10 Best Directors That Have Never Won An Oscar

Alfred Hitchcock is the director’s director. He pioneered many storytelling and filmmaking techniques, was one of the first recognisable names and faces behind the camera, and made a plethora of films which still hold up to this day.

Surprisingly though, he never won an Oscar.

He was nominated five times for Best Director across his career, but even that seems too few when you examine it closely. Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Rear Window and (obviously) Psycho all received recognition, but were passed over for the main award.

North By Northwest, Vertigo, The Birds, Dial M For Murder and Strangers On A Train never even got nominated. That he could be the mind behind so many fantastic movies, still popular decades after their release, and never be crowned Best Director is staggering.

The Academy has a habit of looking down on horror movies, and Hitchcock shows us that’s been happening for a long time.

While many great horror movies aren’t necessarily fantastic works of art (though the Academy doesn’t always award masterpieces; see Bohemian Rhapsody for more details), Hitchcock is the exception to that rule. Psycho in particular is one of the most influential movies of all time, regardless of genre.