Let's face it: The Academy doesn't always get it right. The 30 biggest Oscar snubs of all time Let's face it: The Academy doesn't always get it right. By Kevin Jacobsen March 14, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/PSYCHOAnthonyPerkinsARRIVALamyadamsVERTIGOJamesStewart020626e1e15ca45edc45f2bc3467bd87c01370.jpg) Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in 'Psycho'; Amy Adams as Louise Banks in 'Arrival'; Jimmy Stewart as John 'Scottie' Ferguson in 'Vertigo'.

Let's face it: The Academy doesn't always get it right.

The 30 biggest Oscar snubs of all time

Let's face it: The Academy doesn't always get it right.

By Kevin Jacobsen

March 14, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in 'Psycho'; Amy Adams as Louise Banks in 'Arrival'; Jimmy Stewart as John 'Scottie' Ferguson in 'Vertigo'. Credit:

Courtesy Everett; Jan Thijs; Courtesy Everett

Since their inception in 1929, the Academy Awards have honored some of the best performances in movie history. But with only five slots per category, there are bound to be acting accomplishments that miss out, whether because of tough competition or voters turning their noses up at certain actors and genres.

Part of the fun of following the Oscars year to year is complaining about what they got wrong, and suffice it to say, it wasn't hard to find examples of the Academy missing the mark by not nominating some truly iconic performances. From classics like Ingrid Bergman in *Casablanca* (1942) and Anthony Perkins in *Psycho* (1960) to recent favorites like Amy Adams in *Arrival* (2016) and Margot Robbie in *Barbie* (2023), these are performances that have remained in the collective consciousness, even more than some of the Academy's nominees.

Ahead, find our ranking of the 30 biggest Oscar snubs of all time that still grind our gears.

Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady (1964)

Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle and Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins in 'My Fair Lady'. Everett Collection

Audrey Hepburn bespeaks a plucky elegance that permeates her turn from a "draggle-tail guttersnipe" into a proper English aristocrat. But it was her singing that turned out to be problematic for Oscar voters: Eliza's musical numbers were voiced by Marni Nixon (who also provided uncredited vocals for Natalie Wood's Maria in 1961's *West Side Story*). Resentment also lingered that studio head Jack Warner had given Hepburn the part over the untested Julie Andrews. Come ceremony time, Andrews took the Oscar for *Mary Poppins*, but Hepburn received a long ovation, proving she still won plenty of hearts.

Denzel Washington, Philadelphia (1993)

Denzel Washington as Joe Miller in 'Philadelphia'. Everett Collection

It's easy to see this as Tom Hanks' movie. It was his character who was afflicted with AIDS and suffered undue indignities from his employer and colleagues because of it, and Hanks won a well-deserved Oscar for his efforts. But Denzel Washington, as the ambulance-chasing homophobe, had the harder task. He had to coerce audiences, ever so gently, into realizing that his character represented our own ignorance, and then drag us on his path to enlightenment.

Song Kang-ho, Parasite (2019)

Song Kang-ho as Kim Ki-taek and Hye-jin Jang as Chung-sook in 'Parasite'.

*Parasite* made history at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first non-English language film to win Best Picture. The film also collected wins in Best Director for Bong Joon Ho, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing, but despite having a strong cast that won the Screen Actors Guild ensemble award, it didn't receive any Oscar nominations for acting. Song Kang-ho's omission is most glaring, with the South Korean veteran actor carrying much of the film's emotional weight as a beleaguered father who joins his wife and kids in scamming a rich family. His simmering resentment that boils over into a rage by the film's end is a masterclass in modulation.

Toni Collette, Hereditary (2018)

Toni Collette as Annie Graham in 'Hereditary'.

Toni Collette's Annie Graham is going through it. A miniature artist grieving the death of her mother, Annie suffers another unimaginable loss in her family that frays her nerves beyond the point of repair. As Annie further unravels, supernatural forces threaten to tear her family apart, and Collette uses her elastic face to communicate every bit of terror and anger she's feeling. If this were a more traditional domestic drama about grief, Collette would have been a shoo-in for a nomination, but the Academy's horror bias dinged her in the end.

Gary Oldman, Sid and Nancy (1986)

Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious in 'Sid and Nancy'. Samuel Goldwyn Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

Playing a junkie/murder suspect/punk-rocker is difficult enough. Playing a murder suspect/punk-rocker with a substance use problem is difficult enough. Playing the most famous murder suspect/punk-rocker with a substance use problem of all time — and selling it — is borderline impossible, but Gary Oldman did just that. As Sex Pistol Sid Vicious, Oldman not only looked and sounded the part, but gave us one of the cinema's most haunting portraits of a rock & roll suicide.

