The
Academy Awards, now officially known as
The Oscars,
[1]
are a set of awards given annually for excellence of cinematic
achievements. The Oscar statuette is officially named the Academy Award
of Merit and is one of nine types of Academy Awards. Organized and
overseen by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS),
[2] the awards are given each year at a formal ceremony. The AMPAS was originally conceived by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio executive
Louis B. Mayer
as a professional honorary organization to help improve the film
industry’s image and help mediate labor disputes. The awards themselves
were later initiated by the Academy as awards “of merit for distinctive
achievement” in the industry. The awards were first given in 1929 at a ceremony created for the awards, at the
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Over the years that the award has been given, the categories presented
have changed; currently Oscars are given in more than a dozen
categories, and include films of various types.
As one of the most
prominent award ceremonies in the world, the Academy Awards ceremony is
televised live in more than 100 countries annually. It is also the
oldest award ceremony in the media; its equivalents, the
Grammy Awards for music, the
Emmy Awards for television, and the
Tony Awards for theater, are all modeled after the Academy Awards
History
The first awards were presented on 16 May 1929, at a private brunch at the
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post Academy Awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel.
[5]
The cost of guest tickets for that night’s ceremony was $5. Fifteen
statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other
personalities of the filmmaking industry of the time for their works
during the 1927–1928 period.
Winners had been announced three months
earlier; however, that was changed in the second ceremony of the Academy
Awards in 1930. Since then and during the first decade, the results
were given to newspapers for publication at 11 pm on the night of the
awards.
[5] This method was used until the
Los Angeles Times
announced the winners before the ceremony began; as a result, the
Academy has since 1941 used a sealed envelope to reveal the name of the
winners.
[5]
For the first six ceremonies, the
eligibility period spanned two calendar years. For example, the 2nd
Academy Awards presented on 3 April 1930, recognized films that were
released between 1 August 1928 and 31 July 1929. Starting with the 7th
Academy Awards, held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full
previous calendar year from 1 January to 31 December.
The first Best Actor awarded was
Emil Jannings, for his performances in
The Last Command and
The Way of All Flesh.
He had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed
to give him the prize earlier; this made him the first Academy Award
winner in history. The honored professionals were awarded for all the
work done in a certain category for the qualifying period; for example,
Jannings received the award for two movies in which he starred during
that period and
Janet Gaynor
later won a single Oscar for performances in three films. Since the
fourth ceremony, the system changed, and professionals were honored for a
specific performance in a single film. As of the 83rd Academy Awards
ceremony held in 2011, a total of 2,894 Oscars have been given for 1,853
awards.
[6] A total of 302 actors have won Oscars in competitive acting categories or have been awarded Honorary or Juvenile Awards.
At the 29th ceremony, held on 27 March 1957, the
Best Foreign Language Film category was introduced. Until then, foreign-language films were honored with the Special Achievement Award.
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