The Academy Awards is the
granddaddy of all awards shows -- the oldest of its kind, dating way back to
1929. As we get set for the 87th annual ceremony, here are 10 unusual facts
about Hollywood's most prestigious awards show.
1. A classic TV witch was the first
female host of the ceremony. Yes, long before she starred as witchy
troublemaker Endora on the 1960s sitcom "Bewitched," Agnes Moorehead
was a busy movie actress, appearing in more than 70 films and garnering four
Oscar nominations. In 1948, she and Dick Powell hosted the Oscars, making her the first female co-host of the ceremony.
2. Speaking of Oscar hosts, there
have been some doozies. In 2011, the odd pairing of James Franco and Annd
Hathaway was slammed by critcis, but the strangest Oscar co-host of all
time has to be Donald Duck. In 1958, the animated icon teamed up with Bob
Hope, Jack Lemmon, David Niven, Rosalind Russell, and James Stewart to co-host
the 30th Academy Awards.
3. In the early 1970s, both George
C. Scott and Marlon Brando "refused" their Oscar Awards. Scott didn't
want any part of the "two-hour meat parade" and Brando had so many
criticisms of the entertainment industry's mistreatment of Native Americans
that he sent a 26-year-old Indian activist, Sacheen Littlefeather, to the 1973
ceremony to refuse the Oscar for him.
4. One of the most notorious Oscar
moments came at the 46th Academy Awards in 1974, when David Nivens' Best
Picture intro was interrupted by a streaker. As the audience erupted with
laughter as the naked man sprinted across the stage, Nivens came up with this
quick ad-lib: "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh
that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his
shortcomings?" Five years later
the streaker, Robert Opel, was murdered during an attempted robbery.
5. Cher’s 1988 Best Actress Oscar
win wasn't a total shocker (although she beat out some stiff competition,
including Meryl Streep and Glenn Close), but the 'Moonstruc" actress's outfit for the stuffy awards
show certainly was. Designer Bob Mackie outdid himself -- or should we say
underdid?
6. Oscar attire ranges from the
beautiful (think Berry) to the bizarre (think Bjork). But the most unusual
Oscar dress of all time goes to 1995 Best Costume Design nominee Lizzy
Gardiner. According to Yahoo! Movies, Gardiner's gown was made up of nearly 300
American Express credit cards embossed with her name on them. Check it out here:
7. There have been a couple of
specially made Oscar statuettes. According to Parade,
ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's 1938 honorary Oscar was made of wood, in a nod to
his puppet Charlie McCarthy. And Walt Disney's 1939 honorary Oscar for
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" included one full-size statuette
and seven mini ones.
8. "Midnight Cowboy" is
the only X-rated film to ever win the Oscar for Best Picture. In 1969, the
Motion Picture Association of America gave the Jon Voight/Dustin Hoffman movie
the ominous mature-audience rating, but the movie was re-rated R in 1971.
9. Alfred Hitchcock delivered the
shortest Oscar speech on record. Upon receiving the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial
Award at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968, the legendary filmmaker simply said,
"Thank you." (He added "very much indeed" as he walked
away.) You can see Hitchcock's quickie speech here:
10. 2013 marked a name tweak. The
phrase "Academy Awards" quietly began to be phased out, and there wasn’t a big brouhaha
about that year’s number (85), either. Instead, the ceremony was simply called
"The Oscars" and all posters and press releases reflected that. Of
course, most of us have been calling it the Oscars all along.
