Continuing our look at legendary performers who earned Academy Award nominations but never took home a competitive Oscar, Part 2 moves from classic Hollywood icons to modern leading men. From Rosalind Russell and Barbara Stanwyck to Matt Damon, Ryan Gosling and Viggo Mortensen, these 15 stars prove that an actor’s legacy is far bigger than a single golden statue.
Each profile below highlights their careers, major honours and full list of Oscar nominations, showing just how competitive the Academy Awards can be for even the most acclaimed performers.
- Actors 16–30 in our “50 Famous Actors Nominated but Never Won an Oscar” series
- Classic legends like Rosalind Russell, Barbara Stanwyck and Kirk Douglas
- Modern Oscar favourites including Matt Damon, Ryan Gosling and Viggo Mortensen
- Every Academy Award nomination listed by year, category and film
Catherine Rosalind Russell (4 June 1907 – 28 November 1976) was an American actress, model, comedian, screenwriter and singer. She is best known for her fast‑talking turn as reporter Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday (1940) opposite Cary Grant, and for her portrayals of Mame Dennis in both the stage and film versions of Auntie Mame and of Rose in Gypsy (1962).
Russell received five Golden Globes, a Tony Award and four Oscar nominations, along with a BAFTA nod. She later received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1973 and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1975.
Academy Award nominations (Best Actress):
- 15th Academy Awards (1943) – My Sister Eileen (1942)
- 19th Academy Awards (1947) – Sister Kenny (1946)
- 20th Academy Awards (1948) – Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
- 31st Academy Awards (1959) – Auntie Mame (1958)
Barbara Stanwyck (born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress and dancer whose 60‑year career spanned stage, film and television. Known for her tough, realistic screen presence, she made 85 films in 38 years before moving into television and became a favourite of directors like Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra.
She earned four Best Actress Oscar nominations, received an Honorary Academy Award in 1982, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1986 and many other lifetime honours. The American Film Institute ranked her the 11th greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema.
Academy Award nominations (Best Actress in a Leading Role):
- 10th Academy Awards (1938) – Stella Dallas (1937)
- 14th Academy Awards (1942) – Ball of Fire (1941)
- 17th Academy Awards (1945) – Double Indemnity (1944)
- 21st Academy Awards (1949) – Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is an American actress known for her work on both stage and screen. She began with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977, won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for And a Nightingale Sang and received the 1988 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her Broadway debut in Burn This.
Allen has three Oscar nominations, plus BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy nods, reflecting a career that balances prestige dramas and character roles.
Academy Award nominations:
- 68th Academy Awards (1996) – Best Supporting Actress, Nixon (1995)
- 69th Academy Awards (1997) – Best Supporting Actress, The Crucible (1996)
- 73rd Academy Awards (2001) – Best Actress, The Contender (2000)
Charles Ambrose Bickford (1 January 1891 – 9 November 1967) was an American actor known for his rugged, authoritative supporting roles. He earned three Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor and enjoyed a long career in both film and television.
Bickford received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960: one for motion pictures and one for television.
Academy Award nominations (Best Supporting Actor):
- 16th Academy Awards (1944) – The Song of Bernadette (1943)
- 20th Academy Awards (1948) – The Farmer’s Daughter (1947)
- 21st Academy Awards (1949) – Johnny Belinda (1948)
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper (18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer whose career spanned seven decades. Starting in Edwardian musical comedy and pantomime, she moved into serious drama and silent films before World War I and continued to work on stage and screen into her final year.
Cooper earned three nominations for Best Supporting Actress, underlining her status as one of Britain’s most respected character actresses.
Academy Award nominations (Best Supporting Actress):
- 15th Academy Awards (1943) – Now, Voyager (1942)
- 16th Academy Awards (1944) – The Song of Bernadette (1943)
- 37th Academy Awards (1965) – My Fair Lady (1964)
- Part 1 : Unveiling Every Best Picture Oscar Winner (1927–2024)
- Part 2 : Unveiling Every Best Picture Oscar Winner (1927–2024)
- Part 3 : Unveiling Every Best Picture Oscar Winner (1927–2024)
- Part 4 : Unveiling Every Best Picture Oscar Winner (1927–2024)
- Part 5 : Unveiling Every Best Picture Oscar Winner (1927–2024)
Matthew Paige Damon (born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, producer and screenwriter. Ranked among Forbes’ most bankable stars and one of the highest‑grossing actors of all time, he has an Academy Award win for co‑writing Good Will Hunting plus multiple nominations as an actor and producer.
He has two Golden Globes and numerous BAFTA and Emmy nominations, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Academy Award nominations (acting/producing):
- 71st Academy Awards (1998) – Best Actor, Good Will Hunting (1997)
- 83rd Academy Awards (2011) – Best Supporting Actor, Invictus (2009)
- 88th Academy Awards (2016) – Best Actor, The Martian (2015)
Kirk Douglas (9 December 1916 – 5 February 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker whose explosive screen presence made him one of classic Hollywood’s defining stars. He appeared in more than 90 films and was named the 17th‑greatest male star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute.
Douglas received three Best Actor Oscar nominations and an Honorary Academy Award in 1996 “for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community.” He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981.
