The Oscars are undoubtedly one of the most glamorous events in the Hollywood film industry. It’s a night that is eagerly awaited upon by countless potential winners and millions of viewers around the world. With only a month left until the 88th edition, predictions are already underway. To make your wait a little more bearable, we bring you a list of fascinating Oscar facts ever. Enjoy!
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1. We are all familiar with the agony of watching Leonardo DiCaprio lose yet another Oscar despite six nominations and immense talent. Still, it is Walt Disney who holds the title of the most nominated person alive. Throughout his entire career, beginning with Flowers and Trees in 1932, Disney has amassed an astonishing 59 Oscar nominations and has won 22 of them. Composer John Williams follows him with 50 nominations.
2. The longest acceptance speech award ever was given by Greer Garson in 1943, when she won the award for the Best Actress for “Mrs. Miniver.” Coincidently, she began her speech by saying, “..thank you. That is really all there is to say, but, as this is after all the opportunity of a lifetime, I hope you won’t mind if I try to expand on that word just, just a little.” If you happen to have a lot of spare time, you can watch the entire speech over here.
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3. The first-ever Oscars were held in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. Currently, an average room at the hotel costs somewhere between $255 to $490. Since then, the ceremony has graced over ten different venues and is currently held in the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
4. Initially, the Oscars’ highly coveted list of winners was only shared with certain news agencies to be published the next morning. However, in 1940 the LA Times broke this agreement and published the list before the ceremony. Since then, the results are announced through the sealed envelop, which became a tradition in all the other award ceremonies.
5. One of the initial things a first-time Academy Award winner remarks upon is the sheer weight of the statuette. It is believed to weigh 8.5 pounds, making it only slightly lighter than an adult Maltese dog!
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6. The youngest person ever to receive an Oscar award is Shirley Temple. She won the honorary Academy Juvenile Award in 1934 for her impressive film career that began at the age of 3. Since then, she has served as the United States Ambassador in Ghana and represented the United States at a United States General Assembly session.
7. Marion Cotillard is the only actor to win an acting award in the french language. In 2007, she won the Best Actress award for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in the film La Vie En Rose, which was entirely in French. She was later nominated for another Best Actress award for Two Days, One Night in 2015, making her the fourth actress nominated for the award in a foreign language film.
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8. As a tribute to the awards’ gigantic history, the red carpet is flanked by a pair of pillars that contain the name of the winners of every Best Picture award. Astoundingly, there is enough space to keep adding winners to these pillars until 2071.
9. Along with being entrusted with counting votes, the people at PriceWaterHouseCoopers are also one of the few who know the results before the show. In case of a Steve Harvey-like incident, they are instructed to memorize all 24 winners and go on stage to stop the show. So far, no such incident has ever occurred.
10. The only time the Academy Award statuettes have ever been robbed was in 2000 when two men stole a crate filled with 55 statuettes. Only three of them have been recovered so far, one of which was found during a drug investigation in 2003.
There it is 10 facts that most of us probably did not know about the Oscars.
Who else is desperately waiting for the Oscars this year? Let us know in the comment section below.
Last Updated on by hamna
