Award Season Trivia: Fun Facts and Funny Stories
The year has started on a high note for many filmmakers, handing them one of the highest accolades in Hollywood: a Golden Globe. The awards have reached a respectable age – this year’s ceremony was the 75th. But the best is yet to come: film festivals are being organized, and the biggest movie award of them all, the Oscars, are on the brink of being given out soon. So, before you camp out in front of the TV to follow this year’s ceremony, here are a few fun facts about the biggest events of the awards season that you might not know.
Strike!
The Golden Globes were telecast live for ages – but not in 2008. That was a time of great turmoil in US television – the massive strike of the Writers Guild of America – that disrupted a series of film and TV-related activities. If you have the habit of binge-watching series, you’ve probably noticed that many of their seasons broadcast in 2007 and 2008 were cut short – well, this is the cause. And in 2008, the Golden Globes decided not to telecast their ceremony for the same reason. Writers threatened to picket the event as part of the demonstrations, and many actors said they’d boycott it. This is just one of the 7 things you didn’t know about the Golden Globe Awards – read on for more.
Oscars at 10
Tatum O’Neal was the youngest person ever to win an Oscar – she won the accolade for the Best Supporting Actor for his role in 1973’s “Paper Moon.” On the other end of the spectrum, we have veteran actor Christopher Plummer, who won the same award (named Best Actor in a Supporting role by the time) for 2010’s “Beginners” at the age of 82.
Firsts
Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win a “Best Director” statuette for her 2009 movie “The Hurt Locker.” 1969’s “Midnight Cowboy” was the first – and so far the only – X-rated movie to win a “Best Picture” award – the rating of the movie was “lowered” to “R” later. “The Godfather: Part II” was the first (and so far the only) sequel to win a “Best Picture.” Sidney Poitier was the first African-American actor to be awarded a “Best Actor” statuette in his role for “Lilies of the Field” (1963). And Peter Finch was the first actor to receive an Oscar posthumously, for his role in 1976’s “Network” (the only other actor to receive a posthumous Oscar was Heath Ledger).
Oscars trivia with no use to anyone
The famous “red carpet” rolled out before the Oscars ceremony at the Dolby Theatre is 500 feet (152.4 meters) long. The statuette itself is 34 centimeters (13.5 inches) tall and weighs in at 3.5 kgs (8.5 pounds). And it was named by the Academy’s Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, in 1931 because it reminded her of her “Uncle Oscar.” Now you know.
