George C. Scott Rejects Oscar

In 1971, George C. Scott became the first actor in Hollywood history to reject an Academy Award when he refused the Best Actor Oscar for his role as General George S. Patton in Patton. He had already told the Academy he wanted no part of the competition and dismissed the ceremony as "a two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons." When his name was announced at the 43rd Academy Awards, he did not attend, and the Academy accepted the statuette in his absence.

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