Week of February 24 – Oscar Trivia

The individual who was awarded the most total Oscars was Walt Disney, who walked away with 26 Academy Awards over his lifetime,  He had 64 total Oscar nominations.  

The Oscar statuette weighs 6 3/4 pounds, and stands 13 1/2 inches high. It was named by Margaret Herrick, the Academy librarian, who remarked in 1931 (upon seeing the statuettes), “Why it looks like my Uncle Oscar!” Her uncle’s full name, by the way, was Oscar Pierce.

Meryl Street received a record of 17 nominations (she won two).

The longest acceptance speech ever given at an Academy Awards ceremony was given by Greer Garson.   when she accepted her award for Best Actress in 1942’s “Mrs. Miniver.”   It’s uncertain exactly how long she spoke – most sources agree it was somewhere between 5 1/2 and 7 minutes.

The three movies that won the most Oscars were “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003),”Titanic” (1997) and “Ben-Hur” (1959). All three movies won 11 statuettes.  (Second place is held by “West Side Story,” which won ten Oscars.)

Meryl Streep  was so flustered by her win she left her Oscar behind in the ladies room.

Billy Crystal keeps a toothbrush in his pocket.  The 63-year-old comedian, who will be hosting his ninth Academy Awards ceremony, isn’t a hygiene freak. He carries the toothbrush as a tradition dating back to his childhood, when he’d improvise pretend Oscar speeches for his family using his toothbrush as a microphone.

Woody Allen Woody Allen made his first ever appearance at the 2002 Oscar ceremony to present a tribute to films shot in New York City compiled by Nora Ephron in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Woody Allen has won three Academy Awards and been nominated a total of 23 times: 15 as a screenwriter, seven as a director, and one as an actor. He has more screenwriting Academy Award nominations than any other writer; all are in the ” Best Original Screenplay ” category. He is tied for third all-time with seven Best Director nominations. His actors have regularly received both nominations and Academy Awards for their work in Allen films, particularly in the Best Supporting categories.