film of the same name. Almost two decades later, he would be nominated for playing rumpled professor Frank Bryant in "Educating Rita" (1983). In 2002, he was in "The Quiet American", based on the Graham Greene novel about colonial Vietnam, as cynical British journalist Thomas Fowler. Caine was also nominated for his brilliant interplay with Laurence Olivier in "Sleuth" (1972).

Younger viewers may know Caine best for his work as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler in "The Dark Knight" trilogy or as Arthur Tressler in the "Now You See Me" films.

Answer: Jack Dawson, "Titanic" (1997)

Despite being the romantic lead in what to that point was the most successful film of all time, DiCaprio was snubbed by Oscar voters in 1998. "Titanic" won 11 Oscars, but none of them for acting. Kate Winslet was nominated for Rose, and Gloria Stuart was nominated for older Rose, but both lost out (Helen Hunt and Kim Basinger won). "Titanic" did receive Best Picture and Best Director for James Cameron. DiCaprio was nominated for a Golden Globe.

DiCaprio would finally win an Academy Award for his work as Hugh Glass in the survival epic "The Revenant" (2015).

DiCaprio received his first Oscar nomination, Supporting Actor, for his work as the mentally challenged brother of Johnny Depp. His first Best Actor nomination was for his work in the Martin Scorsese bio-picture about Howard Hughes "The Aviator" (2004). Scorsese also directed him to an Oscar nomination in "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013) in which DiCaprio played drug addicted money manipulator Jordan Belfort.

Other notable work (but not nominated work) by DiCaprio includes "Gangs of New York" (2002), "Catch Me If You Can" (2002), "The Departed" (2006) and "Inception" (2010).