Gene Kelly, Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Gene Kelly as Donald 'Don' Lockwood in 'Singin' in the Rain'. MGM

There is the wonderful comedy of Gene Kelly's acting in Stanley Donen's candied backstage musical — the sun-browned vanity he brings to his turn as a silent-film star. Then there is the cosmic wonder of his dancing: those muscular escapes, that uplifting splash through a downpour. In contrast to Fred Astaire (prince of the effortless glide), Kelly shows you his heartiness and his heart.

Rita Hayworth, Gilda (1946)

Rita Hayworth as Gilda Mundson in 'Gilda'. Everett Collection

She plays a lady with a shady past gone down to Argentina — bad news in the best way. She exudes sex, of course, but also sadistic sarcasm, slimy sweetness, and murderous contempt. She sings "Put the Blame on Mame" and makes it a prancing celebration of the femme fatale. She is unapologetic, and because Rita Hayworth swings her demeanor from the unbearably tense to the devil-may-care, we love her for it.

Gene Tierney, Laura (1944)

Gene Tierney as Laura Hunt and Vincent Price as Shelby Carpenter in 'Laura'. Everett Collection

Jacoby was in love with her when he painted her portrait. She was worshiped, adored, warm, and vibrant. Quite a buildup for a woman who, for the first 15 minutes of the film that bears her name, exists only as a memory. Logic would dictate that because Laura is extraordinary, she must be played as such. But Gene Tierney's Laura is not a goddess — she's a firmly planted mortal (albeit one with unearthly bone structure), which makes her infinitely more intriguing. She underplays. She seems to speak so softly at times that you have to lean in to catch her lines. It's subtle, career-defining work with as many shadings as the angles of her face.

Robert De Niro, Mean Streets (1973)

Robert De Niro as John 'Johnny Boy' Civello and Harvey Keitel as Charlie Cappa in 'Mean Streets'.

Courtesy Everett

Pick any scene from Martin Scorsese's big Little Italy masterpiece: Johnny Boy tossing a bomb in the mailbox and grinning. Or walking into the bar with a woman under each arm and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" on the soundtrack. Or doing an improvised duet with Harvey Keitel. Or swinging wild in a pool-hall brawl. Pick any scene and see Robert De Niro raw, hardly seeming to act, just behaving with wild charisma. *The Godfather Part II* would put him on the Oscar map a year later — and a year late.

Katharine Hepburn, Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Cary Grant as Dr. David Huxley and Katharine Hepburn as Susan Vance in 'Bringing Up Baby'. Everett Collection

You'd think an actress known for playing witty, strong-willed women might have been tragically miscast as what the movie's trailer described as "a flutter-brained vixen." And you might think that Oscar voters could not have possibly overlooked an eventual 12-time nominee and four-time winner. On both counts, you would be wrong. Katharine Hepburn fits snugly in Howard Hawks' farce as Susan Vance, an impulsive heiress who sets out to snare zoologist David Huxley (Cary Grant) with the help of her pet leopard, Baby. Like the spotted cat, Hepburn is beautiful, cunning, and damn near impossible to tame.

Malcolm McDowell, A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge in 'A Clockwork Orange'.

Everett Collection

Who knew milk and Beethoven could be so downright disturbing? Throw in a bowler hat and cane, and you have one of cinema's most indelible images of apathetic evil — an image brought to life by Malcolm McDowell in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece of ultraviolence. But McDowell was more than simply a visual (and virulent) centerpiece. As ruthless hooligan–turned–aversion therapy patient Alex, he ran the emotional gamut — delivering riveting portrayals of both sinister charm and helpless dread.

Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday (1940)

Cary Grant as Walter Burns and Rosalind Russell as Hildy Johnson in 'His Girl Friday'. Everett Collection

Perhaps the speediest movie ever made, Howard Hawks' screwball newspaper comedy has dialogue that clocks in at 100 miles per hour. Rosalind Russell's Hildy Johnson says she wants out of the news game; her instincts and Cary Grant's Walter Burns (her ex-boss and ex-husband) say she wants in. Sparring with Grant in close verbal knife fights, working two phones at once as if mechanized, nabbing a witness with a high-stepping stride and a headlong dive, Russell is the most quick-witted of all tough broads — a queen among fast-talking dames.

Donald Sutherland, Ordinary People (1980)

Donald Sutherland as Calvin Jarrett and Mary Tyler Moore as Beth Jarrett in 'Ordinary People'. Everett Collection

With Mary Tyler Moore playing so wildly against type, and Timothy Hutton hogging the psychiatric spotlight, Donald Sutherland was *Ordinary People*'s only star ignored by the Oscars. Which is understandable: As the devoted husband and dad in Robert Redford's Best Picture winner, the actor exists in the movie's negative spaces — the ultimate middleman, he's the glue that can't keep the Jarrett clan from coming apart. The thankless role asked Sutherland to pour his heart out as a man who finally dares to confront his unfeeling wife and mourn his cursed sons. The result was hardly ordinary.

