We are mere hours away from the greatest award show in the world. Everyone who is anyone has gathered in Hollywood to see their work be counted for in the form of a gilded golden statue.
Yet there some facts about the Academy Awards’ past and present that they may not want the regular movie watcher to know. Well, the Latin Times have uncovered 10 facts and trivia about the prestigious award show that you probably never knew. Here they are:
1) The Academy used to announce the winners before the ceremony.
Before 1940, the academy would only disclose the winners to local newspapers that would publish the list of winners at the 11th hour the night before the awards. This model all came crashing down in 1940 when the Los Angeles Times published the results well in advance of the ceremony starting. Thereby, spoiling the results. The academy started concealing the results in an envelope in 1941.
2) Bob Hope holds the record for the most ceremonies hosted.
He hosted 19 shows from 1940-78. The ceremonies weren’t even televised when he hosted and his last show emceed came on the 50th anniversary. Only a handful of hosts have ever been one-and-done (Seth McFarlane, Chris Rock, Anne Hathaway, James Franco and Paul Hogan), something that Neil Patrick Harris looks to avoid.
3) During rehearsals, the academy gives our fake Oscars.
Before the big show, rehearsals are held so that celebrities can go over their speech and announce the award. They give out fake envelopes and fake award statures made of plaster.
4) “Stop the show!”
The only people who know the winners are Price Waterhouse Coopers. The law firm partners have the authority to stop the show should the wrong name be mentioned.
5) We should call the award “Uncle Oscars”.
The original official name of the academy award was “the academy award merit”. But for nearly nine decades, it has been known simply by its nickname “Oscar.” The nickname originated from the academy award librarian, Margaret Herrick, who said that the trophy looked just like her uncle Oscar.
6) The Academy Awards were once robbed!
Often times when people would say they were “robbed,” typically that means the popular pick did not win the Oscar. In 2000, the academy was actually robbed, when two buglers stole 55 Oscar statuettes.
7) The Oscars' red carpet is the longest of all award shows.
The Dolby Theater is the host of the award show. In order to walk to the venue, attendees must cross 500 feet of carpet, the longest of all award shows.
8) Want to go to the show? Know someone in the Academy.
The only way for a regular shmuck to attend the Academy Awards is as seat filler. However, according to actual seat fillers, the only way to score the free gig is to know someone who works at the Academy.
9) Back then, all you needed to go to the Oscars was $5.
In 1921, the original Academy Award show was held in the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood and an admission ticket was $5. Now $5 wont even get you a slice of pizza from across the street from the Dolby Theater.
10) Worth its weight in Gold.
Surprisingly, the Oscar statuette is heavier than you think. At 13.5 inches and weighing eight and a half pounds, the Oscar statuette is equivalent to holding a bowling ball.
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