Do You Know the Academy Awards? Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. At the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, Joseph Farnham became the first and only winner of what category, which was eliminated the following year?

Answer: Best Title Writing

Farnham is listed as winning for writing the title cards for the films "Fair Co-Ed", "Laugh, Clown, Laugh", and "Telling the World". With sound pictures becoming more and more prevalent, the Title Writing category only lasted one year. Sadly, Farnham died shortly after, on June 2, 1931. By doing so, Farnham also became the first Academy Award winner to die.

2. Another category presented at the first Academy Awards ceremony was Best Unique and Artistic Picture. It was won by the film "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans". What legendary silent film director was responsible for this film?

Answer: F.W. Murnau

"Sunrise", starring Janet Gaynor and George O'Brien, was the winner of this category. The Academy dropped it in favor of the Outstanding picture category the next year. Murnau, who also directed the legendary film "Nosferatu", was a famous German director making his American film debut. "Sunrise" is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made and is preserved in the National Film Registry.

3. Who was the first person to receive a posthumous acting nomination at the Academy Awards?

Answer: Jeanne Eagels

Eagels was a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer, Broadway star, and silent film actress just starting to make her name in sound pictures when she died on October 3, 1929. After her death, she was nominated at the second Academy Awards for "The Letter", but lost to Mary Pickford in "Coquette".

A film biography of Eagels was made in 1957 starring Kim Novak. Eagels was the first, but the other three choices all received posthumous acting nominations too: Richardson for "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" (1984), Troisi for "Il Postino: The Postman" (1994), and Dean twice, for "East of Eden" (1955) and "Giant" (1956).

4. Who was the first person to receive nominations in both the leading and supporting acting categories for the same role, in the same film, in the same year?

Answer: Barry Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald, a popular Irish actor, was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the film "Going My Way" in 1944. The Academy immediately changed the rules so that a performer could only be nominated in either the leading or supporting category for a film, not both. Fitzgerald went on to win the award for Best Supporting Actor, but lost the leading award to his costar, Bing Crosby.

5. Who was the first person to receive 10 acting nominations?

Answer: Bette Davis

The great Bette Davis picked up 10 official nominations, all in the Best Actress category. She also received a write-in nomination in 1934 for the film "Of Human Bondage". Bette ended up winning twice: in 1935 for "Dangerous" and in 1938 for "Jezebel".

Some of her other nominated performances include such classics as "The Little Foxes", "Now, Voyager", "All About Eve", and "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane"? The other choices have all gone on to receive 10 nominations or more, with Meryl Streep the first to get 20 nominations.

6. Who is the first person to be nominated for producing, directing, writing, and acting in the same year for one film?

Answer: Warren Beatty

Warren Beatty is the first person in history to accomplish this impressive feat, being nominated in all four categories for "Heaven Can Wait" (1978). Unfortunately, he lost all four. However, he accomplished this feat again for "Reds" (1981), winning Best Director this time.

7. What country won the inaugural award for Best Foreign Language Film, first presented in 1947?

Answer: Italy

Italy was the first winner with the film "Shoeshine" by director Vittorio De Sica. De Sica went on to win in this category three more times. He was also a talented actor and was even nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1957.

8. Who was the first Japanese director to receive a Best Director nomination at the Academy Awards?

Answer: Hiroshi Teshigahara

Teshigahara was a relatively minor film director in Japan when his film "Woman in the Dunes" was released in 1964. It was a sensation and went on to win the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, as well as Best Director. Teshigahara is considered one of the greatest Japanese directors of all time and one of the leaders of the Japanese New Wave era of filmmaking.

In later years, Teshigahara focused more on documentaries and went on to become a grand master of Ikebana (Japanese floral art).

9. Who was the first person to be nominated in seven different categories at the Academy Awards?

Answer: Kenneth Branagh

Branagh has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Live Action Short Film. Unfortunately, Branagh lost every nomination until finally winning the 2021 Best Original Screenplay award for the film "Belfast".

10. What Academy Award winning Best Picture has the dubious distinction of having absolutely no female speaking parts?

Answer: Lawrence of Arabia

"Lawrence of Arabia" was a celebrated movie about T.E. Lawrence, a British army officer who helped unite the Arab tribes against the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Unfortunately, it would appear that there weren't too many women around, as there isn't a single female with a speaking role in the whole 227 minute film.

Source: Author blackavar72

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor spanishliz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Here are ten questions about some lesser known facts from the history of the Academy Awards. Some are pretty tough, so give it your best shot!

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