Answers to the February Oscars Quiz

For those of you who are curious, here are the answers to the Oscars Quiz I posted on February 23.

1. What was the first film to win Best Picture?
Cimarron at the 1930-1931 Academy Awards. Prior to that the award had been called Best Production. In the very first year of the Oscars there were two awards--"Most Outstanding Production" and "Most Artistic Quality of Production."

2. Who gave Oscar its name?
We don't really know. Bette Davis always claimed she called the award "Oscar" after her first husband, "Harmon Oscar Nelson." Another and, perhaps more likely explanation, is that when employee Margaret Herrick (eventually the Academy's executive director) first saw the award in 1931, she said it reminded her of her Uncle Oscar. Soon the Academy employees began to refer to the Academy AWard as "the Oscar." At any rate, Walt Disney supposedly used the term as early as 1934 in his "Thank you" speech. (note for purpose of scoring, anyone who says "We don't really know," "Bette Davis," or "Maragaret Herrick" will get a point.

3. Who supervised the design of the Oscar statuette?
Cedric Gibbons, then art director at MGM and one of the Academy's founders.

4. Who hosted the most Academy Award Ceremonies?
Bob Hope, who hosted eighteen ceremonies. Billy Crystal comes in a distant second at eight.

5. What actor, director, or producer received the most Oscar nominations in a lifetime?
Walt Disney, with 59 nominations, 26 awards, and the Irving J. Thalberg award.

6. Did Alfred Hitchcock ever win an Oscar?
No, even though he was nominated for Best Director five different times.

7. Who was the youngest person to ever win an Academy Award outside of special awards?
Tatum O'Neal, who won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Paper Moon at age 10.

8. In what year were the Oscars first telecast?
1953

9. Name one of the two films nominated in the most categories without winning a single one?
The Turning Point or The Colour Purple.

10 Name one of the three films to win the most Oscars?
Ben Hur, Titanic (the one from 1997), and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King are all tied with eleven wins apiece. Of the three, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is the only one to sweep, winning every category into which it was nominated.