Entertainment/Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry.
The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held on 16 May 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honour outstanding film achievements of 1927 and 1928. It was hosted by actor Douglas Fairbanks and director William C. deMille.
The statuette - the official name of the Oscar statuette is the Academy Award of Merit. Made of gold-plated Britannia metal on a black metal base, it is 13.5in (34cm) tall and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five spokes each represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians. MGM's art director Cedric Gibbons, one of the original Academy members, supervised the design of the award trophy. Mexican actor Emilio ‘El Indio’ Fernandez posed naked to create what today is known as the ‘Oscar’. The statuettes were cast, moulded, and polished by Chicago's R. S. Owens & Company, who lost the Oscars statuettes contract to its New York rival, Polich Tallix in 2016. It was named by Margaret Herrick, the Academy librarian, who remarked in 1931 (upon seeing the statuettes), "Why it looks like my Uncle Oscar!".
In 2002, the Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre) became the current venue of the presentation.
The official Oscars after-party is the Governors Ball.
The Academy Honorary Award, instituted in 1950 and previously called the Special Award, is given annually by the Board of Governors.
The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award is awarded periodically at the Governors Awards ceremonies to "creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production". First awarded in 1938.
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is awarded periodically at the Governors Awards ceremonies for an individual's "outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes". First awarded in 1957’.
Chronological
Note – all dates are the years when the awards ceremonies took place, honouring the films of the previous year.
Tables contain ‘Big 4’ awards and selected additional awards.
Best Picture was known as Outstanding Picture (1929), Outstanding Production (1930-1940). Outstanding Motion Picture (1941-1943), Best Motion Picture (1944-1961), Best Picture (1962-)
1929 – 1st Awards
| Best Picture | Wings
Sunrise |
| Best Director | Lewis Milestone (Two Arabian Knights)
Frank Borzage (7th Heaven) |
| Best Actor | Emil Jannings (The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh) |
| Best Actress | Janet Gaynor (7th Heaven, Street Angel and Sunrise) |
The awards ceremony honoured the best films from August 1927 to July 1928 and took place in May 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. It was hosted by Douglas Fairbanks and William C. deMille. Winners were announced three months ahead of the ceremony.
There were two film awards. Wings was Outstanding Picture and Sunrise was Unique and Artistic Picture.
Warner Bros received a special honorary award “for producing The Jazz Singer (1927), the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry."
There were two director awards. Lewis Milestone won the Osar for Best Directing (Comedy Picture) and Frank Borzage won the Oscar for Best Directing (Dramatic Picture).
The rumour alleging Rin Tin Tin won the most votes in the Best Actor category is an urban legend.
1930 – 2nd Awards
| Best Picture | The Broadway Melody |
| Best Director | Frank Lloyd (The Divine Lady) |
| Best Actor | Warner Baxter (In Old Arizona) |
| Best Actress | Mary Pickford (Coquette) |
The awards ceremony honoured the best films from August 1928 to July 1929 and took place in April 1930 at the Ambassador Hotel and was hosted by William C. deMille. This is the only year in which no film won more than one Oscar.
The Broadway Melody was the first talkie to win Best Picture.
1931 – 3rd Awards
| Best Picture | All Quiet on the Western Front |
| Best Director | Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) |
| Best Actor | George Arliss (Disraeli) |
| Best Actress | Norma Shearer (The Divorcee) |
The awards ceremony honoured the best films from August 1929 to July 1930 and took place in November 1930 at the Ambassador Hotel and was hosted by Conrad Nagel.
Best Sound Recording award was introduced.
George Arliss was the first British actor to win an Academy Award.
All Quiet on the Western Front was the first screen adaptation of a novel to win Best Picture.
1932 – 4th Awards
| Best Picture | Cimarron |
| Best Director | Norman Taurog (Skippy) |
| Best Actor | Lionel Barrymore (A Free Soul) |
| Best Actress | Marie Dressler (Min and Bill) |
The awards ceremony honoured the best films released between August 1930, and July 1931 and took place in November 1931 at the Biltmore Hotel and was hosted by Lawrence Grant.