Bette Davis, Of Human Bondage (1934)

Bette Davis as Mildred Rogers in 'Of Human Bondage'. Everett Collection

With hair bleached a garish blond and her saucer eyes rolling insolently at sensitive Philip (Leslie Howard) and his endearments, Bette Davis plays W. Somerset Maugham's caustic cockney waitress at full throttle and without an iota of warmth. It's a turn that invites us to hiss the character while thrilling to the actress' nervy bravado. And though Davis' performance earned her overwhelming praise, she was snubbed by Oscar. The uproar forced the Academy to allow a special write-in ballot. She still lost, but nabbed the gold the next year for *Dangerous*, a win that Davis herself considered a consolation prize.

Orson Welles, Touch of Evil (1958)

Orson Welles as Police Captain Hank Quinlan in 'Touch of Evil'. Everett Collection

Big as Falstaff, amoral as Harry Lime, imperious as Charles Foster Kane, Hank Quinlan is a sorry chunk of pride. When Orson Welles first turns the camera on himself in this border-town noir, his veteran cop comes scowling out of a shadow, sucking on a cigar he will subsequently treat as if it were a candy bar. Or a pacifier. With expert intuition and a willingness to plant evidence, he is a great detective and a lousy cop — as Marlene Dietrich says at the end, "some kind of a man."

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Kathleen Turner, Body Heat (1981)

Kathleen Turner as Matty Walker in 'Body Heat'.

Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection

With her smoldering voice, lithe body, and a temperature that runs higher than 100 degrees, Kathleen Turner's Matty Walker embodies the steamy desires of lowlife lawyer Ned Racine (William Hurt). Turner, in her incendiary film debut, drapes Matty in haughty insolence, desperate unattainability, and seductive refinement. With amazing assurance for an actress whose previous work was primarily in daytime soaps, Turner turned up the sexual heat of the classic femme fatale while bowing to her stylish '40s forerunners.

Sidney Poitier, In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Sidney Poitier as Det. Virgil Tibbs in 'In the Heat of the Night'. Everett Collection

As an impeccably dressed Philadelphia police officer picked up for murder in '60s Mississippi, Sidney Poitier masterfully keeps his character's fury just below the boil, merely hinting at his power when he bellows in response to Rod Steiger's racist sheriff: "They call me Mr. Tibbs!" Steiger nabbed the Best Actor Oscar (Poitier had already gotten one for 1963's *Lilies of the Field*), but with Poitier's radical, barrier-breaking performance, Hollywood's first Black Academy Award-winning leading man explicitly demanded respect.

Lupita Nyong'o, Us (2019)

Lupita Nyong'o as Red in 'Us'.

A star was truly born when Lupita Nyong'o emerged on the scene, with her soul-baring debut film performance in *12 Years a Slave* (2013) earning her an Oscar in 2014. Since then, Hollywood hasn't always known what to do with her, but Jordan Peele gave her the role(s) of a lifetime with *Us*, his second directorial effort. Nyong'o plays Adelaide, a woman trying to enjoy a peaceful vacation with her family until the arrival of a set of doppelgängers in red jumpsuits, who are eager to terrorize her and her family. As her own doppelgänger, Red, Nyong'o is as terrifying as Adelaide is terrified, speaking with a distinctive, hoarse voice that sends a chill up your spine. Equally as chilling is the Academy's silent response to Nyong'o's dual performances, despite her winning numerous critics' prizes that year.

Amy Adams, Arrival (2016)

Amy Adams as Louise Banks in 'Arrival'.

With six Oscar nominations under her belt, Amy Adams has felt the Academy's love more than most actors working today, but she still feels unacknowledged because of this egregious snub. Adams' work in this sci-fi masterpiece from Denis Villeneuve is a work of lyrical beauty, portraying a linguist who is hired to communicate with an alien species that has recently arrived on Earth. Leading with empathy and grace, Adams brings a measured patience to her performance that doesn't rely on obvious emoting like screaming or crying but is heartfelt nonetheless. *Arrival* received eight Oscar nominations, but Adams, whom Villeneuve described to EW as the soul of the movie, was shockingly not one of them.**

Dennis Hopper, Blue Velvet (1986)

Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth and Isabella Rossellini as Dorothy Vallens in 'Blue Velvet'. Everett Collection

He got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for appearing in *Hoosiers* the very same year, but the Dennis Hopper character most likely to have left a permanent scar on your cerebral cortex is Frank Booth, the profane, fabric-swatch-loving sadist of *Blue Velvet*. Before writer-director David Lynch unleashed Frank, we'd never seen a villain inflict quite such a queasy mix of physical, verbal, and sexual abuse on a victim. It's still hard to watch Frank's initial tryst with singer Dorothy Vallens, who, as played by Isabella Rossellini, seems both terrified and turned on. And as Frank swigs Pabst Blue Ribbon and huffs nitrous oxide, it's also hard not to think about Hopper's own struggles with drugs and booze, adding to the tightrope tension.