Academy Award nominations (Best Actor):
- 22nd Academy Awards (1950) – Champion (1949)
- 25th Academy Awards (1953) – The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
- 29th Academy Awards (1957) – Lust for Life (1956)
Ryan Thomas Gosling (born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor whose work ranges from independent dramas to major studio hits. His films have grossed over two billion dollars worldwide. Gosling has a Golden Globe win and multiple Oscar, BAFTA and SAG nominations.
Academy Award nominations:
- 79th Academy Awards (2007) – Best Actor, Half Nelson (2006)
- 89th Academy Awards (2017) – Best Actor, La La Land (2016)
- 96th Academy Awards (2024) – Best Supporting Actor, Barbie (2023)
Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor whose career spans sitcoms, prestige television and films ranging from drama to dark comedy. His breakthrough as bartender Woody Boyd on Cheers earned him five Emmy nominations and one win.
Harrelson has three Oscar nominations – one for Best Actor and two for Best Supporting Actor – along with BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG nominations.
Academy Award nominations:
- 69th Academy Awards (1997) – Best Actor, The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
- 82nd Academy Awards (2010) – Best Supporting Actor, The Messenger (2009)
- 90th Academy Awards (2018) – Best Supporting Actor, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Diane Ladd (born Rose Diane Ladner; November 29, 1935) is an American actress who has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. She has three Oscar nominations, three Primetime Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe nominations, winning a Globe for the sitcom Alice (1980–1981).
Her film work includes a Golden Globe win for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
Academy Award nominations (Best Supporting Actress):
- 47th Academy Awards (1975) – Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
- 63rd Academy Awards (1991) – Wild at Heart (1990)
- 64th Academy Awards (1992) – Rambling Rose (1991)
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (16 October 1925 – 11 October 2022) was an Irish‑British American actress, producer and comedienne whose 80‑year career covered film, stage and television. She won six Tony Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), six Golden Globes and a Laurence Olivier Award.
Lansbury earned three Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress early in her film career and later received an Academy Honorary Award in 2013.
Academy Award nominations (Best Supporting Actress):
- 17th Academy Awards (1945) – Gaslight (1944)
- 18th Academy Awards (1946) – The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
- 35th Academy Awards (1963) – The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Piper Laurie (born Rosetta Jacobs; January 22, 1932 – October 14, 2023) was an American actress known for memorable performances in The Hustler (1961), Carrie (1976), Children of a Lesser God (1986) and the miniseries The Thorn Birds. She also became a cult favourite for her role as Catherine Martell in Twin Peaks.
Laurie received a Primetime Emmy, a Golden Globe and three Oscar nominations, plus a BAFTA nomination.
Academy Award nominations:
- 34th Academy Awards (1962) – Best Actress, The Hustler (1961)
- 49th Academy Awards (1977) – Best Supporting Actress, Carrie (1976)
- 59th Academy Awards (1987) – Best Supporting Actress, Children of a Lesser God (1986)
James Neville Mason (15 May 1909 – 27 July 1984) was an English actor who first became a star in British cinema before making a major impact in Hollywood. He topped the UK box office in 1944 and 1945 with hits like The Seventh Veil and The Wicked Lady, and later starred in films such as Odd Man Out and the 1954 version of A Star Is Born.
Mason earned three Oscar nominations, three Golden Globe nominations (with one win) and two BAFTA nominations.
Academy Award nominations:
- 27th Academy Awards (1955) – Best Actor, A Star Is Born (1954)
- 39th Academy Awards (1967) – Best Supporting Actor, Georgy Girl (1966)
- 55th Academy Awards (1983) – Best Supporting Actor, The Verdict (1982)
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian actor widely regarded as one of the country’s greatest male stars of the 20th century. Across 147 films, he became a key collaborator of directors like Federico Fellini and earned worldwide acclaim.
Mastroianni collected many international honours, including two BAFTAs, multiple festival Best Actor prizes and three Oscar nominations.
Academy Award nominations (Best Actor):
- 35th Academy Awards (1963) – Divorce Italian Style (1961)
- 50th Academy Awards (1978) – A Special Day (1977)
- 60th Academy Awards (1988) – Dark Eyes (1987)
Viggo Peter Mortensen (born October 20, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker whose work ranges from art‑house dramas to epic fantasy. Beyond acting, he is also a painter, poet, musician and photographer, contributing music to several films and collaborating with artists like Buckethead.
Mortensen has three Best Actor Oscar nominations for roles in Eastern Promises, Captain Fantastic and Green Book, and has also received BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG nominations for those performances.
Academy Award nominations (Best Actor):
- 80th Academy Awards (2008) – Eastern Promises (2007)
- 89th Academy Awards (2017) – Captain Fantastic (2016)
- 91st Academy Awards (2019) – Green Book (2018)
From Rosalind Russell’s classic comedies to Viggo Mortensen’s intense, modern performances, these 15 actors show how stacked the competition has always been at the Academy Awards. Their work continues to be studied, streamed and celebrated, regardless of Oscar outcomes.
This concludes Part 2 of “50 Famous Actors Nominated but Never Won an Oscar”. In Part 3, the series will continue with more beloved stars whose filmographies are packed with nominations, near‑misses and unforgettable roles.
