Academy Award

Current: 94th Academy Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in the American and International film industry

The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are the best-known movie awards in the United States. The awards have been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1929. The awards ceremony takes place each year in late February or early March in Los Angeles, California.

History

At the end of the 1920s, the American film industry was in a crisis. When the radio was invented, people didn't go to the cinema as often as they used to. The owners of the studios had problems. They had to pay the workers a good salary, but that was impossible at that time. Many people fought for a good salary and a good working time.

The director of the successful Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer-Studios, Louis B. Mayer, met two good friends because he wanted to speak about the problem.

Oscar statue

Naming

In the first years of the award, the trophy was called the Academy Award of Merit. The origin of the name Oscar is not clear. It is certain that the name was used in 1931.

There may be up to four people that the "Oscar" is named after. The former board secretary of the Academy Margaret Herrick said: "He looks like my uncle Oscar!" Bette Davis said that the statue looked like her first husband Harmon "Oscar" Nelson. The film columnist Sidney Skolsky said that he was the name-giver, and the fourth person was Walt Disney.

It is said that Oscar is not the official name of the statue, but the nickname is trademark-protected.

Trophy

The statue is around 13 ¹⁄₂ inches tall and weighs about 8¹⁄₂ pounds.

Records

The most successful films

Gone with the Wind from 1939 was the most successful film for a long time with ten Oscars. Then, in 1960, Ben-Hur won eleven Oscars. In 1998, Titanic also won eleven Oscars, so they were in a tie. Six years later, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won eleven Oscars.

The five categories 'Best Picture', 'Best Director', 'Best Actor', 'Best Actress' and 'Best Original Screenplay' are the most important categories, and they are called the 'Big Five'. There are only three films that won all of these categories: It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Silence of the Lambs.

All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land all hold the record for the highest number of nominationsː 14 nominations.

The most successful film workers

Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) has the most awards as a performer with 4 Oscars in the category of 'Best Actress'. Meryl Streep has the most nominations among performers with 21 Oscar nominations. Jack Nicholson, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Walter Brennan (1894–1974) have three Academy Awards each, the most for men. Nicholson also has the nomination record for men with 12 nominations.

The person who has the most Academy Awards is Walt Disney (1901–1966) with 26, including 4 Honorary Oscars and 37 nominations. Moreover, he won 4 awards in 1954, so he got the most awards in one year. The woman who has the most Oscars is the costume designer Edith Head (1897–1981). She has 8 Oscars and 27 nominations. The living people with the most Oscars are the composer Alan Menken (8 Oscars) and special effects artist Dennis Muren (8 Oscars for best visual effects, plus one for technical achievement and 15 nominations). The cartoon characters Tom and Jerry are the cartoon movie stars with have the most awards with 7.

Academy Award Media

Plaster War-time Oscar plaque (1943), State Central Museum of Cinema, Moscow (ru)
The 31st Academy Awards, Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 1959
The 81st Academy Awards, Dolby Theatre, 2009
The 95th Academy Awards, Dolby Theatre, 2023
Academy Awards Viewership 1974–2023, in millions