Marilyn Monroe, Some Like It Hot (1959)

Marilyn Monroe as Sugar 'Kane' Kowalczyk in 'Some Like It Hot'. Everett Collection

She arrived late on set, flubbed her lines, and deferred to her acting coach, Paula Strasberg, over director Billy Wilder. But she was Marilyn Monroe. And she was worth it. Sugar Kane, the ukulele-strumming, bourbon-swigging sexpot, is nothing if not pure Marilyn. Her wide-eyed, blissful sensuality is the perfect counterpart to Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon's drag show and confirmed what many already knew from 1955's *The Seven Year Itch*: that Monroe was a gifted comedian who sparkled more vibrantly than all of Sugar's sequined dresses stitched together. When she breathily boop-boop-be-doops in the middle of "I Wanna Be Loved by You," you have to wonder what fool wouldn't wanna be loved by her.

Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale, and Jack Haley as the Tin Man in 'The Wizard of Oz'.

Courtesy Everett

We all know *The Wizard of Oz* is chock-full of heart, brains, and courage, but the girl who made the whole thing dance was Judy Garland. The 17-year-old had big shoes to fill working alongside older pros like Jack Haley (Tin Man), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), and Bert Lahr (Lion), but her wide-eyed innocence and powerful voice are what truly brought the film over the rainbow. (They also helped land Garland a specially created Juvenile Award at the 1940 Oscars, a kiddie-table honor that's no longer passed out.) Later in life, Garland would lose her innocence and concentrate more on her singing career. And though she could still light up a screen on occasion (most notably in 1954's *Star Is Born*), to find one of cinema's most indelible performances, you must backtrack down the yellow brick road.

John Cazale, The Godfather Part II (1974)

John Cazale as Fredo Corleone and Al Pacino as Don Michael Corleone in 'The Godfather Part II'.

Michael got the brains, Sonny got the brawn, but Fredo — poor, forlorn Fredo — what did he get? Passed over. With Mike (Al Pacino) now in charge, the middle Mafia child is all impotence. The guy can't even betray right. Pitiable, but John Cazale never plays it like that. His Fredo is awkward and sweet, and so very mournful of the old days. When he finally blurts his reasons for turning on his brother, it's with the resentment of a child. "I'm not dumb! I'm smart, and I want respect!" he bellows, wobbling helplessly on a patio chair. Thanks to Cazale, who made just five feature films, all great, before his death at 42, Fredo got the heart.

Susan Sarandon, Bull Durham (1988)

Susan Sarandon as Annie Savoy in 'Bull Durham'. Everett Collection

What kind of woman could steal a movie about one of America's most testosterone-filled pastimes, the mustache-adorned, tobacco-spittin', butt-pattin' sport of baseball? The kind of impeccably funny, lust-lidded siren that Susan Sarandon became in this role. With a Southern drawl as comfortable as a well-oiled glove, Sarandon's Annie Savoy takes on the local minor-league franchise's most promising player each season, educating him in love and "life wisdom." Combining smoldering sensuality with a gentle, protective nature, the actress slides without a drop of sweat from advising her charge (Tim Robbins) on the unfastening of garters to the wonders of Walt Whitman.

Margot Robbie, Barbie (2023)

Margot Robbie as Barbie in 'Barbie'. Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.

How exactly does one play a doll — let alone the most iconic doll in the world? Margot Robbie had no easy task as Barbie, a toy living in relative bliss until she's suddenly unmoored by an existential crisis. As Barbie sets out to the real world to meet her owner, Robbie delicately modulates her performance from a carefree life in plastic to an emotionally mature woman, curious about humanity. Her omission among *Barbie*'s eight Oscar nominations suggests she made it look way easier than it was.

Samuel L. Jackson, Jungle Fever (1991)

Samuel L. Jackson as Gator Purify and Ruby Dee as Lucinda Purify in 'Jungle Fever'. Everett Collection

Spike Lee's inner-city melodrama is ostensibly about an affair between African American architect Flipper (Wesley Snipes) and Italian American secretary Angela (Annabella Sciorra), but Samuel L. Jackson steals the movie as Flipper's brother with a drug problem, Gator. In just five scenes, Jackson (who had completed real-life drug rehab mere months before filming) beams a lifetime of hurt and rage through his eyes. Wheedling money from his doormat of a mother (Ruby Dee) and tragically menacing his fallen-pastor father (Ossie Davis) with a devilish dance, Jackson fearlessly conjures his character's inner demons.

Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca (1943)

Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in 'Casablanca'. Everett Collection

When Ingrid Bergman walks into Rick's Cafe, her Ilsa is "the most beautiful woman ever to visit Casablanca." She pulls us in with a simmering-below-the-surface eroticism and an un-Hollywood freshness that makes her seem earthbound and attainable. And like all great screen actors, she made the camera an accomplice. Watch her face, held in a tight, caressing close-up, as Dooley Wilson's Sam first sings "As Time Goes By." A lesser actress might have overemoted, but Bergman restricts expression to a minimum and just lets the camera play across that gorgeous profile. It's one of those wonderfully mysterious moments when an actor, seemingly by doing nothing, lets us imagine everything.

Cary Grant, The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Cary Grant as C.K. Dexter Haven and Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord in 'The Philadelphia Story'. Everett Collection

When Cary Grant dashed off his dashing lines, his verbal aggression could seem driven by neurosis and his voice by the crack of a silken whip. *The Philadelphia Story* is about a romance between Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart, and about Grant — as the odd man out — being uncommonly needy. His C.K. Dexter Haven is more desperate than his man on the run in *North by Northwest*. Rather cruel, rather too cool, he wears his sophistication as if it were armor. It is rare to find Cary Grant heartbroken, and rarer yet to find an actor who can seem terribly lonely and still find romance a jolly game.

Anthony Perkins, Psycho (1960)

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in 'Psycho'.

Courtesy Everett

"We all go a little mad sometimes." No one can speak lines like that today without reflexively resorting to "the psycho stutter" or "the psycho stare." Such unnaturalness is only natural — after decades of serial-killer movies, we share a template for knife-wielding villains. Anthony Perkins, the pioneer, had no such roadmap. For him, the tics were organic: He approached Norman Bates as a character, not a trope. His murderous, mother-lovin' motelier is plenty creepy, but it's Perkins' disarming, oddball lack of self-consciousness that makes you believe Janet Leigh wouldn't take off down the highway after one look into those beady, birdlike eyes.

Jimmy Stewart, Vertigo (1958)

Jimmy Stewart as John 'Scottie' Ferguson and Kim Novak as Judy Barton/Madeleine Elster in 'Vertigo'. Everett Collection

For great swaths of his career, Jimmy Stewart played wholesome, aw-shucks kinds of fellows who stood knock-kneed before women. That's why he remains such a revelation as Scottie Ferguson, the acrophobic, borderline-necrophilic detective of *Vertigo*. Stewart's Scottie is sympathetic as he becomes attracted to an unfaithful wife he's hired to tail. He's moving when he witnesses her apparent death. He's creepy when he finds another woman he wants to make over in his dead amour's image. And he's genuinely frightening when he discovers his love object may have betrayed him — all sweaty rants and shaking-hand-across-the-lip fury. Nothing gee-whiz about it.**

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Catch up with Marla Gibbs, Damon Evans, and more of your favorite stars from Colby East. What happened to The Jeffersons cast? Here's what became of the '70s sitcom stars Catch up with Marla Gibbs, Damon Evans, and more of your favorite stars from Colby East. By Kelly Martinez March 13, 2026 5:00 p.m. ET Leave a Comment :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/JeffersonsDamonEvansZaraCullyShermanHemsleyIsabelSanfordPaulBenedictFranklinCoverRoxieRokerBerlindaTolbert0304269bb42f0f10d541988be0be46503de152.jpg) The cast of 'The Jeffersons' moves on up.

Catch up with Marla Gibbs, Damon Evans, and more of your favorite stars from Colby East.

What happened to *The Jeffersons *cast? Here's what became of the '70s sitcom stars

Catch up with Marla Gibbs, Damon Evans, and more of your favorite stars from Colby East.

By Kelly Martinez

March 13, 2026 5:00 p.m. ET

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The cast of 'The Jeffersons' moves on up. Credit:

It's been over 50 years since the Jeffersons first moved into Colby East, but the iconic TV family continues to have a lasting influence on sitcoms today.

A spinoff of Norman Lear's *All in the Family*, *The Jeffersons* is about an affluent family — George (Sherman Hemsley), Louise (Isabel Sanford), and their son Lionel — who uproot their lives from Archie Bunker's neighborhood to a high-rise apartment in Manhattan.

