Sunday is almost here: the FUNZINE team will join the party in Anker’t, giving you a live coverage of the 89th Academy Awards. But before we would dive into the ecstasy of cinema’s biggest celebration, we’ve made a list of the top 10 record holders in the Oscar history!
#1 Most awards won by a film: Ben-Hur – 1960, Titanic – 1999, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – 2004 all won 11 Oscars each
Who wouldn’t remember these classic movies? All three of them had a major impact on cinema – it is also proven by the fact that all three managed to win 11 Academy Awards.
#2 Most awards won by an individual: Walt Disney – 29 Oscars
Including four honorary awards and a posthumous one for Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day in the Best Short Subject, Cartoons category in 1969, Walt Disney still holds the record for most nominations as he was up to the Oscar 59 times altogether.
#3 Most Awards for Best Direction: John Ford – 4 Oscars
John Ford made his mark when he won his first Best Director Oscar in 1936 for The Informer. He didn’t stop though: he won for two consecutive years for The Grapes of Wrath (1941) and How Green Was My Valley (1942), then took home another statuette as his fourth and last Oscar for The Quiet Man in 1953.
#4 Most Awards for Acting: Katharine Hepburn – 4 Oscars
Not even Meryl Streep with her 19 nominations has been able to reach record holder, legendary actress Katharine Hepburn. Her awarded performances were in the movie Morning Glory (1934), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1968), The Lion in Winter (1969) and Golden Pond (1982)
#5 Big Five winners: It Happened One Night – 1935, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – 1976, The Silence of the Lambs – 1992 all win the five biggest prizes: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Writing
It’s phenomenal enough to be able to win an Academy Award, but to make a movie that wins all the five major categories is something truly extraordinary. Only three films were ever able to achieve that so far!
#6 First woman to win Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker – 2010
When James Cameron was nominated for Best Director for his blockbuster Avatar, guess who won the award? Of course, his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow! She immediately broke a record as well, being the first woman ever to win in that category in the Oscar history.
#7 First African-American to win an Oscar: Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind – 1940
Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for Gone With The Wind and became the first African-American to win an Oscar. She was also the first African-American woman to sing on radio in the USA.
#8 First African-American to win Best Actor: Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field – 1964
In 1964, the whole world seemed to change a bit: Sidney Poitier won Best Actor for Lilies of the Field as the first African-American to win in this category.
#9 Oldest person to win Best Actor: Jessica Tandy at 80 years for Driving Miss Daisy – 1990
Being fashionably late, actress Jessica Tandy took home an Oscar for her role in Driving Miss Daisy at the age of 80. By the way, she also won the other major awards for that performance in 1990, such as a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award.
#10 Most nominations for acting: Meryl Streep – 19 nominations
Stanley Tucci was joking about starting a movement in the Academy to limit the number of nominations to 16, so that Merly Streep won’t be nominated again and again. The funny remarks of a longtime colleague and admirer of Streep were made in 2010 and she has managed to gain 3 more nominations to her account since then. There is probably more to come!