Everyone who works in the entertainment industry has a fantasy of one day taking home an Academy Award and giving an inspiring acceptance speech on stage. However, there have been a few cases in which winners did not show up to the ceremony in which they were honored.
Oscar winners who did not show up to the ceremony for a variety of reasons, including flat-out refusing to receive the prize or being too busy for the presentation, or like Eminem, he even didn't think his song could be on the list of candidates. Not to let you wait anymore, scroll down to see the list of the 11 celebrities who didn't go to the Oscars ceremony despite being the winner.
1. The Beatles
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Beatles' achievements are unmatched. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr won multiple prizes in seven years, including an Oscar for Best Original Song. Their song Let It Be won the Oscar in 1971, although the Beatles had broken up a year earlier. Quincy Jones took their medal since no band member was present.
2. Woody Allen
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Woody Allen has been nominated 24 times for acting, directing, and writing. He never attended an award ceremony despite winning four times. Allen thinks receiving an award is "silly" and rejects others' opinions. He did attend the 2002 Oscars to introduce films shot in New York to honor the city following 9/11.
3. Maggie Smith
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Maggie Smith was one of the biggest British actresses of Hollywood's golden period. She played Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter films. The actress was in London for a play when she won Best Actress in 1970. Smith attended when she won Best Supporting Actress nine years later.
4. Henry Fonda
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Henry Fonda has a 50-year career as a reliable dramatic actor. On Golden Pond won him an Oscar for Best Actor. The actor was seriously ill and had to watch from home while his daughter and co-star Jane Fonda got the prize. Fonda died of heart illness five months later.
5. Robert De Niro
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The Godfather: Part II was Robert De Niro's first Oscar nomination. The actor was absent due to filming for 1900. Francis Ford Coppola collected De Niro's trophy and praised him as a fantastic actor who would enrich future films. Prediction true!
6. Michael Caine
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The iconic English actor won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor while filming the critically panned
Jaws: The Revenge. Michael Caine learned from his absence and attended the ceremony 13 years later. The actor won for The Cider House Rules and offered a heartfelt speech.
7. Paul Newman
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Paul Newman's absence from the 1987 Oscars is understandable. The actor garnered six nominations but never won. The 62-year-old actor refused to attend the ceremony after winning for his role in Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money.
“It’s like chasing a beautiful woman for 80 years. Finally, she relents, and you say, ‘I’m terribly sorry. I’m tired.'”8. Elizabeth Taylor
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When Elizabeth Taylor was nominated for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, she was a clear winner. She didn't attend since she was in Paris with Richard Burton, who was afraid of flying. At least that's what the couple said, but rumors say they skipped the ceremony to protest Burton's four nominations and zero wins. Again nominated for the same film, the actor was not expected to win.
9. Marlon Brando
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The Godfather is a cinematic masterpiece. It was a masterpiece and one of the year's most appreciated movies, thanks to Marlon Brando's memorable performance. When Brando won the Oscar for Best Actor for his work as Don Vito Corleone, he sent Sacheen Littlefeather, an American-Indian Rights activist, on stage to announce his decision to refuse the prize in protest of the abuse of Native Americans in Hollywood and the Wounded Knee event.
10. Eminem
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Eminem is the best rapper alive, but winning an Oscar looked unlikely. "Lose Yourself" was nominated for Best Original Score at the 75th Academy Awards, but U2 was predicted to win. Even Eminem didn't think his song would win, so he didn't attend. When he was revealed as the winner, the crowd erupted in excitement as song co-writer Luis Resto accepted the medal on his behalf. Eminem watched cartoons with his daughter when he became the first rapper to win an Oscar.
11. Roman Polanski
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Roman Polanski skipping the Oscars was predictable. In 1977, the French-Polish director pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor. Polanski departed the U.S. a year later to avoid incarceration. In 2002, he won the Oscar for Best Director but didn't return because he'd been arrested. Despite his transgression, the audience applauded when he won.