Cimarron was the first Western to win the Best Picture award. The next Western to win Best Picture was Dances with Wolves.
Lionel Barrymore became the first person to be nominated in multiple categories, having been nominated for Best Director in 1930.
Nine-year-old Jackie Cooper was the first child actor to receive a nomination, for Skippy.
1933 – 5th Awards
| Best Picture | Grand Hotel |
| Best Director | Frank Borzage (Bad Girl) |
| Best Actor | Wallace Beery (The Champ)
Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) |
| Best Actress | Helen Hayes (The Sin of Madelon Claudet) |
The awards ceremony honoured the best films released between August 1931, and July 1932 and took place in November 1932 at the Ambassador Hotel and was hosted by Lionel Barrymore and Conrad Nagel.
Short film awards were introduced.
Grand Hotel is the only film to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture without it or its participants being nominated in any other category.
There was a tie for Best Actor, a unique event in Academy history.
1934 – 6th Awards
| Best Picture | Cavalcade |
| Best Director | Frank Lloyd (Cavalcade) |
| Best Actor | Charles Laughton (The Private Life of Henry VIII) |
| Best Actress | Katharine Hepburn (Morning Glory) |
The awards ceremony honoured the best films from August 1932 to December 1933 and took place in March 1934 at the Ambassador Hotel and was hosted by Will Rogers.
Walt Disney became the first person to win consecutive Academy Awards, winning Best Short Subject, Cartoon after having won the same award in 1933
Diana Wynyard was the first British actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her role in Cavalcade.
1935 – 7th Awards
| Best Picture | It Happened One Night |
| Best Director | Frank Capra (It Happened One Night) |
| Best Actor | Clark Gable (It Happened One Night) |
| Best Actress | Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night) |
| Best Original Song | The Continental (The Gay Divorcee) |
The awards ceremony honoured the best films from 1934 and took place in February 1935 at the Biltmore Hotel and was hosted by Irvin S. Cobb. As of this ceremony, the Academy's award eligibility period coincided with the calendar year.
It Happened One Night was the first film to win Oscars for Best Actor and Actress. It was the first film ever to win the ‘Big Five’ Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay).
Best Original Song and Best Original Score award categories were introduced.
Six-year-old Shirley Temple became the first child star to be honoured with a miniature Juvenile Oscar.
1936 – 8th Awards
| Best Picture | Mutiny on the Bounty |
| Best Director | John Ford (The Informer) |
| Best Actor | Victor McLaglen (The Informer) |
| Best Actress | Bette Davis (Dangerous) |
| Best Original Song | Lullaby of Broadway (Gold Diggers of 1935) |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | The Informer – Dudley Nichols |
Took place in March 1936 at the Biltmore Hotel and was hosted by Frank Capra.
First year in which the awards were called "Oscars".
Mutiny on the Bounty became the only film to receive three nominations for Best Actor (Clark Gable, Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone).
Dudley Nichols was the first person to refuse an Oscar. He boycotted the ceremony because of ongoing conflicts between the Academy and the Writer's Guild.
1937 – 9th Awards
| Best Picture | The Great Ziegfield |
| Best Director | Frank Capra (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town) |
| Best Actor | Paul Muni (The Story of Louis Pasteur) |
| Best Actress | Luise Rainer (The Great Ziegfeld) |
| Best Supporting Actor | Walter Brennan (Come and Get It) |
| Best Supporting Actress | Gale Sondergaard (Anthony Adverse) |
Took place in March 1937 at the Biltmore Hotel and was hosted by George Jessel.
This year marked the introduction of the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories.
Luise Rainer played Anna Held, who is the first real life person to be portrayed in a role which would win the Academy Award for Best Actress.
1938 – 10th Awards
| Best Picture | The Life of Emile Zola |
| Best Director | Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth) |
| Best Actor | Spencer Tracy (Captains Courageous) |
| Best Actress | Luise Rainer (The Good Earth) |
Took place in March 1938 at the Biltmore Hotel and was hosted by Bob Burns.
