20 of the worst Oscar winners in history

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Tom Huddleston sorts the least deserving Academy Award winners

It’s Oscar season once again – and while Academy members scratch their heads trying to decide which of this year’s crop of worthy titles deserves to take home the big prize, we trawl the archives to uncover the worst Oscar offences of all time. From the film that beat ‘Citizen Kane’ to Best Picture to the time ‘Harry and the Hendersons’ walked away with a handful of gold, here are all the Academy’s biggest blunders in one handy list.

This is by no means a definitive rundown of all of Oscar’s shoddy decisions – we didn’t even have room to mention Celine Dion or ’Chicago’ – so if you really, really hate ‘Titanic’ or really, really love ‘Forrest Gump’, tell us about it in the comments box below.

13. Anthony Hopkins for ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, Al Pacino for ‘Scent of a Woman’

Best Actor, 64th and 65th Academy Awards, 1992, 1993.

Wild overacting has always been a surefire hit with Academy voters, but this double-thick feast of juicy ham took it to new heights. Anthony Hopkins seems to be blending Bela Lugosi and William Shatner in his lip-smacking turn as conveniently named Hannibal ‘the Cannibal’ Lecter, while Al Pacino simply marches about scaring pigeons by yelling ‘Hoo-ha!’ at the top of his voice. Great actors, ridiculous performances, Oscar glory.

It could’ve been: Robert De Niro, Robin Williams (1992), Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington (1993).




Browse through our list of Oscar blunders

Victor Fleming for 'Gone with the Wind' (1939) 'How Green was My Valley' (1941) 'The Greatest Show on Earth' (1952) 'Around the World in 80 Days' (1956) Leon Shamroy for 'Cleopatra' (1963) 'The Sound of Music' (1965) 'Une Homme et une Femme' (1966) John G Avildsen for 'Rocky' (1977) 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' by Stevie Wonder (1985) 'Out of Africa' (1986) Rick Baker for 'Harry and the Hendersons' (1988) 'Driving Miss Daisy' (1990) Anthony Hopkins for ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, Al Pacino for ‘Scent of a Woman’ Three drippy ballads from Disney 'Forrest Gump' (1994) 'A Beautiful Mind' (2002) Renee Zellweger for ‘Cold Mountain’ (2003) 'Crash' (2006) 'The Secret in Their Eyes' (2010) Mauro Fiore for 'Avatar' (2010)

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  • If your list has one more mistake on it, there is no sense in thinking its the least bit credible. Anthony Hopkins is one of the best actors of all time! His role in SotL is just breathtaking and horrifying (in a good way) . But, I agree about Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman

    Jackson About 12 days ago
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