History Of Oscar Awards

Academy Awards are the most prestigious and coveted awards in filmdom. These highly esteemed awards are also known as the Oscars, which recognize and honor excellence in the cinematic landscape. The outstanding professionals of cinema, including directors, writers, actors, dress designers, music composers, technicians, and so on, are awarded in this annual mega event, revered by all the film industries of the world. The awards not only seek to honor talent within Hollywood, but also include phenomenal films and talented professionals from other film industries in its award categories. The present day Oscars are a dazzling event, with the red carpet laid out well in advance and the paparazzi swarming the attendees. It is interesting to note that this glitz and glamour is in stark contrast to the initial Oscar ceremonies, which were more or less aloof from public glare. Read on to know more about the shining history of the venerated Academy Awards.

Oscar awards are inalienably linked to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), created in 1927. A combined effort of 36 prominent personalities of the motion picture industry led to the formation of this academy. Douglas Fairbanks was chosen as its first President and it was decided that the talented artists of the motion picture industry would be honored annually. The very first Oscar award ceremony was organized on May 16, 1929, privately in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, among a limited audience of 270. The awards were handed out in the banquet, set up at the hotel’s Blossom Room. The elongated event encompassed lengthy speeches and hardly an element of surprise, as the names of the winners had been declared three months in advance. 

 

Honoring the cinematic achievements of the year 1927 and 1928, the first Oscar in the Best Actor category was given to the German tragedian Emil Jannings (for 'The Last Command' and 'The Way of All Flesh'). The Best Actress award was bagged by Janet Gaynor (for 'Seventh Heaven', 'Street Angel' and 'Sunrise'). There were two Academy trophies in Direction, for Dramatic Picture and Comedic Picture, won by Frank Borzage and Lewis Milestone, respectively. The ceremony remained a low-key affair as compared to the extensive media coverage and glitz associated with the contemporary Oscar events.

 

Academy Awards ceremony has been broadcasted live ever since its inception. It was audio broadcasted through radio till 1953, and thereafter the ceremony was broadcasted on TV every year. In 1966, the awards were broadcasted in color for the first time. The names of the winners were given to newspapers and revealed even before the ceremony commenced. Since then, the results are closely guarded and are kept in a sealed envelope, only to be revealed at the time of delivering the trophy. The present day Oscar award ceremony is televised in over 200 countries, spanning across the globe.