Luise Rainer became the first actress to win two Academy Awards.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs received only one nomination, for Best Original Score.
Edgar Bergen was given an Academy Honorary Award (in the form of a wooden Oscar statuette with a movable mouth) for his ventriloquist’s dummy named Charlie McCarthy.
1939 – 11th Awards
| Best Picture | You Can’t Take It with You |
| Best Director | Frank Capra (You Can’t Take It with You) |
| Best Actor | Spencer Tracy (Boys Town) |
| Best Actress | Bette Davis (Jezebel) |
| Best Supporting Actor | Walter Brennan (Kentucky) |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Pygmalion – George Bernard Shaw |
Took place in February 1939 at the Biltmore Hotel with no host.
George Bernard Shaw's win made him the first person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award.
Erich Korngold's Academy Award for his score to The Adventures of Robin Hood marked the first time an Oscar was awarded to the composer rather than the head of the studio music department.
Frank Capra became the first person to win three Best Director awards.
1940 – 12th Awards
| Best Picture | Gone with the Wind |
| Best Director | Victor Fleming (Gone with the Wind) |
| Best Actor | Robert Donat (Goodbye, Mr. Chips) |
| Best Actress | Vivien Leigh (Gone with the Wind) |
| Best Supporting Actress | Hattie McDaniel (Gone with the Wind) |
| Best Screenplay | Gone with the Wind – Sidney Howard |
| Best Original Song | Over the Rainbow (The Wizard of Oz) |
Took place in February 1940 at the Ambassador Hotel and was hosted by Bob Hope - first of nineteen times he hosted the event.
Gone with the Wind had 13 nominations and won eight Oscars. Longest Best Picture winner (234 minutes). Hattie McDaniel was the first black actress to win an Oscar.
Gone with the Wind was the first colour film to win Best Picture.
Academy Juvenile Award was presented to Judy Garland for The Wizard of Oz.
Introduction of Best Visual Effects category.
Sidney Howard was the first posthumous winner of an Oscar, for writing Gone with the Wind.
1941 – 13th Awards
| Best Picture | Rebecca |
| Best Director | John Ford (The Grapes of Wrath) |
| Best Actor | James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story) |
| Best Actress | Ginger Rogers (Kitty Foyle) |
| Best Supporting Actor | Walter Brennan (The Westerner) |
| Best Original song | When You Wish Upon a Star (Pinocchio) |
| Best Original Screenplay | The Great McGinty – Preston Sturges |
Took place in February 1941 at the Biltmore Hotel and was hosted by Bob Hope.
First year that sealed envelopes were used to keep the names of the winners secret.
Alfred Hitchcock won his only Best Picture Oscar for Rebecca.
Walter Brennan won his third Best Supporting Actor award.
Pinocchio was the first animated feature film to win competitive Oscars, for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.
Best Original Screenplay was introduced at this ceremony.
1942 – 14th Awards
| Best Picture | How Green Was My Valley |
| Best Director | John Ford (How Green Was My Valley) |
| Best Actor | Gary Cooper (Sergeant York) |
| Best Actress | Joan Fontaine (Suspicion) |
Took place in February 1942 at the Biltmore Hotel and was hosted by Bob Hope.
Citizen Kane was nominated for nine awards but won only one, for Best Original Screenplay
Sergeant York was nominated for eleven awards and won two (Best Actor and Best Film Editing)
Joan Fontaine is the only actress to ever win the Best Actress Oscar in a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock (Suspicion). This is the only Oscar-winning performance in a Hitchcock film.
Sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland were both nominated for Best Actress.
1943 – 15th Awards
| Best Picture | Mrs. Miniver |
| Best Director | William Wyler (Mrs. Miniver) |
| Best Actor | James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy) |
| Best Actress | Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver) |
| Best Original Song | White Christmas (Holiday Inn) |
Took place in March 1943 at the Ambassador Hotel and was hosted by Bob Hope.
