# Comedic roles that deserve real awards **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200 "2010-03-29T11:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/1 "2010-03-29T11:36:05Z")
Everyone knows that comedic roles don’t get Oscars. There are some roles, though, that deliver on such a level that they are probably more clever and more difficult than most of the dramatic roles. I remember confirmed dramatic actor Michael Douglas explaining: “F-you!” “No, F-You!” There, you have drama. Now , I dare you make me laugh. I nominate Bill Murray for Groundhog Day, which has gone into the language, and which is one my most quotable movies. The lines suit him so well that I’m convinced he must have written many of them. Considering the number of Oscar nominees who are mostly forgotten, I nominate this one for the Veterans Committee to reconsider. Your nominations? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/2 "2010-03-29T12:37:35Z")
Having just seen Tony Shalhoub in **Lend Me a Tenor** on Broadway, I’d love to see him win a Tony for it. He was amazing onstage. For a movie, there’s Kevin Kline in **A Fish Called Wanda.** ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/3 "2010-03-29T12:47:35Z")
Dudley Moore in **Arthur**. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/4 "2010-03-29T13:12:09Z")
Steve Martin in **All of Me**. The first time I watched it, I wondered how they had gotten Lily Tomlin into Steve Martin. H as brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/5 "2010-03-29T13:17:28Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Steve Martin in **All of Me**. The first time I watched it, I wondered how they had gotten Lily Tomlin into Steve Martin. H as brilliant! Wow, you beat me to it. He is hilarious and so good in this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/6 "2010-03-29T13:20:29Z")
Ebert & Siskel once said that was one role that definitely should have gotten the Oscar. You believed he was Lily Tomlin. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/7 "2010-03-29T13:22:28Z")
For a supporting role, **Robert Stack** in “Airplane.” Everything he did and said was funny ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/8 "2010-03-29T13:29:28Z")
Not strictly comedic, but I thought Jeff Daniels was brilliant as the soda shop owner in _Pleasantville_. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/9 "2010-03-29T13:33:39Z")
Sylvester Stallone as Angelo “Snaps” Provolone in _Oscar_. Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod in _The Fifth Element_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/10 "2010-03-29T17:54:41Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > For a movie, there’s Kevin Kline in **A Fish Called Wanda.** Kevin Kline actually did win an Oscar for that. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/11 "2010-03-29T17:56:28Z")
Peter Sellers should have won an Oscar for his role as Hrundi V. Bakshi in [The Party.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063415/) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/12 "2010-03-29T18:15:18Z")
Jeff Bridges as The Dude. Another one of the most quotable movies ever, and Bridges absolutely _is_ the character. He’s hilarious and he’s completely believable as this easygoing loser. The Dude would have been a caricature in the hands of a lesser actor. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/13 "2010-03-30T05:21:46Z")
George Clooney for **O Brother, Where Art Thou?** deserved at least a nomination. He WON [a Golden Globe](http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Golden_Globes_USA/2001) for it, but wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. Two other notable comedic performances that won Golden Globes but weren’t nominated for Oscars: Nicole Kidman in **[To Die For](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114681/)**. She absolutely deserved an Oscar nomination, it’s arguably her very best performance, definitely one of her best. I can’t see her [winning](http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Academy_Awards_USA/1996) over Susan Sarandon, but a nomination, maybe instead of Sharon Stone (Casino), would have been nice. That same year… John Travolta for **Get Shorty** \*. He was very good, but it doesn’t bother me that he didn’t get nominated. I still think it’s funny. I agree with Bill Murray in **Groundhog Day** , and Jeff Bridges in **The Big Lebowski**. They should have at least been nominated. \*[pure wild off-topic conjecture](I don’t know that Travolta deserved an Oscar nomination for Get Shorty, but everyone expected him to get one, so it was quite amusing to me when he didn’t. Maybe if he’d kept his mouth shut. He was winning several awards for Get Shorty, all of them coming before the Oscar ballots were due, and in every single speech he mentioned L. Ron Hubbard. I’ve long suspected that he got punished for that by people not putting his name on their ballot. I’ve also long suspected that Nicole Kidman was unfairly splashed by the Scientology backlash because she was married to Tom Cruise, and that’s why she didn’t get her deserved nomination. She had to divorce Tom before more people started taking her seriously as an actress.)[/pure wild off-topic conjecture] ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/14 "2010-03-30T07:57:06Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > \*I’ve also long suspected that Nicole Kidman was unfairly splashed by the Scientology backlash because she was married to Tom Cruise, and that’s why she didn’t get her deserved nomination. She had to divorce Tom before more people started taking her seriously as an actress.)[/pure wild off-topic conjecture] Another reason I remember reading about on why \*\*Nicole Kidman \*\*wasn’t nominated for **To Die For** was that many people thought her character in the movie wasn’t too far removed from her in real life. (I’m not one of them.) Incidentally, despite that, I do agree with you that Kidman was more than worthy of a nomination for that role. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/15 "2010-03-30T08:00:35Z")
Add my vote for Steve Martin in _All of Me_. It’s one of my all-time favorite comedic performances. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/16 "2010-03-30T13:20:12Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Peter Sellers should have won an Oscar for his role as Hrundi V. Bakshi in [The Party.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063415/) The movie itself should have gotten the Oscar. It was brillant! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/17 "2010-03-30T13:29:46Z")
Bob Hoskins in _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_. Who robbed Bob Hoskins? ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/18 "2010-03-30T14:05:15Z")
Anna Faris in _Smiley Face_ was pretty good I thought. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/19 "2010-03-30T14:14:53Z")
Sacha Baron Cohen in **Borat**. Albert Brooks in both **Lost In America** and **Broadcast News**. Diane Keaton in **Annie Hall**. And Steve Martin for both the aforementioned **All of Me** and for **Roxanne**. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200/20 "2010-03-30T14:23:28Z")
John Belushi as Best Supporting Actor for Bluto in _Animal House_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comedic-roles-that-deserve-real-awards/534200.md?page=2)