10 Top Actors Who Turned Down Prestigious Awards
2. Vanessa Redgrave Turns Down Damehood
The five-time nominee and one time Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave is an industry icon who has had one of the best careers imaginable within the arts.
Decorated and acclaimed the well-respected actor has proved herself to be an integral figure within the acting world and thus it seems strange to believe that she has not received the honour of being named a Dame. However it turns out that in the year 1999 such an offer was made to her, and it was one that she rejected.
Redgrave reported that whilst she would have been happy to accept a Damehood on behalf of the Queen and Royal family, the offer actually came from the British government led at the time by Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair. Redgrave stated that she could not accept an award from the man who started a war that she deemed as immoral and pointless - this was, of course, in reference to the Iraq war.
To decline such an offer due to her strong political beliefs speaks to how important her morality is to her. It makes her position in the industry and humility all the more respectable.