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A Golden Age legend, Brown directed National Velvet and The Yearling. Despite six nominations, he remained an Oscar outsider.
(5 Nominations for 6 films)
MASH, Nashville, The Player — Altman was a visionary who redefined ensemble storytelling, yet he never won Best Director. He finally received an Honorary Oscar in 2006.
Despite directing Psycho, Rear Window, and Vertigo, the "Master of Suspense" never won Best Director. The Academy finally gave him an Honorary Oscar in 1968.
Vidor made classics like The Crowd and War and Peace, yet the Academy never gave him an Oscar for his directing skills.
The Italian maestro behind 8½ and La Dolce Vita won four Best Foreign Film Oscars, but never Best Director! He got an Honorary Oscar in 1993.
From 2001: A Space Odyssey to The Shining, Kubrick shaped cinema forever. But the Academy only awarded him for Visual Effects, never Best Director.
The genius behind 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network never won Best Director. The Academy honored him with a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2005.
The Swedish master of existential cinema (The Seventh Seal, Persona) won three Foreign Film Oscars, but never Best Director.
The surreal mind behind Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet was nominated three times, but never won. His bizarre, haunting style was too much for the Academy.
Tarantino won Oscars for writing (Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained), but never for directing. The Academy still owes him one!
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