Getting nominated for an Oscar is a feat and an honor, but maybe actors and actresses wouldn’t be so disappointed to be snubbed if they knew how many people who don’t even exist had been “honored” in the same way.
Below are 5 “people” who were nominated for Hollywood’s top award despite not actually being, you know. Real.
#5. P.H. VAZAK – GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES (1984)
Image Credit: WarnerBros.
The screenplay was nominated (Amadeus won), but the writer was upset with rewrites and refused credit for the film. P.H. Vazak was not a person at all, but a Hungarian sheep dog.
#4. ROBERT RICH – THE BRAVE ONE (1956)
Image Credit: RKO Radio Pictures
Dalton Trumbo used pseudonyms to write after being blacklisted during the McCarthy Era, and two of them won Academy Awards. He received the Oscar for The Brave One in 1975 and one for Roman Holiday after writer Ian McLellan Hunter admitted Trumbo had merely used his name and he’d had nothing to do with the film.
#3. RODERICK JAYNES – FARGO (1996) and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)
Image Credit: Gramercy Pictures
Jaynes has edited all of the Coen brothers’ movies and was nominated for two Oscars and as one of Entertainment Weekly’s Smartest People in Hollywood.
Magical, considering he doesn’t exist – the Coen brothers edit their own films.
#2. NATHAN E. DOUGLAS – THE DEFIANT ONES (1958)
Image Credit: United Artists
Nathan E. Douglas is a name that was invented to cover for the blacklisted Nedrick Young after he refused to divulge names in front of Congress. He did receive credit eventually, but not until after his death.
#1. DONALD KAUFMAN – ADAPTATION (2002)
Image Credit: Wikipedia
In totally weird history, writer Charlie Kaufman was hired to pen a screenplay for the adaptation of The Orchid Thief. When he came down with wicked writer’s block, he created a fictional brother, Donald, to help write the movie.
He informed the committee that Donald Kaufman had perished during pre-production.
This year’s Academy Awards air February 24th, 2019.