*The Jeffersons *aired on CBS from 1975 to 1985, scooping up two Emmy Awards and 14 nominations over its 11 seasons. As one of the first shows to depict an upper middle-class Black family, the groundbreaking series paved the way for future Black sitcoms and shed light on hot-button topics like interracial relationships, class differences, and mental health.

Read on to see what the cast went on to do after *The Jeffersons* wrapped.

Isabel Sanford (Louise "Weezy" Jefferson)

Isabel Sanford in 'The Jeffersons'; Sanford in 2004 being honored with a Walk of Fame star.

CBS via Getty; Kevin Winter/Getty

Isabel Sanford played Weezy, George's wife and Lionel's mother.

Sanford first gained attention for playing the housekeeper Tillie in the Oscar-winning *Guess Who's Coming to Dinner *(1967), leading Lear to cast her in *All in the Family*. Already a stage veteran, she also landed bit parts in acclaimed films like *Lady Sings the Blues *(1972) and *The New Centurions *(1972).

She nabbed an Emmy in 1981 for her performance on *The Jeffersons*, becoming the first Black woman in history to win the Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category.

The New York native subsequently headlined her own sitcom, *Isabel Sanford's Honeymoon Hotel*, but it was canceled after just five episodes. She later reprised Weezy (alongside Hemsley's George) on two episodes of *The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air* (1995–1996) and elsewhere guest starred on *Living Single *(1993), *Hangin' with Mr. Cooper *(1994), *The Steve Harvey Show *(1996), and *The Parkers *(2001).

The actress married William Richmond in 1945, and the couple had three children before eventually separating. She died in 2004 at 86 years old.

Sherman Hemsley (George Jefferson)

Sherman Hemsley in 'The Jeffersons'; Hemsley at the 2004 TV Land Awards.

CBS via Getty; Frederick M. Brown/Getty

Sherman Hemsley starred as hot-headed patriarch George, who was first introduced as Archie and Edith Bunker's neighbor on *All in the Family*. In 1982, his performance won him an NAACP Image Award and he later scored Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

Unlike his brash on-screen counterpart, Hemsley was known for being shy and private.

"That [playing George Jefferson] was hard for me," he said in a 2003 interview. "But he was the character. I had to do it."

Once *The Jeffersons *wrapped, the late actor continued to work his magic on sitcoms. He headlined *Amen *(1986–1991) and became a ubiquitous '90s guest star — namely *Designing Women *(1993), *Family Matters *(1994–1995)*, Martin *(1996)*, Sister, Sister* (1995–1998) — before scoring another lead role on *Goode Behavior *(1996–1997).

The Philadelphia native reprised the role of George not only on *Fresh Prince *but also an episode of *Tyler Perry's House of Payne* (2011), along with costar Marla Gibbs.

Hemsley died of complications from lung cancer in 2012. He was 74 years old. Shortly before his death, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.

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Mike Evans (Lionel Jefferson; seasons 1, 6-8, 11)

Mike Evans as the original Lionel Jefferson.

Mike Evans was the OG Lionel, George and Louise's son. *All in the Family *was his entry point into Hollywood, with Lionel being his first-ever role.

The actor initially left *The Jeffersons* after filming just one season of the series, and Damon Evans (no relation) subsequently took over the role of Lionel for the next three seasons. But, in classic sitcom fashion, he ended up returning for four later seasons.

Outside of *All in the Family *and *The Jeffersons*, the North Carolina native is best known for co-creating another classic Black family sitcom, *Good Times* (1974–1979), a spinoff of *Maude*. His other notable credits include *Rich Man, Poor Man *(1976) and the short-lived legal sitcom *The Practice *(1976–1977).

Evans died of throat cancer in 2006 at 57 years old. He was survived by two daughters.

Damon Evans (Lionel Jefferson; seasons 2-4)

Damon Evans as the second Lionel Jefferson; Evans in later years in a Pride Month special.

CBS via Getty; CUNY TV/YouTube

As the second actor to play Lionel, Damon Evans had to quickly learn the ropes when he took over the role in season 2.

Outside of *The Jeffersons*, he's known for starring as young Alex Haley on *Roots: The Next Generations *(1979). He's also had a bustling musical theater career, appearing in Broadway productions like *Via Galactica*, *Lost in the Stars*, and *The Me Nobody Knows*.

Roxie Roker (Helen Willis)

Roxie Roker in 'The Jeffersons'; Roker on 'The Joan Rivers Show' in 1993.

CBS via Getty; Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Roxie Roker made history with her role as Helen, Louise's best friend and George's nemesis. Roxie's marriage to Tom (Franklin Cover), a white man, marked one of the first interracial couples in television history.

