Special Sub-Topic: History of the Oscars Authored by: Engadine Sub-topic of: Award Shows

Which of the following was true about the first ever Academy Awards, which were held in 1929?

The winners were announced three months before the Awards. The first Academy Awards were held on 16 May, 1929 with around two hundred and fifty people in attendance at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Tickets were sold to the public at a cost of $10 (about $100+ today) and no secrecy surrounded the winners, they had been announced publicly three months earlier! The only silent film to win Best Picture was 'Wings' at the 1929 Academy Awards.

Which of the following was NOT responsible for delaying an Academy Awards ceremony?

Twister. The Academy Awards ceremony has been postponed three times: in 1938 due to flooding in Los Angeles; in 1968 for the funeral of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jnr; and, in 1981 after the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

Who fell asleep during the fourth Acadamy Awards Ceremony held in 1931?

Jackie Cooper. Ten year old Jackie Cooper, born John Cooperman Jnr, who was nominated for Best Actor, fell asleep during the ceremony! His other 'claim to fame' is that he was the only actor of either gender to earn a Best Actor or Actress nomination for an Academy Award before his 18th birthday, prior to 2004, when Western Australian born (she moved to New Zealand when she was four years old) actress Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for Best Actress in the film 'Whale River' (she is now only 13 and was 11 when she made the movie). She also has a role in 'Star Wars: Episode III' due for release in 2005.

Which of comedian Will Rogers 'good friends' was winner of the Best Director Award in 1932?

Frank Lloyd. The sixth Academy Awards were held in March, 1934 and the host, Comedian Will Rogers (William Penn Adair Rogers), caused a most embarrassing moment when presenting the Best Director Award. After waxing lyrical about his 'good friend Frank' Rogers announced the winner by stating, "Come and get it, Frank." However, there were two nominees named Frank; Frank Capra and Frank Lloyd. They both got up and started walking toward the podium but when Frank Capra was halfway there he realised Rogers meant Frank Lloyd! Capra won the next year for 'It Happened One Night' and became President of the Academy the following year.

Who became the first person to decline an Academy Award?

Dudley Nichols. The eighth Academy Awards were held in March, 1936 and Writer, Dudley Nichols, was voted winner of the Best Screenplay Oscar, but he declined the Award. He was President of the Screen Writers Guild from 1937 to 1938. In 1971, George C Scott declined the Best Actor Oscar for his role in the film 'Patton', and in 1973 Marlon Brando declined the Best Actor Oscar for his role in 'The Godfather'. He sent a young woman dressed as a Native American to protest treatment of Native Americans in movies and on television!

From which year of the 1940's did winners in the categories of Best Supporting Actor and Actress receive actual Oscar statuettes?

1943. The categories for Best Supporting Actor and Actress were added in 1937, at the ninth Academy Awards, but until 1942 the winners received an Award Plaque instead of an actual Oscar.

What name, by mistake, was engraved on Spencer Tracy's 1938 Best Actor Oscar statuette?

Dick Tracy. The tenth Academy Awards, delayed for a week because of flooding in Los Angeles, were held in March, 1938. By mistake, Spencer Tracy's Oscar was engraved, 'Dick Tracy'. Luise Rainer, born in Germany, became the first person to win two Academy Awards, she won the Best Actress Oscar in both 1937 and 1938, and appeared as a guest at the seventieth Academy Awards!

Which newspaper 'spilled the beans' on the winners prior to the Academy Awards ceremony held in 1940?

Los Angeles Times. The twelfth Academy Awards were held in February, 1940 and although the winners were meant to be kept a secret, attendees who bought a copy of the Los Angeles Times before the show knew who had won! The Winners list was given to the newspapers for their late editions, but, the Los Angeles Times put it in their 8.45pm edition! Ever since the winners have been kept top secret!

Which of the following events contributed to the 'toning down' of the 1942 Academy Awards from a banquet to just a 'dinner'?

Death of Carole Lombard. The fourteenth Academy Awards were held in February, 1942. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor the previous year and the tragic death of Carole Lombard (Jane Alice Peters), the Academy considered cancelling the Awards. But, the 'show must go on' so the event was toned down, formal dress was not permitted and there was no official host. Carole was just 33 years of age and died in a plane crash in January, 1942.

What were the Oscars made from, prior to the plaster replicas issued in 1943?

Bronze. The fifteenth Academy Awards were held in March, 1943 and because of the war, the statuettes were made out of plaster rather than the traditional bronze. There was also one wooden Oscar, presented to Edgar Bergen in 1938 for his 'outstanding comic creation' - Charlie McCarthy, his ventriloquist dummy!

