20 Memorable Performances That Won the Golden Globe but Not the Oscar

Every time awards season comes around, there are all the usual debates both on and offline around who has been snubbed of a nomination and, once the winners have been announced, who should have won instead of those that did. But awards season is so well furnished with prizes that all those performers who miss out at one ceremony may well turn out to have better luck elsewhere—and nowhere is that more true than with the Golden Globes. 

Presented before the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes haven’t always seen eye to eye with the Oscars. And what’s more, the fact that the Globes’ Best Actor and Actress categories are both divided between dramatic and comedy performances has given them ample opportunity over the years to honor performers that might miss out elsewhere.

1. GLORIA SWANSON, SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)
2. JACK LEMMON, SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
3. JANET LEIGH, PSYCHO (1960)
4. ANGELA LANSBURY, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
5. JULIE ANDREWS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)
6. AL PACINO, SERPICO (1973)
7. LINDA BLAIR, THE EXORCIST (1973)
8. JACK NICHOLSON, CHINATOWN (1974)
9. LAURENCE OLIVIER, MARATHON MAN (1976)
10. JOHN HURT, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (1978)
11. ROBIN WILLIAMS, GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM (1987)
12. MAGGIE SMITH, A ROOM WITH A VIEW (1987) 
13. SIGOURNEY WEAVER, GORILLAS IN THE MIST (1988)
14. TOM CRUISE, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1990) 
15. JULIA ROBERTS, PRETTY WOMAN (1991)
16. ANGELA BASSETT, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT (1994)
17. TOM HANKS, CAST AWAY (2001)
18. MERYL STREEP, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006)
19. CATE BLANCHETT, TÁR (2023)
20. DEMI MOORE, THE SUBSTANCE (2025)

GLORIA SWANSON, SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)

Few actresses’ performances from the 1950s are as memorable, as unusual, and as downright brilliant as former silent-era star Gloria Swanson’s turn as former silent-era star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.

The film earned Swanson her first and only Golden Globe way back in 1950, but although she was nominated on Oscar night, she lost out to Judy Holliday in the George Cukor comedy Born Yesterday. Holliday’s victory has long been considered one of the Oscars’ biggest upsets—not least given that she not only beat Swanson, but also Anne Baxter and Bette Davis in All About Eve, too.  

JACK LEMMON, SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)

Jack Lemmon was nominated for an Oscar a staggering eight times, winning twice—Best Supporting Actor for Mister Roberts in 1956, and Best Actor for Save the Tiger in 1974. His memorable performance in the classic comedy Some Like It Hot might have earned him a Golden Globe in 1959, but he missed out on the Oscar; Best Actor that year went to Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur. 

JANET LEIGH, PSYCHO (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock’s films famously never fared particularly well at the Oscars, with the great man himself losing out on the Best Director award five times (and his entire filmography only picking up six wins across six decades).

Only a handful of his stars had their work recognized by the Oscars, but Janet Leigh at least picked up a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her notoriously brief turn in Psycho in 1960. Although the role won her the Golden Globe that year, she lost the Oscar to Shirley Jones in the drama Elmer Gantry. 

ANGELA LANSBURY, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)

Dame Angela Lansbury picked up a staggering 15 Golden Globe nominations throughout her career, winning six overall—including four for her work on TV’s Murder, She Wrote.

Long before she became one of the small screen’s most popular sleuths, though, she picked up Golden Globes for her roles in The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1945 (at the age of just 19) and, nearly two decades later, for her extraordinary performance as the villainous mother Eleanor in The Manchurian Candidate.

Both roles also earned her Supporting Actress Oscar nominations (alongside a third in Gaslight in 1944), but alas, she lost all three: 1944’s award went to Ethel Barrymore in None But the Lonely Heart, 1945’s went to Anne Revere in National Velvet, and Lansbury’s powerhouse role in The Manchurian Candidate lost out to Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker. 

JULIE ANDREWS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)

Perhaps one of the greatest musical performances of all time, in one of the greatest films of all time, Julie Andrews won her second Golden Globe for The Sound of Music in 1965, having won the year before for Mary Poppins.

Mary Poppins might have earned her the Best Actress Oscar in 1964, but she lost out the following year to Julie Christie in the Swinging Sixties drama Darling. 

AL PACINO, SERPICO (1973)

Despite his reputation as one of the greatest actors of all time, Al Pacino has famously only ever won a single Oscar (for his role in Scent of a Woman in 1993) and had instead to make do only with nominations for the likes of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and even Dick Tracy.

He was nominated too for his eponymous role as a whistleblowing New York cop in Serpico—which earned him his first Golden Globe back in 1973—but again lost out on Oscar night to Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger. 

LINDA BLAIR, THE EXORCIST (1973)

It’s by no means unusual for child stars to have their work on the big screen recognized by the Academy, and 13-year-old Linda Blair’s extraordinary performance in The Exorcist is no different, earning her a Best Supporting Actress nomination in 1973.

The role might have won her the Golden Globe that year, but surprisingly, the Oscar went to an even younger star instead: Tatum O’Neal was just 10 years old when she won for Paper Moon. She remains the youngest Oscar-winning performer in the category.

