Fictional people nominated for Academy Awards

There have been several fictional people nominated for Academy Awards:

1957 – Robert Rich – Academy Award for Best Story for The Brave One

• Rich won the award that year, although he was actually a cover for blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo. Shortly before his death, Trumbo revealed the much-suspected truth.

1985 – P.H. Vazak – Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan

• Actually Robert Towne, who used his dog's name as a pseudonym.

1997 – Roderick Jaynes – Academy Award for Film Editing for Fargo

• Actually writer-director brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, who have edited several of their films under the name.

2003 – Donald Kaufman – Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for Adaptation.

• Co-nominated with his brother Charlie Kaufman – in fact, there is no Donald Kaufman, and the screenplay was written by Charlie alone. Donald was the first fictitious nominee not to be a cover for a real person. (Both appear as characters in the film.)