The actress also had a successful stage career, winning an Obie Award and nabbing a Tony nomination in 1974 for her acclaimed lead performance in *The River Niger.* Elsewhere on television, she had a role on the original *Roots *(1977) in addition to later guest spots on *Fantasy Island *(1982), *Cagney & Lacey *(1985), *Punky Brewster* (1988), and *Murder, She Wrote *(1991).

Like her on-screen* *counterpart, Roker was in an interracial marriage, having wed news producer Sy Kravitz in 1962. The couple had a son, rock star Lenny Kravitz, before divorcing in 1985. She's also the grandmother to actress Zoë Kravitz.

Roker died of breast cancer in 1995 at 66 years old.

Franklin Cover (Thomas "Tom" Willis)

Franklin Cover in 'The Jeffersons'; Cover at the openign night party for a revival of 'A Thousand Clowns'.

CBS via Getty; Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Franklin Cover shook up the neighborhood with his role as Tom, Helen's husband. They were one of the first interracial marriages portrayed on television.

Largely a TV bit player at the time, Cover was one of the husbands in the cult classic *The Stepford Wives *(1975) shortly before *The Jeffersons *began. He continued to be a familiar face on television in the years afterward, appearing on *Who's the Boss? *(1991), *In the Heat of the Night *(1991), *ER *(1994), and *Will & Grace *(1999), among others.

The Cleveland native also had a small part in Oliver Stone's *Wall Street *(1987) and found regular work on the Broadway stage.

Cover married Mary Bradford Stone in 1965, and they had two children together. He died of pneumonia in 2006 at 77 years old.

Zara Cully (Olivia "Mother" Jefferson)

Zara Cully as Mother Jefferson in 1975.

Zara Cully starred as Mother Jefferson, the original monster-in-law with a slightly sweet side (at least, for anyone *except *her daughter-in-law).

The late actress made her first appearance as Mother when she guest starred on *All in the Family*, and eventually became a regular on *The Jeffersons*.

Prior to taking on the Jefferson family name, Cully had booked a few prominent films, including William Wyler's *The Liberation of L.B. Jones *(1970) and the Blaxploitation fave *Sugar Hill *(1974). She was also known as a respected acting coach.

The Massachusetts native married James M. Brown, Jr. in 1914, and the couple had four children together.

Cully died of lung cancer in 1978 at age 86, while season 4 of *The Jeffersons *was already underway. The NAACP posthumously honored her with a special Image Award in recognition of her legacy.

Berlinda Tolbert (Jenny Willis-Jefferson)

Belinda Tolbert in 'The Jeffersons'; Tolbert at the Chiller Theater Expo in 2022.

CBS via Getty; Bobby Bank/Getty

Berlinda Tolbert played Jenny, the daughter of Helen and Tom who later marries Lionel.

"For someone who was just beginning a career at that time, what a learning environment for me to be in," the actress told *Jet* magazine in 2013. "It was that experience that really taught me what I know about television. From the producers to the writers to the crew to the actors — I worked with exciting, creative people. It colored my impressions of the industry in an extremely positive way."

She had a long succession of guest-starring roles on television both before and after her time on *The Jeffersons*, from *Sanford and Son *(1974) to Hemsley's later sitcom, *Amen *(1987). She also popped up on the big screen as Richard Pryor's wife in *Harlem Nights *(1989) and as Samuel L. Jackson's girlfriend in *Goodfellas *(1990).

In later years she appeared on *ER *(2004), *Six Feet Under *(2005), and *CSI *(2007).

Tolbert married journalist Bob Reid in 1979.

Paul Benedict (Harry Bentley)

Paul Benedict in 'The Jeffersons'; Benedict in 'A Mighty Wind'.

CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection; Netflix

Paul Benedict played Harry, the Jeffersons' British neighbor who works at the United Nations as a translator.

Outside of *The Jeffersons*, the New Mexico-born actor is fondly remembered for portraying The Number Painter on *Sesame Street*. He had a steady career on the big screen as well, including supporting roles in *Jeremiah Johnson *(1972) and *The Goodbye Girl *(1977).

He took over as the title character's butler in *Arthur 2: On the Rocks *(1988) in addition to other comedies like *The Addams Family *(1991) and Christopher Guest's *Waiting for Guffman *(1996) and *A Mighty Wind *(2003).

But it was his performance as Harry Bentley that would largely define his career.

"I can't help it if people always think of me as Mr. Bentley on *The Jeffersons*," he said in an interview with *The Hamilton Spectator*. "It certainly proves the power of television and the force of appearing in a series that continues on the air for weeks and weeks. To be perfectly honest, I don't think I ever thought of it as my finest hour."

Benedict died of a brain hemorrhage in 2008 at 70 years old.

Marla Gibbs (Florence Johnston)

Marla Gibbs in 'The Jeffersons'; Gibbs at a SAG event in 2025.

