Best Living Actor Never Nominated for an Oscar

[Uri]

Sutherland should have been nominated for Klute along Fonda.

As for Jason Leigh – I'm one of those who think that in her case they actually got it right. An insufferable actress. I'd like to think that with Georgia, it was a case of academy members actually watching the screener for her NYFC awarded performance and coming out admiring the subtlety of Winningham faced with the cacophony which is JL's turn.

Daniels should have been recognized for his turns in The Squid and the Whale and Something Wild in my book.

It's hard to think which one of the actresses nominated in 1968 could have been replaced by Farrow. Probably Neal, but it was such a triumphant comeback for her (and a very good performance) Farrow had no chance.

I'll add Hope Davis, although I think that by nominating Laura Linney they believe they cover her case too.

And yes, had I allowed "foreign" actors in, Huppert should have a double digits tally of nominations by now, giving Streep a run for her money. Easily.

[Precious Doll]

Isabelle Huppert

I know that the Academy doesn't nominate many performances from foreign language films (and usually when they do they aren't particularly good ones) but with the sheer volume of work that Ms Huppert has performed over the last 30+ years and that she has worked on English language films from time to time a nomination is well over-due.

I could start listing all the worthy foreign language performers but don't think it would be appropriate, I do think that Huppert is a special case.

[FilmFan720]

So, for years Gary Oldman was commonly referred to as the Greatest Living Actor Never Nominated for an Oscar. Of course, this year that changed with his first nod, which made me think about who is taking that mantle. A couple of rules: they must be living and working, they have to have a significant film career (so no TV Stars or stage actors without a lot of film experience), they have to have been working for a significant period of time (so no Michael Fassbinder) and they have to work in films that would be on the Academy's radar (i.e. work in the English language). That said, here are six that I will throw out:

Donald Sutherland: A shock to never have been nominated, despite working steadily for four decades, doing strong work in a variety of genres and working in several films that did very well with the Academy (including the obvious Ordinary People). He certainly has had his share of award-baity material...a case could be made for nominations for him in Ordinary People, JFK, Six Degrees of Separation or Pride and Prejudice, all of which got nominations for his costars.

Jennifer Jason Leigh: One of the consistently best actresses of the last 3 decades, Leigh has worked mainly in hard-to-swallow independent dramas and genre films, so it perhaps isn't a surprise that she has never made it to the winter ceremony. One could certainly cite her work in Miami Blues, Mrs. Parker, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Margot at the Wedding or Georgia (which managed a nod for Mare Winningham) as nomination worthy, and they have mostly picked up critics awards here and there for her. One has to wonder what she needs to do for the Academy to notice her.

Jeff Daniels: One of those constantly reliable actors who jumps around through many different genres. With Daniels, the problem maybe that he usually doesn't take roles quite showy enough to garner attention come awards time. Certainly he could have been cited for Terms of Endearment (another Best Picture winner where all his costars were nominated), The Purple Rose of Cairo or Pleasantville, but maybe he is one of those actors who just makes things look too easy.

Mia Farrow: Probably the most legendary performer to make this list, although her self-imposed "retirement" means that you doubt that she will break off this list anytime soon. Her work with Woody Allen is enough to make one surprised that she never got nominated (especially when Woody has managed to get so many of his female stars nominations AND wins), but Rosemary's Baby is perhaps the most glaring omission on her resume.

Steve Buscemi: Buscemi may very well have come the closest to not being on this list, with his Ghost World performance being one of those nomination morning shocks at being left off. For two decades he has been turning in consistently great character work in a variety of films, although one would imagine that his Ghost World and Fargo performances being the ones that came the closest to getting him to the theatre. In the past decade he has worked more on television than film, and picked up a lot of awards for it, but one imagines that if he gets another great film role he breaks this curse easily.

Steve Martin: Comedic actors have never done well with the Academy, but Martin has been working so long, and been so well-respected for what he does, that it is a little bit of a shock that not once he has managed to squeak in. Whereas his contemporaries like Robin Williams, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray all managed to get a citation at some point, Martin has never managed a nod, despite work like All of Me, Roxanne and Shopgirl that certainly could have deserved a glance his way.

So...who are we missing??