Winning anOscar is considered the biggest honoran actor, writer, producer or director can receive. Why would anyone turn that down?
And yet three people in the history of the awards have done just that. The reasons vary: Some wanted to draw attention to a cause, others felt stronglythe annual glamour festwas an embarrassment to the profession.
The Oscarsgot their start back in 1929at a rather sedate hotel dinner for 270 stars and Hollywood denizens. The next year, the ceremony was broadcast on radio. From there, the race was on.
The awards showsoon picked up a catchy nickname, and quickly became the industry'sne plus ultraevent broadcast around the world. Last year,19.7 million people tuned into seeAdrien Brody("The Brutalist") andMikey Madison("Anora") happily make the walk to the stage to accept the coveted trophy.
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Before the 98th Academy Awards kick off on Sunday, March 15, let's take a trip down memory lane to relive classic moments of old Hollywood at Oscars past, starting with Audrey Hepburn and her best actress Oscar for "Roman Holiday" in 1953.
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Best actor winner Marlon Brando backstage with his first Oscar in 1955 for "On the Waterfront."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Best actress winner Grace Kelly (for "The Country Girl") onstage with Oscars host Bob Hope in 1955." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Grace Kelly holds up her Oscar for "The Country Girl" with presenter William Holden backstage in 1955." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Marlon Brando, left, celebrates his Oscar win in 1955 with host Bob Hope." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Best actor winner Sidney Poitier ("Lilies of the Field") and presenter Anne Bancroft chat backstage in 1964." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Julie Andrews, best actress for "Mary Poppins," and Rex Harrison, best actor for "My Fair Lady," display their Oscars backstage in 1965." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Julie Andrews arriving at the 1965 Academy Awards ceremony." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Anne Bancroft accepted best actress on behalf of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" star Elizabeth Taylor from presenter Lee Marvin backstage at the awards in 1967. Taylor skipped the ceremony because she believed husband Richard Burton would lose." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Nominee Faye Dunaway and Jerry Schatzberg arriving at the 40th Academy Awards ceremony in 1968." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Diahann Carroll and Burt Lancaster onstage at the Oscars in 1969." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Elliott Gould with wife Barbra Streisand at the Oscars in 1969." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Barbra Streisand won best actress in 1969 for "Funny Girl."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Desi Arnaz Jr. (second from left), Jack Nicholson and Liza Minnelli at the Board of Governors Ball in 1972." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Best actor Gene Hackman ("The French Connection") and best actress Jane Fonda ("Klute") pose with their Oscars backstage in 1972." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Presenters Raquel Welch and Gene Hackman congratulate Liza Minnelli on winning best actress for "Cabaret" in 1973." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
A trio of Oscar winners celebrate backstage in 1973: Producer Albert S. Ruddy (from left) for best picture ("The Godfather"), Liza Minnelli ("Cabaret") for best actress and Joel Grey ("Cabaret") for best supporting actor." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
Jack Nicholson dons his shades and hoists his best actor Oscar (for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest") in 1976." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Oscars glamour through the years with Audrey Hepburn, Barbra Streisand
Before the 98thAcademy Awardskick off onSunday, March 15, let's take a trip down memory lane to relive classic moments of old Hollywood at Oscars past, starting with Audrey Hepburn and her best actress Oscar for "Roman Holiday" in 1953.
While a number of famous stars have elected to skip the ceremony, despite numerous nominations and wins (Katharine HepburnandWoody Allencome to mind), only a trio so far have actively snubbed Oscar.
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Dudley Nichols
Who is Dudley Nichols?In his day, a fairly big deal, a screenwriter who eventually becamepresident of the powerful Writers Guild of America. So what's his Oscar story?
Nichols penned thescreenplay for "The Informer,"a book-based drama centered on Ireland's 1922 War of Independence and a traitor within its ranks. The movie was a hit at the box office and a stout contender at the 1936 Academy Awards, going head to head with "Mutiny on the Bounty" across six major categories. While "Mutiny" tookbest picture, "The Informer" won best actor, director, score and screenplay for Nichols.
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Nichols decided to decline his award because Hollywood workers were pushing to unionize. The industry hadorganized in the wake of the Great Depressionof the early 1930s in an effort to secure better pay. He finally did accept his award in 1938 with the formation of the then-named Screen Writers Guild, which eventually morphed into the WGA.
George C. Scott
Actor George C. Scott turned in a towering, glowering performance as World War II general George S. Patton in 1970's "Patton," which won Scott best actor and signaled the arrival of a hot new Hollywood talent in best screenwriter winner Francis Ford Coppola.
But Scott was a no-show at the awards a year later. In fact, when he heard of his nomination for best actor,Scott sent a telegram to the Academysaying he had no intention of accepting the award if he won, and in fact would prefer not to be nominated at all. Why? Scott didn't like the idea of being in competition with fellow actors, but what's more, he held little regard for movies, which he felt were beneath the craft of acting in plays.
"Film is not an actor's medium,"Scott told Time magazine before that year's awards, in a blitz of publicity that caused Academy members to take sides: The old guard were furious, while young actors admired his principles. "You shoot scenes in order of convenience, not the way they come in the script, and that's detrimental to a fully developed performance."
Where is his Oscar? History is unclear, but one of the movie's seven Oscars now rests at the library of the Virginia Military Institute, which educated Patton. Thebest picture statue was donated by "Patton" producer Frank McCarthy, a graduate of the institute.
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando was a once-in-a-generation actor who literally re-wrote the acting book with his powerful Method performances on both stage and screen. His 1973 best actor win was all but expected given the tremendous success of1972's "The Godfather,"in which Brando played Don Vito Corleone.
Interestingly, Brando had been out of favor with the Hollywood system by the early 1970s, after a series of movies that ran over budget and failed to score big at the box office. Hewas considered a high-risk hire, and "Godfather" director Coppola had to fight to cast Brando.
So perhaps it wasn't a surprise when instead of accepting the award, he stunned the well-heeled crowd by sending inNative American actress Sacheen Littlefeatherto refuse the Oscar proffered by Roger Moore. Instead, she gave a statement (abridging a 15-page speechBrando had written for the occasion) in support of Brando's latest political cause: the plight of Native Americans, specifically the occupation of a town called Wounded Knee.
No one knowswhere that famous Oscar is now.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Oscar winners who refused their Academy Awards and why