Who was nominated in two categories for the same film role at the seventeenth Acadamy Awards in 1945?

Barry Fitzgerald. The seventeenth Academy Awards were held in March, 1945 and Barry Fitzgerald, born William Joseph Shields in Dublin, was nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same role, that of gruff, aging Father Fitzgibbon in the film 'Going My Way'. Bob Hope cohosted the ceremony. Bing Crosby won the Best Actor Oscar, Barry Fitzgerald the Best Supporting Actor and Ingrid Bergman won the Best Actress Oscar. The only actor nominated as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in the same year was Al Pacino.

Which film beat the previous record for Oscar Nominations at the twenty third Academy Awards, with fourteen?

All About Eve. The twenty third Academy Awards were held in March, 1951 and, beating the record held by 'Gone With the Wind', 'All About Eve' was nominated for fourteen Oscars. The film won six out of the fourteen. The only film to win in all categories it was nominated in was 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' which received eleven nominations and won eleven Academy Awards!

Which film 'swept' the seventieth Academy Awards and tied with 'Ben Hur' to win a record eleven Oscars?

Titanic. The seventieth Academy Awards were held in March, 1998 at the Shrine Auditorium. 'Titanic' was nominated in fourteen categories and received eleven Oscars to tie with 'Ben Hur'. In 2004 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' also scored eleven Oscar wins from thirteen nominations.

Who, of the following, has won four Oscars?

Katharine Hepburn. Katharine Hepburn won four Oscars for Best Actress (she was nominated twelve times); Walter Brennan won three Oscars for Best Supporting Actor; Ingrid Bergman won two Oscars for Best Actress and one for Best Supporting Actress; and, Jack Nicholson has won two Oscars for Best Actor and one for Best Supporting Actor.

Which film broke the record shared by 'Gone With the Wind', 'On The Waterfront' and 'From Here to Eternity' when it won nine Oscars in the late 1950's?

Gigi. The thirty first Academy Awards were held in April, 1959 with the film 'Gigi' breaking the record shared by 'Gone With the Wind', 'From Here to Eternity' and 'On the Waterfront' by winning nine Oscars. The most Oscars to any film is a tie between 'Ben-Hur', 'Titanic' and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' with eleven each. 'West Side Story' won ten and there is another tie between 'The English Patient', 'Gigi' and 'The Last Emperor' with nine Oscars each!

In what year did The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially recognise the name 'Oscar' for the trophy they awarded in recognition of film achievement?

1939. 'Oscar' was designed by an Art Director at MGM, and a Los Angeles sculptor created it - a knight standing on a reel of film, holding a sword. Originally 'Oscar' was gold-plated, solid bronze but during the war years, he was plaster (later swapped for the real thing), and today, he's gold-plated britannium (metal alloy). Oscar is thirteen-and-a-half inches tall (33.75cm), weighs eight-and-a-half pounds and has only been altered once (in 1945) to raise the pedestal and change the base from black marble to metal. Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the 'Oscar' has been known as such since 1934. The origin of the nickname is debatable but it was used when referring to Katharine Hepburn's first Best Actress Award. The Academy itself didn't use the nickname until 1939. And, the only Oscar winner named Oscar, was Oscar Hammerstein II!

In 1964 the first African-American was awarded the Oscar for Best Actor, but, was he the first ever African-American to win an Oscar?

N. The thirty sixth Academy Awards were held in April, 1964 and Sidney Poitier became the first African-American to win in the Best Actor category. In 1939, however, Hattie McDaniel (in 'Gone With the Wind') became the first African-American to be nominated for an Oscar and to win in the category of Best Supporting Actress.

In what year was there an exact tie between nominees for the Best Actress Oscar and who were the tied winners?

1969 - Katharine Hepburn and Barbara Streisand. The forty first Academy Awards were held in April, 1969 and Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand tied for Best Actress with 3,030 votes each, and, for the first time, the Oscars were broadcast to a worldwide television audience.

Which two films, receiving eleven Oscar Nominations each, didn't win a single Award?

The Turning Point and The Color Purple. The two films with the most nominations, eleven each, that didn’t score a single win were 'The Turning Point' and 'The Color Purple'. The biggest losers among the acting profession were Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole who both received seven Oscar nominations but never won one!

Who, of the following, has received the most nominations in the category of Best Actor/Actress, prior to the 2004 Academy Awards?

Katharine Hepburn. Meryl Streep has received 13 nominations in both Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories; Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson have received 12 nominations each in the 'Best' category; Bette Davis and Laurence Olivier, 10 each; and, Paul Newman and Spencer Tracy have received 9 each.

.

.

.

.

.