3. Alfred Hitchcock
Like Lumet, it would be very unlikely that Hitchcock would win an Oscar these days, however he is by no doubt the greatest British director of all time and with the quality of his movies, it's staggering that he was never once honoured by the Academy. In a career that spanned 6 decades, 16 Alfred Hithcock films garnered Oscar nominations, yet Hitchcock as an individual (with 6 personal Oscar nominations) has never himself won. This is a rather ridiculous stat, seeing as he is now regarded as one of the most revolutionary film directors of his era and he has influenced almost every young director aiming at asserting themselves in the film industry. Hitchcock is probably most famous for his pioneering of psychological and neo-noir thrillers, such as Psycho and Rebecca (the latter being a film which ended up with 11 Oscar nominations and a Best Picture Award). Other notable Hitchcock pictures include Vertigo, Rear Window, North By Northwest and Spellbound. Furthermore, four of Hitchcok's films make it onto the BFI 100 films of all time list, making him the joint-2nd-highest Director on the list (with Stanley Kubrick), behind Steven Spielberg with five. So Hitchcock possesses all the awards and all the accolades, except the most famous of golden statuettes. I think the phrase "close but no cigar", is particularly appropriate in describing Hitchcock's career.