Curiosities Of The Oscars

Recently, the ceremony of the Oscar award was celebrated. They are the most famous awards in the world. But did you know that...? The first time that the Oscars were celebrated it was 1928, and was in an hotel of Hollywood, the Roosevelt Hotel. During the first years the awards were given in hotels until 1943, when the number of attendees was bigger, and since then they were celebrated in theaters. The Mexican film director Emilio "El Indio" Fernandez was the model for the statuette. Reluctant at first, Fernandez was finally convinced to pose naked to create the figure. Until 1931 the trophy had no name, and its name comes from the Academy's Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, that commented that this statuette reminded her of her uncle Oscar. A journalist used that name Oscar to write about the award that Katherine Hepburn had won. The Academy adopted this name and used it officially. Walt Disney was the person that was nominee for a higher number of times: up to 59 times and got 26 Oscars. Katherine Hepburn was one of the most recognized actress by these cinematographic awards, but she never attended to receive them. She only attended one time, to give an award. In 1974, a nude man interrupted the ceremony, carrying only a symbol of peace (a dove). The presenter, David Niven, made a joke and the public laughed. In 2000, 55 statuettes were stolen and recovered in a garbage dump of Los Angeles. The citizen that found them was invited to the ceremony. To make each one of the statuettes, the work of 12 people during 20 hours is needed. Alfred Hitchcock never got an Oscar as the best director in spite of having a brilliant career. He only got an honorary Oscar. This was also the case of the director Orson Welles, that only got 2, or Stanley Kubrick, that only got 1. Or Martin Scorsese, just 1. The first African-American woman to win an Oscar was Hattie McDaniel, for the play of Mammy in "Gone With The Wind". The youngest winner of an Oscar was Shirley Temple when she was 6 years old and the oldest woman was Gloria Stuart for "Titanic". The oldest man was George Burns, winer of an Oscar when he was 87 years old. The actor Pieter Finch obtained a posthumous Oscar. He had died only some weeks before the celebration of the awards. A similar case has just happened this year, with Heath Ledger winning an Oscar for his performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight". -Emma Alvarez- © 2008 by Emma Alvarez. Link to this post without copying the text. Some Related Posts: If you liked this post, subscribe to Emma Alvarez Site or give yourself a gift Stumble it! Add me to your del.icio.us network