2012奥斯卡前瞻：那些失之交臂的好莱坞无冕之王

She may be one of the world's most acclaimed thespians, but Glenn Close may question whether she gets any respect from the Academy. Close received her first Oscar nomination in 1983 for The World According to Garp, and her latest this year for Albert Nobbs. The fact that she hasn't won a single Oscar in those 29 years hasn't gone unnoticed – especially by the actress herself. "I've often been mistaken for Meryl Streep, although never on Oscar night," she once joked.

Here's a dubious record: The most-nominated actor who has never won a competitive Oscar is Irishman Peter O'Toole, who first rocketed to the Academy's attention as a Best Actor nominee in 1963 for Lawrence of Arabia and was nominated – and rejected – fairly regularly for the next decade or two. His last Oscar nod came in 2007 for Venus, four years after the Academy tried to make it up him by giving him an honorary lifetime award.

Though some would say he's picked up the Shakespearean mantle from Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh might be wondering by now if the Oscars are much ado about nothing, considering he's never won one. His first chance came in 1990 for Henry V (as both Best Actor and Best Director) and his latest is this year's Best Supporting Actor nod for My Weekend With Marilyn. What must hurt the most: ex-wife Emma Thompson earned two Oscars – for Best Actress and another for Best Adapted Screenplay – while they were still married.

Annette Bening surged into Hollywood as a shady lady in 1990's The Grifters, for which she earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination, but she hasn't been able to finagle a golden statuette from the Academy despite being nominated three more times since.

Moore got her first Oscar nom in 1998 for Boogie Nights and her latest in 2003 for The Hours, but the famed actress has always left the Academy Awards show empty-handed. Still, at least she has another coveted trophy to keep her company – in the form of a 1988 Daytime Emmy from her early days as a soap actress on As the World Turns – as twins!

Given that she was already a Hollywood star at age 8 (in Miracle on 34th Street) and starred in classic movies like Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass and West Side Story, it's no surprise that Natalie Wood garnered three Oscar nominations before she turned 25. But when she died suddenly in a boating accident at the age of 43, she still couldn't call herself an Oscar winner.

From teen idol to serious, quirky actor to becoming a pirate of the Caribbean, Depp managed to rack up an impressive three nominations without ever taking home Oscar. But the famously private star probably could care less. "As far as I'm concerned, I would never walk into one of those things – the SAG Awards or the Academy Awards or anything – expecting to walk out with anything," he once said. "I'm not expecting to win anything, and I don't need to win anything."

No wonder Garbo almost never laughed. The Golden Age screen legend was nominated for an Academy Award four times, starting with an unusual double nomination in 1931, for both Anna Christie and Romance. She earned two more nods that decade, but never got her chance to walk up the stage victoriously. In 1954, the Academy gave her an honorary Oscar, but by then the famous recluse didn't bother to show up to the ceremony.

One of Hollywood great tragedies is the life of Montgomery Clift. The '50s leading man earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination in his debut, 1948's The Search, and racked up two more Best Actor nods by 1953. Three years later, his face, career and life were shattered in a car accident. His last nomination – for Best Supporting Actor – came in 1962 for his role as a concentration-camp survivor in Judgment at Nuremberg, in which Clift was so addled with pain, drugs and alcohol that he couldn't remember the lines for his 12 minutes of screen time. He lost out in his last chance at an Oscar, and died five years later.