Hollywood Shock: Star with 34-Year Career, 2 Noms Yet No Oscar – Fair or Foul?

Cary Grant was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars from the late 1930s to the mid-1960s, working with some of the era’s most celebrated filmmakers, yet he never clinched the Oscar for Best Actor.

Effort Was Not Lacking

Cary Grant began headlining films starting with William A. Seiter’s “Hot Saturday” in 1932, but it took some time for him to gain recognition from the era’s prestigious directors. His career trajectory changed under George Cukor’s direction.

In 1935, Cukor cast him opposite Katharine Hepburn in “Sylvia Scarlett,” then Raoul Walsh featured him in “Fingerprint” and most importantly, Leo McCarey cast him as the lead in “The Awful Truth” (1937) opposite Irene Dunne. Grant’s performance in this screwball comedy classic—characterized by quick wit, romance between opposites, and bizarre situations—marked a significant turning point in his career.

Grant became a staple in Hollywood, frequently collaborating with the same directors: 5 films with Howard Hawks, 4 with Leo McCarey and Alfred Hitchcock, and 3 with George Stevens. It was Stevens who helped Grant secure his first Best Actor nomination.

Two Nominations, No Wins

The movie was “Penny Serenade,” where he again starred alongside Irene Dunne. Unlike their previous comedic roles, this time the film was a drama about a father attempting to adopt a child amidst poverty. A powerful melodrama, but perhaps due to the wartime atmosphere, the Academy preferred Gary Cooper in “Sergeant York.” Other nominees that year included Orson Welles for his performance in “Citizen Kane.”

Three years later, Grant was nominated again for the dramatic role of a listless son in “None But the Lonely Heart,” as he struggles to find direction in his life until he learns of his mother’s cancer. Competing once more for the Best Actor Oscar, he lost to Bing Crosby in “Going My Way.”

Ironically, during the only two years he was nominated, Grant lost to films directed by his regular collaborators, without him: “Sergeant York” by Howard Hawks and “Going My Way” by Leo McCarey.

An Early Retirement

Despite his work with other cinema legends like Richard Brooks (“Crisis”), Alfred Hitchcock (“Suspicion,” “Notorious,” “To Catch a Thief,” “North by Northwest”), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (“People Will Talk”), Stanley Donen (“The Grass Is Greener,” “Charade”), and Delbert Mann (“That Touch of Mink”), he was never nominated again.

In 1966, the actor chose to retire, even turning down the lead role in Hitchcock’s “Torn Curtain.” His decision was influenced by the birth of his daughter Jennifer, to whom he decided to dedicate his remaining life and time.

Cary Grant received an honorary Oscar in 1970 for his lifetime achievements and passed away on November 29, 1986, at the age of 82. Which role do you think should have earned him the elusive Academy Award that his illustrious career still lacks today?

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