The Academy Honorary Award usually goes to one of two recipients: 1) Those who have gotten lots of nominations, but never won any or, 2) those who never got any nominations, and, oops, probably should have.
In the former category we have performers like Barbara Stanwyck (4 nominations without a win) and Peter O’Toole (8 nominations without a win). In the latter we have artists like the directors Roger Corman and Charles Burnett – never getting nominated. The award can go to anyone significantly involved in the film industry, though, not just actors and directors (stunt performers, costumers, musicians, etc.).
That said, it also sometimes is given as a sort of lifetime achievement to folks who have already won competitive Oscars, but I’m ignoring that category (see Laurence Olivier, Sidney Poitier, etc.). Finally, it is often also given to foreign directors and actors, for their contribution to American cinema (Hayao Miyazaki, Jean-Luc Goddard, Liv Ullman, etc.) - so it is not exclusive to Americans.
Bearing
that all in mind, here, then, arranged solely by age, are 25 people who I think
deserve an Academy Honorary Award. My cutoff for the youngest possible age,
based in part on how the Academy seems to do it, is 55.
James
Hong (94). Notable
work: Chinatown, Blade Runner, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Don
Bluth (86). Notable
work: An American Tale, The Land Before Time, Anastasia.
Claudia
Cardinale (85). Notable
work: 8 ½, The Pink Panther, Once Upon a Time in the West
Ridley
Scott (85) 4 noms.
Notable work: Alien, Thelma & Louise, The Martian
Ian
McKellan (84) 2
noms. Notable work: Richard III, Gods & Monsters, The Lord of the Rings
Trilogy
Christopher
Lloyd (84). Notable
work: Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Addams Family
Brian
de Palma (83). Notable
work: Carrie, Scarface, The Untouchables
Martin
Sheen (83). Notable
work: Badlands, Apocalypse Now, The Departed
Werner
Herzog (81) 1 nom.
Notable work: Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten
Dreams
Wallace
Shawn (79). Notable
work: My Dinner with Andre, The Princess Bride, Toy Story
Wim
Wenders (78) 3
noms. Notable work: Paris Texas, Wings of Desire, Pina
Mia
Farrow (78). Notable
work: Rosemary’s Baby, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters
Claire
Denis (77). Notable
work: Beau Travail, 35 Shots of Rum, White Material
Glenn
Close (76) 8 noms.
Notable work: The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction, The Wife
Sigourney
Weaver (73) 3 noms.
Notable work: The Year of Living Dangerously, Aliens, Gorillas in the Mist
Isabelle
Huppert (70) 1 nom.
Notable work: La Ceremonie, The Piano Teacher, Elle
Jeff
Goldblum (70) 1
nom. Notable work: The Fly, Jurassic Park, Independence Day
Wong
Kar-Wai (65). Notable
work: Chungking Express, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love
Steve
Buscemi (65). Notable
work: Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, Con Air
Doug
Jones (63). Notable
work: Hocus Pocus, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water
Antonio
Banderas (63) 1
nom. Notable work: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Philadelphia,
Pain and Glory
Ralph
Fiennes (60) 2 nom.
Notable work: Schindler’s List, The English Patient, Harry Potter
Andy
Serkis (59). Notable
work: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, Black Panther
Gong
Li (57). Notable
work: Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, Farewell My Concubine
Shah
Rukh Khan (56). Notable
work: Dil Se…, Devdas, My Name is Khan
