11:29AM, Feb 20, 2009
Thousands of facts have accumulated in the Oscars' 81 years. Here are 20 of the best...
1. The first movie to win 1927-28 Best Picture was Wings.
2. Two actors have refused their Oscars - George C. Scott for Patton and Marlon Brando for The Godfather.
3. The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King is the film with the longest title to have won Best Picture.
4. Only three women have ever been nominated for Best Director. Sophia Coppola for Lost in Translation in 2004. Jane Campion for The Piano in 1994. Lillian Wertmuller for Seven Beauties in 1977.
5. Meryl Streep has won two Oscars - Best Actress for Sophie's Choice and Best Supporting Actress for Kramer Vs. Kramer. But, she holds the record for the most number of nominations - currently 14.
6. Katharine Hepburn still holds the record for most number of wins, with 4 victories.
7. Only three films have won the 5 big awards - Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Script. It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Silence of the Lambs.
8. Generally regarded as the best film ever made, Citizen Kane was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Director. It won just one, for Best Original Screenplay.
9. The most regular Oscar host was Bob Hope, with 18 hosting or co-hosting credits between 1939 and 1977.
10. The Color Purple still stands as the film with most number of nominations, 11, and not a single win.
11. Speaking of 11, three films currently hold the record for most Oscars won (which is 11). They are Titanic, Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King, and Ben Hur.
12. Walt Disney holds the record for most wins, with 26. Helps if you own the studio.
13. Shrek was the first film to win Best Animated Feature when the category was introduced in 2001.
14. Julia Roberts forgot to thank the real Erin Brokovich when accepting Best Actress playing, er, Erin Brokovich.
15. The Reader director Stephen Daldry is the only person to have been nominated Best Director for every film he has made (three in total).
16. Heath Ledger is expected to posthumously win Best Supporting Actor as The Joker in The Dark Knight. The only previous person to have won a posthumous award was Peter Finch, Best Actor for Network.
17. The first black man to win Best Actor was Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field in 1963. Hattie McDaniel was the first black person to win an Oscar; Best Supporting Actress for Gone with the Wind. And in 2002 Halle Berry became the first black woman to win Best Actress, for Monster's Ball.
18. Searching for "academy awards" in Google, brings up 29.8 million results.
19. The oldest person to win an Oscar was Jessica Tandy, Best Actress for Driving Miss Daisy. She was 80 years and 292 days when receiving the award.
20. And the youngest was Tatum O'Neal, Best Supporting Actress for Paper Moon. Aged 10 when she received the award. Although Shirley Temple did win an honorary Oscar aged 6 years old.
