Has Anyone Turned Down an Oscar?

Only three people have ever turned down Oscar Awards — Dudley Nichols, Marlon Brando, George C. Scott. Nichols, a screenwriter, was the first person to ever turn down an Oscar in 1936. Brando declined his Best Actor Award for his work in The Godfather as a protest against the way Hollywood portrayed Native Americans in film, and Scott declined his for Patton because he felt that acting should not be competitive.

More about the Oscars:

• Although Katharine Hepburn won four Oscars for her acting, she did not attend the awards ceremonies in any of the years in which she won. She also holds the record for the longest time in between her first and last nominations — 48 years.


• The shortest performance to ever merit an Oscar was that of Beatrice Straight in Network. Straight won Best Supporting Actress although she had less than six minutes of screen time.


• Two performers have been nominated for an Oscar for playing more than two roles in the same movie — Joanne Woodward for The Three Faces of Eve and Peter Sellers for Dr. Strangelove.