CBS via Getty; Amanda Edwards/Getty

Last, but certainly not least, Hollywood icon Marla Gibbs stole audiences' hearts as fan-favorite Florence, the Jefferson family's maid. She scored five Emmy nominations for her performance.

"I didn't know what it was. It was called *The Jeffersons*, that's all I knew," she told *The Hollywood Reporter* about her original audition. "The part they wanted me to read for, Florence the maid, reminded me of my grandmother and my aunt in Chicago. So that's how I played her. And the casting director liked it. She took me right over to the producers, and they liked it. By the time I got home, I had the job."

While *The Jeffersons *was still on the air, Gibbs starred on her own short-lived spinoff, *Checking In* (1981), but it didn't make it a full season. She later scored the lead role on NBC's *227* (1985–1990) and has remained a small-screen fixture, in roles big and small, ever since. That includes a recurring role as D.J. Hughley's mother on *The Hughleys *(1998–2002), a handful of *Grey's Anatomy *(2022–2024) episodes, and, most recently, a spot on *Chicago Med *(2026).

The actress has won a whopping eight NAACP Image Awards during her career. Her film career includes roles in *The Meteor Man *(1993), *The Brothers *(2001), and *Madea's Witness Protection *(2012),

Gibbs has reprised her *Jeffersons *character multiple times, including joining costars Hemsley, Sanford, Roker, and Cover for a theatrical reunion tour in 1993. In 2019, she made a surprise appearance on Lear and Jimmy Kimmel's *Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons*.

The Chicago native married her high school sweetheart, Jordan Gibbs, in 1955. The couple had three children together before divorcing in 1973.

Original Article on Source

Source: "EW Comedy"

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Source: Comedy

Published: March 14, 2026 at 03:58PM on Source: RED MAG

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Mishap costs fast Shiffrin 1st-run lead in World Cup GS as Rast and Scheib stand 1-2

Mishap costs fast Shiffrin 1strun lead in World Cup GS as Rast and Scheib stand 12 Sat, March 14, 2026 at 11:02 AM UTC 0 1 / 0APTOPIX Sweden World Cup Alpine SkiingUnited States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Are, Sweden, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati) () ÅRE, Sweden (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin had a costly mistake near the end of what might have been the fastest run by far in the opening leg of the penultimate World Cup giant slalom of the season Saturday.

Mishap costs fast Shiffrin 1st-run lead in World Cup GS as Rast and Scheib stand 1-2

Sat, March 14, 2026 at 11:02 AM UTC

0

1 / 0APTOPIX Sweden World Cup Alpine SkiingUnited States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Are, Sweden, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati) ()

ÅRE, Sweden (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin had a costly mistake near the end of what might have been the fastest run by far in the opening leg of the penultimate World Cup giant slalom of the season Saturday.

In an all-attacking run, the American star was more than half a second ahead of race leader Camille Rast of Switzerland at the last split time when she came off the course shortly before the finish and had to brake to make the next gate.

Shiffrin finished 2.29 seconds off the lead in 12th, as Rast and Austria's Julia Scheib stood 1-2 to continue their season-long battle for the GS title.

The mishap could help Shiffrin's main rivals for the overall title — Rast and Germany's Emma Aicher — make up ground on the American. Aicher was sixth after the opening run.

"I was just not really expecting to get like a kind of a little bit of a jump on this last roller," said Shiffrin, who started in the 300th World Cup race of her career, a day after her 31st birthday.

"My goal this run was to be really attacking, then I had more speed than I expected," she added. "For the rest of the run, that was the best run in GS skiing I had in a race this year. I'm so happy with that."

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Shiffrin holds the women's record for most career GS wins with 22 but hasn't won a race in the discipline since December 2023.

Following two crashes in a downhill and a GS in 2024, Shiffrin has been working her way back up in the discipline and got her first podium result in two years when she placed third at a race in Czechia in January.

On Saturday, Rast held a slim 0.11-second lead over Scheib, with Shiffrin's teammate Paula Moltzan 0.56 behind in third.

Alice Robinson of New Zealand had 0.60 seconds to make up in the second run and was the last racer to finish within a second of Rast's time.

Olympic GS champion Federica Brignone ended her season two weeks ago to continue rehab after the Italian returned from a broken leg just weeks before the Games.

___

AP skiing: https://ift.tt/pK67sbR

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL Sports"

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Source: Sports

Published: March 14, 2026 at 01:27PM on Source: RED MAG

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Mishap costs fast Shiffrin 1st-run lead in World Cup GS as Rast and Scheib stand 1-2

Mishap costs fast Shiffrin 1strun lead in World Cup GS as Rast and Scheib stand 12 Sat, March 14, 2026 at 11:02 AM UT...

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