Saying no to Oscar

George C. Scott was railing against what he called a "goddamn two-hour meat parade," Marlon Brando was protesting the treatment of Native Americans, and screenwriter Dudley Nichols was fighting with the Academy in a union scrapple.

Of more than 2,600 Little Gold Men doled out since the '20s, these are the only three people to ever refuse an Oscar. (Nichols might not be the most high profile, but he was the first, in 1935, when he declined the award for his script for the book-based drama, "The Informers").

Scott, who won best actor for "Patton" and was never known as a particularly diplomatic or chummy guy, famously called the politics around the awards "demeaning."

Wonder what he would've had to say about a ceremony that eventually ballooned to three-plus-hours after weeks on end of multimillion-dollar awards campaigning? That might not be printable, even on a blog.

Brando, who won in '72 for "The Godfather," sent "Sacheen Littlefeather" to turn down his best actor trophy when he boycotted the show. The stand-in activist, actually a woman named Maria Cruz, read a 15-minute speech from Brando backstage, but stuck to a relatively tame 45-second kiss-off at the podium.

Watch her improvised words here at the Academy's YouTube channel, where you can also see notable moments of people saying yes to Oscar that we're not allowed to embed here (the Academy's awfully protective!) like Tom Hanks emotionally accepting his best actor prize for "Philadelphia," David Niven calling attention to a streaker's shortcomings, and a very subdued but shagadelic Jane Fonda saying thanks for her "Klute" victory.