9 surprising things you still do not know about the Oscars

Published on 04/24/2024 18:35

On the night of Sunday to Monday, the Hollywood au gratin will go to the most expected evening of the year: the Oscars ceremony. Back on the little secrets of this great evening.

As the stars complete their final preparations before the long-awaited evening, here are the secrets of the great Oscars ceremony.

Initially, seats for the evening cost 5 dollars

The very first Academy Awards were held on May 16, 1929, and the tickets sold cost only five dollars. The event took place at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, and 15 statues were awarded.

The statuette of the Oscars was modeled after a real man

While in 1928 Cedric Gibbons was in charge of designing the award for the first ceremony a year later, he met Emilio "Indo" Fernandez. After some discussion, he convinces the man to pose naked and the statuette is inspired by the lines of his body.

Nobody really knows where the name "Oscar" comes from

If we know where and when the adventure of this ceremony began, the name "Oscar" remains a real mystery. The second explanation is much more cute: according to a popular anecdote, in 1931 the Executive Secretary of the Academy of the Oscars, Margaret Herrick, had entrusted one of the members that the statuette resembled strongly his uncle ... Oscar!

The word QuilNeFautPasPrononcer at the awards ceremony

If the guests who are to give the prizes are relatively free to pass messages or improvise a (very small) speech, they should NEVER say "and the winner is ..." but "and the Oscar is awarded to ... ".

The youngest winner of an Oscar is ... a woman

Tatum O'Neal is the youngest winner in the history of the Oscars. In 1973, she won the Oscar for the Best Second Female Role for Paper Moon.

And the oldest of the Laureates was 82 years old!

He celebrated his 86th birthday last December: Christopher Plummer is the oldest Oscar winner since the creation of the Academy. It was in 2013 (he was 82 years old) for the "best supporting role" for the film Beginners.

No latina woman won the Oscar for best actress

The lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations and in the American cinema more generally is a real problem of society. Besides, no Latina woman, for example, won the Oscar for Best Actress. Only Salma Hayek was once nominated for this award in 2003 for Frida.

Source: marieclaire.com