Happy 90th birthday, Oscar. You must
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[February 28, 2018]
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Oscars,
the highest honors in the movie business, celebrate their 90th
anniversary on Sunday.
Since 1929, the glamorous event has captured the imaginations of film
fans around the world. The 90th Academy Awards, given out by the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will be held in Hollywood.
Following are some highlights of the last 90 years.
1929 - The first Oscars ceremony is held on May 16, 1929, at the
Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood and hosted by actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
It is the only time a film from the silent era won best picture, with
the award going to World War One romance "Wings."
1939 - The academy officially begins using the nickname "Oscar" for its
awards. Though unconfirmed, the popular tale behind the origin of the
name holds that academy librarian Margaret Herrick said the statuette
looked like her Uncle Oscar.
1940 - Hattie McDaniel becomes the first black performer to win an Oscar
for acting, picking up the supporting actress prize for "Gone with the
Wind." She is required to sit at a segregated table at the ceremony. It
would be 51 years before another black woman would receive an acting
Oscar, when Whoopi Goldberg won for "Ghost."
1953 - The Oscars are televised for the first time. Host Bob Hope marks
the occasion by saying, "Isn't it exciting to know that a lot of these
glamorous stars are going to be in your homes tonight? All over America
housewives are turning to their husbands and saying: 'Put on your shirt,
Joan Crawford is coming.'"
1963 - Sidney Poitier becomes the first black man to win an Oscar for
acting, for "Lilies of the Field."
1968 - The Oscars awards ceremony is postponed for two days because of
the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4.
1969 - The Oscars produce their only tie ever in the best actress
category. Katharine Hepburn wins for "The Lion in Winter" and Barbra
Streisand won for "Funny Girl." Hepburn does not attend the ceremony.
1973 - Marlon Brando wins a best actor award for his performance as Vito
Corleone in "The Godfather," but boycotts the ceremony to protest how
Native Americans are portrayed in movies and television. Sacheen
Littlefeather, an Indian activist, appears onstage in traditional Apache
dress in Brando's place but declines the statuette.
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Actress Jennifer Lawrence is helped by presenter French actor Jean
Dujardin after she tripped walking up the stairs to accept the award
for best actress for her role in "Silver Linings Playbook" at the
85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 24, 2013.
REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
2002 - Halle Berry becomes the first, and still the only black
woman, to receive a best actress Oscar, dedicating her award to
"every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance
because this door tonight has been opened."
2003 - "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" pulls off the
largest awards sweep in Oscar history, winning in every category for
which it was nominated. It is the third film ever to win 11 awards,
tying with "Titanic" in 1997 and "Ben-Hur" in 1959.
Also in 2003, Roman Polanski wins the best director Oscar for his
Holocaust film "The Pianist" but cannot travel to Los Angeles for
the ceremony because he is wanted in the United States to serve time
for the rape of a minor in 1977. The audience responds with a
standing ovation.
2009 - Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first woman to win a best
director Oscar, for "The Hurt Locker."
2013 - Jennifer Lawrence trips and falls on her way to accept the
best actress award for her role in "Silver Linings Playbook." She
receives a standing ovation, prompting her to joke that "you're all
only standing because I fell and that was embarrassing."
2016 - For the second year in a row, all 20 Oscar acting nominees
are white, prompting criticism and the social media hashtag
#OscarsSoWhite. In response, the academy announces plans to increase
the number of women and minority members.
2017 - "Moonlight" becomes the first film with an all-black cast to
win best picture, but in a backstage envelope mixup victory is first
handed to musical "La La Land."
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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