ELIZABETH TAYLOR has won two Academy Awards. Her second triumph, for ?Who?s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?? was clearly deserved. She wanted the role of Martha so much that she put on 30 pounds to look frumpy and disheveled.

But, it frustrated Liz that her husband, Richard Burton, didn?t bag an Oscar for the same film. Their chemistry was palpable, and the Welsh actor truly deserved an Oscar for playing Taylor?s antagonist.

Through sympathy vote, Liz earned her first Oscar statuette for 1960?s ?Butterfield 8,?because she went through a near-death operation during the filming of the controversial ?Cleopatra,? where her scandalous affair with Burton began.

Adaptation

However, she should have won a year earlier for her exceptional performance in ?Suddenly Last Summer? opposite Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift. She was equally effective in the film adaptation of ?Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.?

Beautiful redhead, Susan Hayward, was expected to win an Oscar for ?I?ll Cry Tomorrow,? where she portrayed singer, Lillian Roth. Her singing was received so well that she even replaced Judy Garland in ?Valley of the Dolls? a few years later. However, her Oscar bid failed, and instead, she won the trophy for her performance in the rather melodramatic ?I Want to Live.?

Unexpected result

Valentina Cortese was considered a shoo-in for her magnificent supporting role in Francois Trauffaut?s ?Day for Night.? Instead, Ingrid Bergman won her third Oscar for ?The Orient Express? ? a fine bit of acting, but with no real impact. The result was so unexpected that Bergman dedicated her award to Cortese, who disappeared from the scene thereafter.

I always thought Kirk Douglas should have won an Oscar for ?Lust for Life,? which cast him as the painter, Vincent Van Gogh. His portrayal was a riveting display of dramatic talent and temperament. Instead, Anthony Quinn was declared Best Supporting Actor for portraying another painter, Paul Gaugin. Unfortunately, Douglas never got a role as good as Van Gogh again.

Douglas is in good company, because some of Hollywood?s biggest stars had never won an acting Oscar, either: The ?shocking? list includes Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin, Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, and Judy Garland!