When we think of Hollywood, we only really tend to think of big-shot actors like Meryl Streep or James Dean; very rarely do we think of all of the wonderful people who make magic happen. Film Directors are sometimes undervalued and overshadowed by the actors, yet without one, you don’t have the other. All Directors dream of winning that Golden Oscar Statue, but sometimes even the most talented directors fall short of Oscar Gold. So here are my picks for the Best Directors who have never won the Academy Award for Best Director.
Quentin Tarantino
You may find it very hard to believe, but this legendary director has never won the Best Director award. Granted, he has won 2 Oscars for Best Original Screenplay for Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained, but the Academy have never graced him with a Best Director Award, despite two nominations (Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Basterds). He lost to Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) in 1995 and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) in 2010. Personally, I would have given Tarantino the award on both occasions; yes Forrest Gump was a well-directed film (but Pulp Fiction still should have won Best Picture), but Tarantino’s neo-noir style direction for Pulp Fiction deserves much more praise than Zemeckis. Maybe one day Tarantino will finally get the Best Director Oscar he deserves.