Fictional people nominated for Academy Awards
Encyclopedia
There have been several fictional people or people using false names nominated for actual Academy Awards
, in several cases because the actual winners were blacklist
ed at the time. This list is current as of the 80th Academy Awards
ceremony held on February 22, 2008.
Nathan E. Douglas
Ian McLellan Hunter
Robert Rich
Donald Kaufman
P.H. Vazak
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, in several cases because the actual winners were blacklist
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
ed at the time. This list is current as of the 80th Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
ceremony held on February 22, 2008.
Winners
Pierre BoullePierre Boulle
Pierre Boulle was a French novelist largely known for two famous works, The Bridge over the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes .-Biography:...
- 1957 Best Writing Adapted ScreenplayAcademy Award for Writing Adapted ScreenplayThe Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
for Bridge on the River Kwai
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- Despite not having written the screenplay and not even speaking English, Boulle was credited because the film's actual writers, Carl ForemanCarl ForemanCarl Foreman, CBE was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the notable film High Noon. He was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Biography:...
and Michael WilsonMichael Wilson (writer)Michael Wilson was an Academy Award winning American screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses during the era of McCarthyism....
, had been blacklisted as communist sympathizers. On December 11, 1984, the Board of Governors voted posthumous Oscars to the duo.
- Despite not having written the screenplay and not even speaking English, Boulle was credited because the film's actual writers, Carl Foreman
Nathan E. Douglas
- 1958 Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen for The Defiant OnesThe Defiant OnesThe Defiant Ones is a 1958 drama film which tells the story of two escaped prisoners, one white and one black, who are shackled together and who must co-operate in order to survive. It stars Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel, Cara Williams, Charles McGraw, and Lon Chaney, Jr...
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- Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith co-wrote the screenplay, but Young was blacklisted and used a pseudonym for his screen credit. As an inside joke, director Stanley KramerStanley KramerStanley Earl Kramer was an American film director and producer. Kramer was responsible for some of Hollywood's most famous "message" movies...
cast Young and Smith in bit parts as truck drivers and had their screen credit appear while they were on screen together. In 1993, AMPAS restored Young's credit for this work.
- Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith co-wrote the screenplay, but Young was blacklisted and used a pseudonym for his screen credit. As an inside joke, director Stanley Kramer
Ian McLellan Hunter
Ian McLellan Hunter
Ian McLellan Hunter was an English screenwriter, most noted for fronting for the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo as the credited writer of Roman Holiday in 1953. Hunter was himself later blacklisted.-Roman Holiday:...
- 1953 Best StoryAcademy Award for Best StoryThe Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1957, when it was eliminated in favor of the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay, which had been introduced in 1940.-1920s:...
for Roman HolidayRoman HolidayRoman Holiday is a 1953 romantic comedy directed and produced by William Wyler and starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. It was written by John Dighton and Dalton Trumbo, though with Trumbo on the Hollywood blacklist, he did not receive a credit; instead, Ian McLellan Hunter fronted for him...
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- The name was used as a cover for blacklisted writer Dalton TrumboDalton TrumboJames Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter and novelist, and one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film professionals who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry...
. On December 15, 1992, the Board of Governors voted to change the records and recognize Trumbo. Hunter's name was removed. However, Hunter's son, director Tim HunterTim Hunter (director)Tim Hunter is an American television and film director. Since the late 1980s he has mostly worked on television, directing episodes for dozens of televisions series includingBreaking Bad,Carnivàle,...
, refused to cede the award to Trumbo, so the Academy presented a second Academy Award.
- The name was used as a cover for blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo
Robert Rich
- 1956 Best Story for The Brave OneThe Brave One (1956 film)The Brave One is a 1956 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Michel Ray, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., and Elsa Cárdenas. It tells the story of a young Mexican boy who tries to save his beloved bull Gitano from the bullfighting arena....
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- This was another cover for Trumbo. Shortly before his death, Trumbo revealed the much-suspected truth.
Nominees
Roderick Jaynes- 1997 Best Film EditingAcademy Award for Film EditingThe Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
for Fargo - 2007 Best Film EditingAcademy Award for Film EditingThe Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
for No Country for Old MenNo Country for Old Men (film)No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American crime thriller directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. The film was adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name...
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- Writer-director brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have edited several of their films under this name.
Donald Kaufman
- 2003 Best Writing Adapted Screenplay for Adaptation.Adaptation.Adaptation. is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. The film is based on Susan Orlean's non-fiction book The Orchid Thief through self-referential events...
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- Donald Kaufman was nominated along with his "brother" CharlieCharlie KaufmanCharles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. His film work includes Being John Malkovich, Human Nature, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Synecdoche, New York...
. In fact, Donald does not exist; the screenplay was written by Charlie alone. Donald was the first fictitious nominee not to be a cover for a real person. (Both appear as characters in the film.)
- Donald Kaufman was nominated along with his "brother" Charlie
P.H. Vazak
- 1985 Best Writing Adapted Screenplay for Greystoke - The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the ApesGreystoke - The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the ApesGreystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes is a 1984 British film directed by Hugh Hudson and based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel Tarzan of the Apes...
.
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- Due to his disapproval of the final filmed script, Robert TowneRobert TowneRobert Towne is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown .-Film:...
used his dog's name as a pseudonymPseudonymA pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
instead.
- Due to his disapproval of the final filmed script, Robert Towne