best performance by an actor not to win the Oscar

Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon" is my favorite Pacino performance and my favorite acting performance by any actor ever. That award year was tough, though, because Jack Nicholson was terrific in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (I also consider that Nicholson's best role). It's ridiculous Pacino didn't even win for at least ONE of the Godfather movies.

IMO the best leading leading role performance ever was ed norton's in american history x. not even de niro or pacino or any other great actor can top this

Paul Giamatti - Sideways
Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon
Orson Welles - Citizen Kane
Jack Nicholson - About Schmidt

The Times They Are A-Changin'.

Yes, I just mentioned in another thread that this is the film Pacino should have won the Oscar for. CUCKOO'S NEST was a great film and Nicholson was good but Pacino was better.

As i am reading these message boards about 'The Great Oscar Robberies', one thought comes to my mind : 'It's better to deserve something and not getting it than not deserving something and getting it!'-Mark Twain
I think Al Pacino not getting the statuette for The Godfather 2, Scorsese and Kubrick not getting a single Oscar for best direction(although Kubrick got it for special effects for '2001:A Space Odyssey') are some of the most absurd things about the Academy Awards

Definitely Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part II. But speaking of the Julia Roberts win in 2000 for Erin Brockovich, I thought the Oscar should of had went to Laura Linney for her quiet performance in You Can Count on Me -- better than Julia Roberts can ever reach to. There is also Martin Scorcese being robbed for plenty of films, especially Raging Bull -- but I haven't seen Ordinary People yet so I'm afraid to judge.

I would also like to add Julianne Moore for both Far From Heaven and The Hours (which was nominated in the same year). Those were great performances and it's a shame that the Oscars went to mediocore performances such as Nicole Kidman's in The Hours and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Chicago.

Speaking of Kidman and Chicago, it brings around the topic of Renee Zellweger. I really liked Renee Zellweger but she didn't deserve it for Cold Mountain. It should of had went to Patricia Clarkson that year for Pieces of April.

Last and not least, there is also Greg Kinnear for As Good As It Gets. I can't believe that to this day, Cuba Goodings Jr. got the Oscar for Jerry Maguire and look what an actor he turned out to be.

As for Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl -- how about not? Sean Penn and Bill Murray for their respective performances in both Mystic River and Lost in Translation were better, but that's my opinion. Oscars are like the critics -- they avoid strange performances like Depp's in "Pirates" but he was rather good in Finding Neverland -- much, much more Oscar-materialized.

I agree with most that Pacino should have won for The Godfather Part II. But for me I think Peter Sellers for Dr.Strangelove was to me the one that should have won out of any. Its on the top of my list. But as everyone knows the old rule of the Academy "if we're laughing then it's not art". I also feel this rule hurt the chances of Johnny Depp (am I the only one who didn't like the Pirate movie?) getting a nom for movies like Fear and Loathing and Ed Wood. And just for fun, actors that never got nominated I would say Steve Buscemi (I feel he should have got a nom for Trees Lounge, Ghost World, or Fargo.)

The Academy has proven time and again that they cannot pick out a great movie when they see it. Kubrick went virtually Oscarless throughout his career. 2001 was not even nominated for best picture, and in my opinion, that is the best film ever made. period. Also, Orson Welles did not win for Citizen Kane, which by many is considered the best film ever made. Plus, Orson Welles' A Touch of Evil was not even nominated for best picture. The Academy is obviously a band morons, and yet, I can't wait for the Oscars.