actually Laurence Fishburne and Angela Basset were both nommed for What's Love Got to Do With It (tho' it wasn't a Best Pic contender). But in '72 there were 2 black actesses nominated -- Miss Ross for her turn as Billie Holliday was in there too, and I've always thought if she had not gotten a nod and siphoned off votes, Tyson would've won.(10 points if you know who did without looking)
Streisand in Love Story?
Liz and Dick and Britt and
Liza!, Jaclyn, Kate & Farrah.
Liza won for
Cabaret!, for which Bob Fosse got Best Director over Coppola for
The Godfather. I'd say Fosse's win was not even close to being the Most Undeserving...great film, great direction...but it probably heads the list of Oscars that would change hands if there was an "in hindsight" do-over.
ETA: Many people might argue that this list would be headed by Orson Welles for
Citizen Kane, and I won't disagree, but he was up against John Ford (who won), William Wyler and Howard Hawks, while neither John Huston for
The Maltese Falcon, nor Hitchcock for
Suspicion even got noms that year.
I'd forgotten about Fishburne's nom, thx for pointing that out.