Oscar Trivia!

Hi,

I think I’m too ADD to actually watch the Oscars, but I have decided that trivia of any kind is my new favorite thing. Shocker. Small bites of useless information, presented at will. So here you go. This is my contribution to the fabulosity of all things Hollywood. (BTW, Pasadena evidently is THE hotbed of activity. Remember my post a few days ago about The Real Housewives of Pasadena – lots of comments, thank you very much! but yesterday freakin’ Lance Armstrong was riding around my neighborhood in that whole bike race situation of his at the Rose Bowl. Shut down the whole freakin’ area so the my son got to watch from the backyard and now the 2 year old wants “bicycles, bicycles.”  Great news. His birthday is on Tuesday so guess who’s heading to Target?) Sorry for the tangent, the whole morning has been like that. Enjoy the trivia.

*The 1973 ceremony was disrupted by a streaking gentleman, Robert Opal, who burst onto the stage while David Niven was introducing Elizabeth Taylor.
*The oldest winner of a competitive Oscar was Jessica Tandy; she was 80 years old when she took Best Actress for Driving Miss Daisy in 1989. The youngest was Tatum O’Neal who won best supporting actress for the film Paper Moon at the age of 10.
*The biggest winner to date is Walt Disney, who picked up 26 Oscars (from 64 nominations), plus another six special trophies.
*The shortest Oscar ceremony in history was the first, in 1929 – it only lasted 15 minutes because all of the winners had been announced three months earlier!
*Only 3 women have been nominated for Best Director: Lina Wertmuller, Seven Beauties (1976), Jane Campion, The Piano (1994) and Sophia Coppola, Lost in Translation (2003)

And If That Isn’t Enough…There’s More! (Just like the Ronco salad spinner commercials!)

*The Oscar statuette, designed by MGM’s chief art director Cedric Gibbons, depicts a knight holding a crusader’s sword, standing on a reel of film with five spokes, signifying the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians. Oscar’s height: 13 1/2 inches. Oscar’s weight: 8 1/2 pounds.                                                                                      *According to legend, secretary Margret Herrick remarked that the statue looked like her Uncle Oscar, giving the statue it’s nickname in 1934.*Approximately 50 Oscars are made each year in Chicago by the manufacturer, R.S. Owens, and if they don’t meet strict quality control standards, the statuettes are immediately cut in half and melted down.   

ENJOY THE SHOW!

P.S. – One more thing, if you want a downloadable Oscar ballot, click here! (Thanks Ursula and Mary for this!)