Hitchcock tops Oscars that never were

The man behind The Birds, Psycho and Vertigo should have been given an Oscar, according to a new poll.

17:32 24 January 2005

The man behind The Birds, Psycho and Vertigo should have been given an Oscar, according to a new poll.

Alfred Hitchcock was nominated six times as best director at the Academy Awards but he was never actually given the gong.

But voters in a survey by the Turner Classic Movies channel have tried to make up for that in some small way - by voting him top of a list of directors who should have won.

Next up was Martin Scorcese, the man behind Goodfellas and Taxi Driver, while A Clockwork Orange director Stanley Kubrick was in third place.

Other inclusions were Ridley Scott, long considered a genius for works such as Blade Runner, and Tim Burton, the macabre film-maker behind the first two Batman films and Sleepy Hollow.

Meanwhile, Pulp Fiction star Samuel L Jackson, Steve McQueen, Welsh star Richard Burton, who was nominated seven times, and Tom Cruise were named as the most deserving actors.

And despite having done very little of note for the last decade except divorce Bruce Willis, Demi Moore was top of the actress list (she was nominated for Ghost) followed by Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan and Marilyn Monroe.