Major Oscar Comebacks

Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath (top); Fonda and Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond (bottom)

Below are the performers and directors who had a 20-year or longer gap between Academy Award nominations.
Unless otherwise noted, the nominations are for leading roles; years in bold means Oscar wins.

41 years between nominations
Henry Fonda (1940, The Grapes of Wrath — 1981, On Golden Pond)

38
Helen Hayes (1931-32, The Sin of Madelon Claudet — 1970, supporting, Airport)
Jack Palance (1953, supporting, Shane — 1991, supporting, City Slickers)
Alan Arkin (1968, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter — 2006, supporting, Little Miss Sunshine)

35
Ralph Richardson (1949, supporting, The Heiress — 1984, supporting, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes)

33
John [...]

Oscar’s Comeback Nominees

Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream (top); Roman Polanski, Adrien Brody in The Pianist (middle); Diane Lane in Unfaithful (bottom)

Since the 1960s, nearly every year has had at least one Oscar comeback in the acting/directing categories. Some were veterans getting their first chance at the Oscars; others were Oscar veterans getting their first nod in years.
Below are a few examples in the last 10 years. As per this list, Oscar’s comeback veterans hardly ever win.

2005
William Hurt, nominated as best supporting actor for A History of Violence. Hurt has three previous best actor nominations; the last one in 1987 was for Broadcast News. He won in 1985 for Kiss of [...]

KINSEY II – Liam Neeson

KINSEY Review: Part I
Like the controversial hero of another biopic, Dustin Hoffman’s Lenny Bruce in Lenny, Kinsey is ostracized because he dares tell the uncomfortable truth to a hypocritical society that wants none of it. But unlike Hoffman’s neurotic and abrasive stand-up comedian, Condon’s Kinsey is an eccentric but wholly likable fellow. And therein lies the film’s biggest flaw.
Since this is a (mostly) American movie, we can accept hunky Liam Neeson playing the role of the hound-faced Alfred Kinsey, a carbon copy of actor Tom Ewell (the quasi-errant husband in The Seven Year Itch). But it is difficult to accept a sex-obsessed hero who is hardly ever shown enjoying the pleasures of sex. Even if Kinsey was more interested in [...]