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And the winner is… 22 Fast (Fun!) Facts about the Oscars

Whether you watch the Academy Awards for the gowns, for your love of movies or to see if Jennifer Lawrence will fall again the 91’st edition is sure to wow!  Before you get too busy planning the viewing party we’ve got 22 fast facts about the Oscars you just have to see…

The glamorous Academy Awards started with a simple first ceremony on May 16, 1929 with under 300 attendees – all industry insiders – and ran a total of fifteen minutes!  The cost of a ticket? Five dollars! The winners of each film category had been announced three months earlier so there were no surprises but by the next year the results were kept secret with an advanced list given to newspapers only for publication at 11 p.m.  This method of announcement was continued until the the LA Times inadvertently published the winners in it’s evening edition which prompted the Academy to move to the sealed envelope. The awards garnered an enthusiastic following and viewership has grown ever since with elaborate Oscar themed viewing parties complete with ballots, great food and black-tie dress code.   Make a splash at your viewing party with these Academy Awards facts…  (For a fun party game, ask your friends to name the films when we don’t cite them…)

1.  The shortest Oscar telecast happened in 1959, with the screening taking one hour and 40 minutes.  

2.  The longest Oscars show ran for four hours and 23 minutes in 2002.  The awards show ran particularly long because of its history making awards that went to Halle Berry as the first African-American Best Actress winner and Denzel Washington became the first black man to win a Best Actor Oscar since Sidney Poitier in 1963.

1944 - Best Supporting Actor winner Barry Fitzgerald knocked the head off his wartime plaster Oscar while practicing his golf swing. - Photo: Oscar.go.com

1944 – Best Supporting Actor winner Barry Fitzgerald knocked the head off his wartime plaster Oscar while practicing his golf swing. – Photo: Oscar.go.com

3.  Due to metal shortages during World War II, the Oscar statuettes were made of plaster for three years. The current rendition is made of bronze and then gold plated.

4.  Meryl Streep holds the record for the most total Oscar nominations for acting, with 20 nominations (and three wins: two for Best Actress, and one for Best Supporting Actress)  

5.  The male actor with the most Oscar nominations is Jack Nicholson, who was nominated 12 times (winning three times: twice for Best Actor and once for Best Supporting Actor.)

6.  Most nominated living actor to never win an oscar?  Glenn Close!  This fact might not be true after this Sunday…

7.  The length of awards shows can sometimes be blamed on the length of acceptance speeches and that was certainly the case in 1942 when Greer Garson gave a speech that ran for nearly six minutes after winning Best Actress for Mrs. Miniver.

8.  The shortest speech was given 20 years later by Patty Duke who was just sixteen-years-old when she was named Best Supporting Actress for the Miracle Worker, she accepted her award with a gracious and tearful “thank you” and walked off stage.

9.  If you want to show your kids a winning Best Picture you won’t have much to choose from, Oliver is the only G rated movie!  

10. Midnight Cowboy in 1970 and A Clockwork Orange in 1972 were the last X-rated movies to win Best Picture.  

11. Speaking of X-rated, the awards show had its one and only streaker when Robert Opel bound across the stage at the 46th Awards show behind David Niven while flashing a peace sign.  

Producer Jordan Horowitz displays the Best Picture winner.

After the wrong Best Picture Announcement producer Jordan Horowitz displays the correct Best Picture winner. Photo: Oscar.go.com

12. The 2017 La La Land Best Picture mishap isn’t the only mixup to hit the Oscars. Sammy Davis Jr. received the wrong envelope announced the wrong name for the winner of Scoring of Music at the 36th Academy Awards in 1964.

13. Tatum O’neal was the youngest oscar winner at age 10 for her role in Paper Moon.

14. Another young lady was only nine when she got her first acting break in the movie The Piano.  Anna Paquin beat out 5000 girls, including her sister for her role. Her only acting experience?  A small role as a skunk in the school play. Paquin went on to win Best Supporting Actress in 1994 for her role in the film.  

Hattie McDaniel's with her Oscar for Gone with the Wind.  Photo: Oscar.go.com

Hattie McDaniel’s with her Oscar for Gone with the Wind. Photo: Oscar.go.com

15. In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to be nominated for an Oscar—then the first African American artist to win an Oscar—when she took home the Best Supporting Actress for her work in Gone with the Wind.

16. Walt Disney is the most honored person in Oscar history. He received 59 nominations and 26 competitive awards throughout his career.

17. $400–> This is the current value of the 24-karat gold-plated Oscar statuette.

Angelina Jolie on the famous red carpet, Photo: oscars.org

Angelina Jolie on the famous red carpet, Photo: oscars.org

18. The “red” carpet isn’t a traditional red, it is more like a burgundy and the exclusive shade is called Academy Red.  It is considered a flattering color for the A-listers who are photographed and filmed on it.  

19. Is it the Academy Awards or the Oscars?  Well, both, when the Academy librarian thought the statuettes looked like her Uncle Oscar, the nickname stuck!

Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture, Photo: oscar.go.com

Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture, Photo: oscar.go.com

20. Most expensive gown ever?  That was a gown lent to Jennifer Lawrence in 2013, the Dior Couture creation was valued at 4 million dollars.  The design was difficult to walk in causing Lawrence to trip as she went up the stairs to accept her award.

21. During the 61st Academy Awards in 1989 the Academy replaced the trademark phrase “And the winner is…” with the phrase “and the Oscar goes to…” so as to take the competitiveness out of the show, they have since changed back to their trademark “And, the winner is…”  

22. From 1940 to 1978, Bob Hope hosted the Oscars 18 times but there will be no host for the 91st Academy Awards this year which will air on ABC at 5 p.m. PT 8 p.m. ET.  Live coverage from the red carpet will begin at 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 pm ET.

So, until then get the house ready, prep the food and chill your Piper-Heidsieck it’s almost awards night!

Are you going to tune in Sunday?  Are you throwing a viewing party? Tell us all about it in the comments section!