Biggest Oscar Snubs #1: Bette Davis, OF HUMAN BONDAGE

Oscar Nomination Snub #1
Bette Davis, Of Human Bondage

Biggest Oscar Snubs #2: Steven Spielberg, THE COLOR PURPLE
Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, Leonardo DiCaprio, Audrey Hepburn, and James Cameron the screenwriter have all faced major Oscar snubs, but those have been nothing compared to what took place in early 1935. Even if James Cameron the director had been snubbed for the blockbuster Avatar a few weeks ago, that would still not be ranked as the #1 Oscar Snub ever.
Why not? Well, simply because Academy rules wouldn’t have been drastically altered to allow last-minute write-in ballots to select the year’s Oscar winners just to appease Avatar fans. But that’s exactly what happened back in Feb. 1935 following the furor sparked by the [...]

Biggest Oscar Snubs #8: Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady

Oscar Nomination Snub #8: Non-Nominated Actors

Biggest Oscar Snubs #9: Non-Nominated Directors
I could have included dozens of names here, as performers are snubbed every single year for obvious reasons: there are only five Oscar slots for actors, actresses, supporting actors, and supporting actresses, while there are many more potential — in a few years, even likely — contenders. I picked four of the most glaring examples of the last several decades. Below is the first one:

Audrey Hepburn
Great singing, huh? Well, that’s probably why Audrey Hepburn didn’t get a best actress Academy Award nomination for My Fair Lady.
Audrey Hepburn’s landing the role of Eliza Doolittle in Warner Bros.’ 1964 film version of My [...]

Ken Annakin

Ken Annakin, best remembered for directing the big-budget 1965 adventure comedy Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, died of natural causes on Wednesday, April 22, at his home in Beverly Hills. He had suffered a stroke and a heart attack in February, and had been in poor health since. Like fellow British filmmaker Jack Cardiff, who also died on April 22, Annakin was 94.
Born Kenneth Cooper Annakin in Beverley, Yorkshire, in England, on Aug. 10, 1914, Annakin began his film career working as a cameraman on training films for the Royal Air Force in World War II.
His first feature as a director was the 1947 family vacation comedy Holiday Camp, [...]

Miriam Hopkins: Q&A with Allan Ellenberger, Part II

Miriam Hopkins: Allan Ellenberger Interview Part I
I understand that Miriam Hopkins turned down a large number of parts. Could you name a few of those? And was there anything she felt sorry she missed out on — any part she rejected but then came to regret her decision, or any part she wanted to play but lost out to someone else?
[Photo: One role Miriam Hopkins accepted: the schoolteacher in These Three, opposite Merle Oberon.]
During her career, Hopkins was scheduled to appear in countless films that were never made, or the parts were given to another actress. Of course, it was a combination of her changing her mind about projects and in some cases the studio changing theirs. Some [...]