Who should receive the next honorary Oscar?
Our forum posters have lots of winning suggestions. (Click Here) For starters, a no brainer: can we just hurry up and give poor Jerry Lewis that Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his charity work already?
As for the other honorary laurels, consider these mega-talents who never won an Oscar in a competitive race: Doris Day, Albert Finney, Catherine Deneuve, Tony Curtis, Jeanne Moreau, Liv Ullmann, Maureen O'Hara, Richard Widmark, Gena Rowlands, Jean Simmons, Harrison Ford, Jules Dassin, James Earl Jones, Donald Sutherland, Max Von Sydow, Peter Falk, Dennis Hopper, Eli Wallach, Charles Durning and Angela Lansbury.
Tony Curtis seems like a logical choice given his ace work in so many classic pix like "The Sweet Smell of Success," "Spartacus" and "Some Like It Hot." He was only nominated for an Oscar once, back in 1958 for best actor in "The Defiant Ones." He lost to David Niven ("Separate Tables"). However, Curtis' chances could be hurt by the dismissive comments he made a few years ago about "Brokeback Mountain," which seemed anti-gay. Even though he's an academy member who has an obligation to watch all nominated films, he told Fox News Channel that he had no intention of viewing it and he claimed to know many other voters who felt the same way. The star famous for dressing in drag in "Some Like It Hot" even claimed to speak for some deceased academy members, too, adding, "Howard Hughes and John Wayne wouldn't like it."
Albert Finney has never bothered to attend the ceremony for any of his four nominations and he once famously declined British knighthood. But our forums moderator Chris "Boomer" Beachum found an old quote from 2001 that suggests me might accept an honorary Golden Boy: "If I know I'm going to win, I'll go. But if I don't know, I'm not going to sit there."
I think they should ask Doris Day, age 83. I know, I know the rumor that she's turned down the academy in the past, but, if true, that may have been during the period soon after her son's tragic death from skin cancer in 2004. That same year she claimed she didn't accept the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in person was because she's afraid of flying. The California-based star did show up at the Golden Globes in 1989 to accept the Cecil B DeMille Award.
Who do you think the academy should hail with an honorary kudo? Click the "Comments" link below.
Catherine Deneuve has the most impressive body of work (just have a look at her filmography) of all actresses ever -- it;s time for an Oscar
Posted by: lewis | October 25, 2009 at 09:08 PM
i think for the honorary oscar : GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA or LINA WERTHMULLER (the fiirst woman nominated for the best director at the oscar)
Posted by: marc | June 21, 2009 at 07:10 AM
I like Doris Day, But I really think Maureen O'Hara should get the next award, because she really should have got it for The Quiet Man... and she was in so many classics like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, How Green Was my Valley, The Black Swan, Miracle on 34th Street, The Parent Trap so forth, I find it sad that she never even been nominted for one.. I think it time for her to get an Recognition before she leaves us.
Posted by: Nikki | April 19, 2009 at 06:00 PM
Doris Day should get the 2009 honorary Oscar award.....Miss Day has been one of the few complete movie stars....singer, dancer and a great actress, both in comedy and drama....plus she has been for more than 8 years in a row the number ONE in the box office poll....and she is a very beautiful person inside / outside...
Posted by: Regina | February 16, 2009 at 12:19 PM
doris day doris day doris day doris day doris day!!!
Posted by: donna c | February 15, 2009 at 06:34 PM
Top 5:
1. Three-time Academy Awards nominee Angela Lansbury
2. Academy Awards nominee Lauren Bacall
3. Maureen O'Hara
4. Jeanne Moreau
5. Academy Awards nominee Doris Day
Posted by: Karen | February 04, 2009 at 03:11 PM
Jean Simmons, without a doubt! She should have won years ago - her body of work is exceptional and she never disappoints in ANY role she appears in. I think that was part of the problem - they took her talent for granted and overlooked her. She's one of the most versatile actresses of her generation, too. I mean really - Young Bess, Hamlet, Spartacus, Guys and Dolls, Home Before Dark, Elmer Gantry, The Happy Ending, Until They Sail, This Could be the night. How many other actresses could carry off drama, comedy AND singing in a musical? She has been passed over too often.
Posted by: Penelope | January 21, 2009 at 09:39 AM
Maureen O'Hara. She should've been nominated a couple of times and at the least for A Quiet Man. She deserves to be recognized.
Posted by: Danielle | December 24, 2008 at 06:26 PM
Congratulations to Jerry Lewis on his well-deserved Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award!
Though it's very sad that The Academy Board of Governors have decided not to give out The Academy's Honorary Award this year.
Hard to believe, but it's true, there have been no Honorary Oscar female recipients in 14 years. So far only eight women have been recognized for their cinematic contributions with The Academy Honorary Award: Greta Garbo (1955), Lillian Gish (1971), Mary Pickford (1976), editor Margaret Booth (1978), Barbara Stanwyck (1982), Myrna Loy (1991), Sophia Loren (1991), and Deborah Kerr (1994).