JACK NICHOLSON, CHINATOWN (1974)

Jack Nicholson picked up the first of his six competitive Golden Globe Awards in 1974 for his towering performance in Roman Polanski’s noirish drama Chinatown.

The role also earned him his fourth Oscar nomination that year, but he would have to wait until 1975 to win: the 1974 Best Actor Award went to comic actor Art Carney in the road movie Harry and Tonto (while Nicholson would go on to win the following year for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest).

LAURENCE OLIVIER, MARATHON MAN (1976)

One of the most acclaimed classical actors of the 20th century, Sir Laurence Olivier won just one Oscar in his entire career, taking home the award for Best Actor for the title role in his own 1948 big-screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (becoming both the first actor to win an Oscar in a Shakespearean performance, and the director of the first non-American film to win Best Picture).

He nevertheless earned a further 10 Oscar nominations in total, for roles in films as diverse as Wuthering Heights, Sleuth, The Boys from Brazil, and 1976’s Marathon Man, memorably playing the grotesque Nazi war criminal Dr. Christian Szell.

Olivier lost the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that year to Jason Robards in All the President’s Men, but took home the Golden Globe for his performance.

JOHN HURT, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (1978)

Sir John Hurt is one of a number of legendary actors who never won an Oscar, despite a lengthy and hugely acclaimed filmography. His role as Max in the 1978 prison drama Midnight Express at least earned him his first (and only) Golden Globe, but he lost the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that year to Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter. 

ROBIN WILLIAMS, GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM (1987)

Robin Williams earned the first of his four Oscar nominations for his lead role in Good Morning, Vietnam in 1987, losing out in the Best Actor race that year to Michael Douglas in Wall Street. He nevertheless picked up the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical or Comedy for the movie (and went on to win an Oscar for Good Will Hunting in 1998). 

MAGGIE SMITH, A ROOM WITH A VIEW (1987) 

Having already won twice before (for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1970 and California Suite in 1979), Dame Maggie Smith picked up the fifth of her six career Oscar nominations for her scene-stealing performance in the acclaimed EM Forster adaptation A Room with a View in 1987.

The role earned her a Golden Globe that year, but she lost out on the Oscar to Dianne Wiest in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters.

SIGOURNEY WEAVER, GORILLAS IN THE MIST (1988)

Despite the extraordinary odds, the Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama category at the 1988 Golden Globes ended in a three-way tie, with Jodie Foster (The Accused), Shirley MacLaine (Madame Sousatzka), and Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas in the Mist) all sharing the award.

At the Oscars later that year, though, Weaver’s iconic role in the Dian Fossey biopic lost out to Jodie Foster (who went on to win Best Actress again for The Silence of the Lambs just three years later). 

TOM CRUISE, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1990) 

Tom Cruise has famously never won a competitive acting Oscar, despite a trio of nominations for his iconic performances in Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, and Magnolia. Incredibly, all three earned him Golden Globes (in 1990, 1997, and 2000, respectively), but he lost to Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, Geoffrey Rush in Shine, and Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules. 

JULIA ROBERTS, PRETTY WOMAN (1991)

Julia Roberts had already picked up her first Oscar nomination for her role in Steel Magnolias in 1990, before her star-making turn in Pretty Woman earned her a second the following year. Both performances won her the Golden Globe, but she lost the 1990 Best Supporting Actress race to Brenda Fricker in My Left Foot, and lost the Best Actress Oscar the following year to Kathy Bates in Misery. 

ANGELA BASSETT, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT (1994)

Angela Bassett’s unflinching portrayal of Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It deservedly earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination in 1994. Although she won the Golden Globe that year, she lost the Oscar to Holly Hunter in The Piano.

Almost three decades later, she would pick up a Golden Globe again for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2023, but go on to lose the Supporting Actress Oscar to Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All at Once. 

TOM HANKS, CAST AWAY (2001)

Tom Hanks and his extraordinary performance in Cast Away beat Russell Crowe’s role in Gladiator to the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama in 2001, but Crowe took home the Oscar that year. 

MERYL STREEP, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006)

One of (if not the) most decorated actors in movie history, Meryl Streep picked up her sixth Golden Globe from a staggering 21 nominations for her iconic role as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada in 2006.

At the Oscars, though, it was Helen Mirren’s performance as The Queen that took home the Academy Award for Best Actress (although Streep nonetheless earned her record 14th nomination that year). 

CATE BLANCHETT, TÁR (2023)

Cate Blanchett earned her eighth Oscar nomination for her role as the psychologically unravelling conductor Lydia Tár in 2023, which remains one of the longest Oscar-nominated performances by any actress in movie history; incredibly, Blanchett is on screen for a little over 85% of the entire movie, totalling two-and-a-quarter hours of screentime.

Tár won Blanchett her fourth Golden Globe, but she famously lost the Best Actress race at that year’s Oscars to Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once. 

DEMI MOORE, THE SUBSTANCE (2025)

Despite memorable roles in the likes of Ghost, A Few Good Men, and Indecent Proposal, incredibly, it was body-horror shocker The Substance that earned Demi Moore her first-ever Oscar nomination in 2025.

Although she lost the Best Actress award to Mikey Madison in Anora, Moore picked up the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for the film—which was also her first-ever major acting award.