Here are a bunch of random facts about the Academy Awards. Some are quite surprising. which one shocked you the most?
Top winner & nominee for Visual Effects
- Dennis Muren – 8 wins, 15 nominations
Won: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Innerspace, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Jurassic Park
Kathleen Kennedy has been nominated as producer 8 times, but never won
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES DIRECTED BY WOMEN
Out of 11, only 3 were nominated for directing and only 1 won
- Zero Dark Thirty [Kathryn Bigelow was NOT nominated for directing]
- The Kids Are All Right [Lisa Cholodenko was NOT nominated for directing]
- Winter’s Bone [Debra Granik was NOT nominated for directing]
- The Hurt Locker [Kathryn Bigleow won for directing]
- An Education [Lone Scherfig was NOT nominated for directing]
- Little Miss Sunshine [Valerie Faris (and Jonathan Dayton) were NOT nominated for directing]
- Lost in Translation [Sofia Coppola was nominated for directing]
- The Piano [Jane Campion was nominated for directing]
- The Prince of Tides [Barbra Streisand was NOT nominated for directing]
- Awakenings [Penny Marshall was NOT nominated for directing]
- Children of a Lesser God [Randa Haines was NOT nominated for directing]
Top 3 winners & nominees of Best Makeup
- Rick Baker – 7 wins, 11 nominations
- Greg Cannom – 3 wins, 9 nominations
- Ve Neill – 3 wins, 8 nominations
Top winner & nominee of Best Song
- Sammy Cahn – 4 wins, 26 nominations
Top 2 winners & nominees of Best Score
- Alfred Newman – 9 wins, 41 nominations
- John Williams – 5 wins, 44 nominations
THE ONLY SEQUELS TO WIN BEST PICTURE
- The Godfather Part II (1974)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
THE ONLY X-RATED FILM TO WIN BEST PICTURE
- Midnight Cowboy (1969)
[The film was subsequently edited and given an R rating in 1971.]
THE ONLY FILMS TO WIN THREE ACADEMY AWARDS FOR ACTING
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Network (1976)
[To date, no film has won all four of the Academy Awards for acting.]
THE ONLY PERFORMERS TO WIN CONSECUTIVE ACADEMY AWARDS
- Luise Rainer, 1936 and 1937
- Spencer Tracy, 1937 and 1938
- Katharine Hepburn, 1967 and 1968
- Jason Robards, 1976 and 1977
- Tom Hanks, 1993 and 1994
Top winner & nominee for Writing
- Woody Allen – 3 wins, 16 nominations
THE ONLY PERSON TO WIN AN OSCAR FOR PLAYING A MEMBER OF THE OPPOSITE SEX
Linda Hunt, 1983, Best Supporting Actress for The Year of Living Dangerously.
THE ONLY THREE-GENERATION OSCAR-WINNING FAMILIES
- The Hustons. Walter Huston won Best Supporting Actor in 1948; son John Huston won Best Director and Best Screenplay in 1948; and granddaughter Anjelica Huston won Best Supporting Actress in 1985.
- The Coppolas. Carmine Coppola won for Original Dramatic Score in 1974; son Francis Ford Coppola’s first win was for Original Screenplay in 1970; and granddaughter Sofia Coppola won for Original Screenplay in 2003.
THE ONLY BROTHER AND SISTER TO WIN ACTING OSCARS
- Lionel Barrymore, 1930/31
- Ethel Barrymore, 1944
THE ONLY SISTERS TO WIN ACTING OSCARS
- Joan Fontaine, 1941
- Olivia de Havilland, 1946 and 1949
THE ONLY BROTHERS NOMINATED FOR ACTING OSCARS
- River Phoenix, 1988
- Joaquin Phoenix, 2000, 2005 and 2012
THE ONLY MARRIED COUPLES TO WIN ACTING OSCARS
- Laurence Olivier (1948) and Vivien Leigh (1951).
[They were not yet married when Leigh won her first Oscar in 1939.] - Paul Newman (1986) and Joanne Woodward (1957).
[They were married in 1958, prior to Woodward receiving 1957’s Best Actress award.]
The only Oscar winner with parents who both received Oscars
Liza Minnelli. Her mother Judy Garland received an Honorary miniature Oscar in 1939; father Vincente Minnelli won Best Director in 1958; Liza Minnelli won Best Actress in 1972.
The most Oscar-nominated Family
The Newmans, with 88 nominations and counting. Brothers Alfred Newman (43 nominations), Emil Newman (1), and Lionel Newman (11); second generation, Randy Newman (20), David Newman (1), and Thomas Newman (12).
3 films that won Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor and Writing
- 1934 – It Happened One Night
- 1975 – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- 1991 – The Silence of the Lambs
5 films nominated in over 4 categories, winning ALL
- 11) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
- 9) Gigi (1958)
- 9) The Last Emperor (1987)
- 5) It Happened One Night (1934)
- 4) The Matrix (1999)
5 films nominated over in over 10 categories, winning NONE
- 11) The Turning Point (1977)
- 11) The Color Purple (1985)
- 10) Gangs of New York (2002)
- 10) True Grit (2010)
- 10) American Hustle (2013)
3 films winning 11 awards
- Ben-Hur, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1959 (12 nominations)
- Titanic, 20th Century Fox and Paramount, 1997 (14 nominations)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, New Line, 2003 (11 nominations)
France, Italy and Spain are the 3 most nominated and awarded countries in the Foreign Language Award
- France – nominated 36 times, awarded 11
- Italy – nominated 28 times, awarded 9
- Spain – nominated 29 times, awarded 4
Top 10 Youngest Winners
- Best Actress 21-26
- Best Actor 29-34
- Best Supporting Actress 10-27
- Best Supporting Actor 20-35
These actors have been nominated at least 5 times, but never won
- GLENN CLOSE (3 actress; 3 supporting)
- AMY ADAMS (1 actress; 4 supporting)
Films winning both Best Actress and Best Actor
- 1997 – Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt — As Good As It Gets
- 1991 – Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster — The Silence of the Lambs
- 1981 – Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn — On Golden Pond
- 1978 – Jon Voight, Jane Fonda — Coming Home
- 1976 – Faye Dunaway — Network
- 1975 – Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher — One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- 1934 – Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert — It Happened One Night
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