This is my personal Top Eight list of current actors with no Oscar nominations for their entire movie career. Although I have included a few honorable mentions, I realize that there are many more people that could make this list. Three of the actors are personal favorites of mine, so I admit I am a little biased towards thinking that they have been ignored by the Oscar® voters.  I originally wrote this page in 2011.  Gary Oldman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Maureen O’Hara were on the list back then….since then Oldman and Leigh have received Oscar nominations while Maureen O’Hara received an Honorary Oscar® in 2015.

1. Steve Buscemi (1957-) has been appearing in movies since 1985. He has appeared in big budget blockbusters like Con Air and Armageddon as while as low budget sensations like Living in Oblivion and Ghost World.  Performances that were Oscar® worthy? How about his Mr. Pink role in 1992’s Reservoir Dogs? How about either role he did in 1996?….Fargo or Trees Lounge. Certainly one of the roles in his close to 100 movies has to have been worthy of a nomination. Buscemi did win a Best Actor Golden Globe® for HBO’s Broadwalk Empire ….so at least somebody is noticing his work.

2.  John Cusack (1966-) has been appearing in movies since 1983. A very underrated actor he has been appearing in some very good movies over the last thirty years.  Some of his better performances were 1988’s Eight Men Out, 1989’s Say Anything, 1990’s The Grifters, 1994’s Bullets Over Broadway, 1999’s Being John Malkovich, 2000’s High Fidelity and 2007’s Grace is Gone.  The last few years have been somewhat rough for Mr. Cusack as many of his movies have been straight to DVD movies.  But I have faith that he will bounce back and will one day get a nomination.

3. Mia Farrow (1945-) has been appearing movies since 1964 . Farrow has been in the celebrity spotlight all her life as she is the daughter of actress Maureen O’Sullivan, was married to Frank Sinatra and in a many year relationship with Woody Allen. Her movie career really started with 1969’s Rosemary’s Baby. Since the success of Rosemary’s Baby she made many movies before starring in 13 Woody Allen movies.  The amazing thing to me is usually the Oscar® voters love performances in Woody Allen movies and yet they never gave Farrow a nomination. In my opinion she could have gotten a nomination for any of the following Woody Allen movies: Hannah and Her Sisters, Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Alice or September. Farrow has received 5 Golden Globe® nominations for Best Actress over the years.

4. Richard Gere (1949-) has been appearing in movies since 1975. Movies that Gere has given a strong and possibly Oscar® worthy performance: 1977’s Looking For Mr. Goodbar, 1978’s Days of Heaven, 1982’s An Officer and a Gentleman, 1984’s The Cotton Club, 1990’s Pretty Woman, 1996’s Primal Fear, 2002’s Chicago, and 2009’s Amelia.

Gere has received 4 Golden Globe® nominations for Best Actor…including a win for Chicago. I still can not figure out how Gere was not nominated for Chicago. Chicago was nominated for 13 Oscar® but nothing for Richard Gere.  In 2012, Gere came close to getting off this list with his performance in Arbitrage….but once again on Oscar® nomination morning his name was not called.

5. Steve Martin (1945-) has appeared in 44 movies from 1978 to 2017. I would not argue that many of his movies are Oscar® worthy ones but he has shined many times over the last thirty-seven years.

Martin has been a serious Oscar® contender twice in his career. The first time was for 1984’s All of Me and the second time was for 1987’s Roxanne. Both times he was mentioned as those actors who got snubbed when the nominations came out.  Other outstanding Steve Martin performances: 1981’s Pennies from Heaven, 1987’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles, 1989’s Parenthood and 2009’s It’s Complicated. He has picked up 5 Golden Globe® nominations for Best Actor over the years.

6.  Sam Rockwell (1968-) has been appearing in movies since his debut in the 1989 horror movie Clownhouse.   Over the years, Sam Rockwell has become a very active factors.  He has done a wonderful job of starring in quality independent movies (Moon) while appearing in supporting roles in blockbusters (Iron Man 2, Cowboys and Aliens and The Green Mile).

Rockwell got some Oscar® buzz for his performance in 2009’s Moon and 2013’s The Way, Way Back.  His best chance might be for his role in 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.  Rockwell won the Golden Globe for that performance and seems like a sure bet for his first nomination and to be the 4th person taking up this list.

7. Martin Sheen (1940-) has been appearing in movies since his movie debut in 1967’s The Incident. Over the years, Sheen has appeared in many classic movies and provided an awesome performances to go with the film. He helped Jack Albertson win his Oscar® in 1968’s The Subject Was Roses. He was Oscar® worthy in 1973’s Badlands, 1979’s Apocalypse Now, 1982’s Gandhi, 1987’s Wall Street, 1995’s The American President and 2006’s The Departed.

Martin Sheen has received one Golden Globe® nomination for his movie career, and that was way back in 1968 for The Subject Was Roses. For his television work he seems to get much more respect as he as earned 7 Golden Globe® nominations and 9 Emmy nominations. Too bad the Oscar® voters have not seen the same talent.

8. Donald Sutherland (1935-) has been appearing in  movies since his movie debut in 1964’s Castle of the Living Dead. Not all of his movies are memorable but Sutherland has a very impressive list of movies were he gave quality performances. Some of those movies would include: 1967’s The Dirty Dozen, 1970’s MASH, 1971’s Klute (Jane Fonda won an Oscar® for her role in the movie), 1973’s Don’t Look Now, 1980’s Ordinary People (Best Picture Oscar® winner), 1981’s Eye of the Needle, and 1991’s Backdraft.

Sutherland has picked up two Golden Globe® nominations for his movie acting. He was nominated for MASH and Ordinary People. Speaking of Ordinary People, in my opinion he gave the best performance in the movie….yet he was the only one that did not get nominated. Mary Tyler Moore..yes, Timothy Hutton….yes….Judd Hirsch…yes….Sutherland….no….I just do not understand.

Personal Pick.  Bruce Willis (1955-) has been starring in movies since 1987. I am a huge Bruce Willis fan but I do not think he deserves any Oscar® nominations for his action films. But he has a few other movies that should have gotten some Oscar attention. His first Oscar® worthy performance was In 1989’s In Country, Willis actually received a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Supporting Actor but no Oscar® love.In 1994 he had two strong performances in Nobody’s Fool and Pulp Fiction. Of the four leading actors in Pulp Fiction, Willis was the only one not to get a nomination. As for Nobody’s Fool, all his scenes were with Paul Newman, and Newman was nominated for Best Actor. In my opinion, in 1995 Willis gave his best performance of his career in 12 Monkeys. But once again a co-star, Brad Pitt, got the Oscar® love for 12 Monkeys and scored a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Finally in 1999 Bruce Willis was in the surprise hit of the decade…The Sixth Sense….and once again all the lead actors got nominations except for Bruce Willis. I think before Willis is done with movies he will get an Oscar® nomination.