Most of Elizabeth Taylor's nominations and first Best Actress also were more dependent on events in her life offscreen than on-screen. Taylor's chances to win the award for her second nomination, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, were good, because MGM's publicity had started an early campaign for her, and it was an estimable performance. Furthermore, the 1958 death of husband Mike Todd in a plane crash earned Taylor the sympathy of the industry and the press.

In the 1950s, the very mention of Ingrid Bergman's name evoked negative connotations. Shelley Winters recalls that during her affair with Italian actor Vittorio Gassman, her agents told her: “We have invested a great deal of money in you, and now you're destroying our investment.” “You may not have noticed,” they warned, “but Ingrid's career is finished in the United States and perhaps throughout the world. Are you ready to have that happen to you”

Why did it take so long for cinematographer Gordon Willis to receive recognition from his branch After all, he lensed the first two Godfather movies and some of Woody Allen's best work (Annie Hall). Was it due to the fact that he was a quintessentially New York lenser Willis finally received nominations for Zelig (1983) The Godfather, Part III (1990).

Why was Leonardo DiCaprio snubbed by the Academy for his lead role in Titanic, a film that swept 14 nominations Perceiving it as a major injustice, DiCaprio's fans bombarded the Academy with hate mail and protest e-mails.

Fred Zinnemann's The Sundowners was nominated in 1960 in many categories, including acting nominations for Deborah Kerr and Glynis Johns, but not Robert Mitchum.