Greer Garson holds the record for the longest acceptance speech, at five minutes and 30 seconds.
Irving Berlin presented himself with an Oscar after opening the envelope for Best Original Song and seeing that White Christmas had won.
James Cagney won his only Oscar for his role in Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Best Documentary Feature Film was introduced, and there was a four-way tie including John Ford’s The Battle of Midway, filmed on the island of Midway during the battle and Frank Capra’s Prelude to War.
1944 – 16th Awards
| Best Picture | Casablanca |
| Best Director | Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) |
| Best Actor | Paul Lukas (Watch on the Rhine) |
| Best Actress | Jennifer Jones (The Song of Bernadette) |
| Best Short Film – Cartoons | The Yankee Doodle Mouse – Fred Quimby |
Took place in March 1944 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Jack Benny hosted the event and it lasted less than 30 minutes.
Michael Curtiz won his only Oscar for Best Director for Casablanca.
The Yankee Doodle Mouse was the first of seven Oscars won by Tom and Jerry cartoons.
1945 – 17th Awards
| Best Picture | Going My Way |
| Best Director | Leo McCarey (Going My Way) |
| Best Actor | Bing Crosby (Going My Way) |
| Best Actress | Ingrid Bergman (Gaslight) |
| Best Supporting Actress | Ethel Barrymore (None but the Lonely Heart) |
| Best Original Song | Swinging on a Star (Going My Way) |
Took place in March 1945 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre and was hosted by Bob Hope and John Cromwell. It was first time the complete awards ceremony was broadcast nationally on the radio.
1946 – 18th Awards
| Best Picture | The Lost Weekend |
| Best Director | Billy Wilder (The Lost Weekend) |
| Best Actor | Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend) |
| Best Actress | Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce) |
| Best Original Song | It Might as Well Be Spring (State Fair) |
Took place in March 1946 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre and was hosted by Bob Hope and James Stewart.
Joan Crawford was absent from the ceremony.
It Might as Well Be Spring won an Oscar for Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein.
1947 – 19th Awards
| Best Picture | The Best Years of Our Lives |
| Best Director | William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives) |
| Best Actor | Fredric March (The Best Years of Our Lives) |
| Best Actress | Olivia de Havilland (To Each his Own) |
Took place in March 1947 at the Shrine Auditorium and was hosted by Jack Benny.
1948 – 20th Awards
| Best Picture | Gentleman’s Agreement |
| Best Director | Elia Kazan (Gentleman’s Agreement) |
| Best Actor | Ronald Colman (A Double Life) |
| Best Actress | Loretta Young (The Farmer’s Daughter) |
| Best Supporting Actor | Edmund Gwenn (Miracle on 34th Street) |
| Best Original Song | Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (Song of the South) |
Took place in March 1948 at the Shrine Auditorium and was hosted by Agnes Moorehead and Dick Powell.
1949 – 21st Awards
| Best Picture | Hamlet |
| Best Director | John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) |
| Best Actor | Laurence Olivier (Hamlet) |
| Best Actress | Jane Wyman (Johnny Belinda) |
| Best Supporting Actor | Walter Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) |
Took place in March 1949 at the Academy Theatre and was hosted by Robert Montgomery.
Laurence Olivier was the first person to win an Oscar for Best Actor in a film which he also directed, for Hamlet.
Hamlet was the first British film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
Walter Huston was the father of John Huston.
Academy Award for Best Costume Design was first given. Initially, separate award categories were established for black-and-white films and colour films. The two categories merged in 1967.
1950 – 22nd Awards
| Best Picture | All the King’s Men |
| Best Director | Joseph L. Manciewicz (A Letter to Three Wives) |
| Best Actor | Broderick Crawford (All the King’s Men) |
| Best Actress | Olivia de Havilland (The Heiress) |
| Best Original Song | Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Neptune’s Daughter) |
Took place in March 1950 at the Pantages Theatre and was hosted by Paul Douglas.