It is about time to give one to a woman for a change. Especially when there are so many ladies who definitely deserve it. Just to name a few: Angela Lansbury, Jeanne Moreau, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Dede Allen, Eleanor Parker, Maureen O'Hara, Liv Ullmann, Gena Rowlands, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Simmons, Leslie Caron, Monica Vitti and more.
Posted by: Will | December 20, 2008 at 08:38 AM
Doris Day! She deserves the Oscar, remind Midnight lace...Fantastic!
Posted by: alexandre from Brasil | December 06, 2008 at 06:51 AM
Doris Day all the way!! She is amazing and has an amazing body of work! She is a great serious actress (The Man Who Knew Too Much and Love Me or Leave Me), comedian (Pillow Talk) and can sing better than most of them (Love Me or Leave Me, I'll See You In My Dreams, etc) and she's held her own with the best of them (Grant, Cagney, Gable, Stewart, Sinatra, Hitchcock, Jack Lemmon, Durante, Harrison, & Garner, I could keep going!). And she overcame A LOT in her personal life. I just think she is all around an amazing lady! PLUS she doesn't even have to appear to receive her honorary Oscar if flying is an issue. Myrna Loy and Henry Fonda weren't there. Loy appeared on a TV from her NY apartment! She is amazing and she totally deserves this because she should have received multiple Oscars for her performances.
Posted by: Laney | November 07, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Doris Day, without a doubt. her body of work demands it... not to mention her support of
man's best friend.
The Academy has a history of passing over some of
the silver screen's most
talented individuals, such as Barbra Stanwyck, Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock,Charlie Chaplin all had to wait for an honorary Oscar
America's favotite girl nexr door deseves the next one.
Posted by: dave uchansky | July 13, 2008 at 11:59 PM
Doris Day! She so deserves it, her body of work speaks for itself, by tackling every genre successfully, she should be recognized with a lifetime achievement award. Please take a good look at her performances in The Man Who Knew Too Much, Pajama Game, Pillow Talk, Calamity Jane, Storm Warning, Young Man With A Horn, and of course Love Me Or Leave Me. You will be won over and left in awe of her talent. Add her wonderful contributions to the musical industry and her tireless efforts on animal welfare, and we have our 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award recepient! :)
Posted by: C Marquis | June 08, 2008 at 11:18 PM
I feel sorry for Doris Day and Jerry Lewis, I guess the Oscars don't remember how much these two individuals contributed to the motion picture industry. A travesty.
Posted by: david | February 18, 2008 at 08:00 PM
Doris Day is long overdue for an honorary oscar. I remember many a rainy or snowy saturday afternoon lying on the sofa watching "Young at Heart", "The Glass Bottom Boat", "Please don't eat the Dasies", "Pillow Talk" and many, many more Doris films and all of them made you feel good about life.
Posted by: Dorisfan | February 14, 2008 at 07:40 AM
I believe Richard Widmark one of the finest actors ever deserves a Lifetime Achievement Award. Here is a man with almost 60 years of some of the best pictures around. I wish he gets one soon. He is already 93 years old.
Posted by: Shannon Wilkinson | February 05, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Doris Day, she's great... I hope I see her at the Oscars!!!
Posted by: Megan | February 05, 2008 at 08:48 AM
DORIS DAY - Deserves the Oscar for all that she has done over the years.
Posted by: Marc L. Kagan | January 22, 2008 at 03:26 AM
My vote for the honorary Oscar goes to Doris Day..there is no one else more deserving than she is...
Posted by: frankie s | January 03, 2008 at 08:44 PM
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Think to Miss Doris Day
Thank you
Posted by: Elaine Savard, Montreal, Canada | January 02, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Doris Day does deserves a Oscar,
she is a great person and great actress, singer, dancer and a very nice person. She is special, very special, one of her kind.
Thank you.
Puck
Posted by: Puck | December 30, 2007 at 06:12 AM
Doris Day is the most deseving. She sang, did comedy and drama equally well -- she did it all. And that beautiful smile!
Posted by: Tim | December 29, 2007 at 09:24 PM
Doris Day is the world's most beloved American Movie Star, vocal wonder, television star and producer of her own show... I could go on and on. She has a beautiful humanitarian spirit, and even after being absent from the silver screen for over 30 plus years, her movies, cds, and television series keep selling. She deserves this honor.
Posted by: Denise E. Collings | December 27, 2007 at 09:01 AM
After reading these lovely comments about Miss Doris Day, I can't add anything better about her talents, abilities, and contributions to the Entertainment field except to say that Miss Day is an American Icon who has shown America and the world that a person can be happy and successful despite tragedy, loss, and life's obsticales. She is a great role model for any young person. I don't think that can be said of many of the famous people being considered for this Oscar.
Posted by: Roberta Manzitto | December 26, 2007 at 08:32 PM
DORIS DAY deserves this oscar!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Megan & Haley Meyer | December 24, 2007 at 11:55 AM