1. Answer: Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins was nominated for acting in two non-fictional Presidential
roles: as Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995), and as John Quincy Adams
in Amistad (1997).
2. Answer: Titanic
During the most-watched 1998 Academy Awards televised ceremony
(on March 23, 1998 with over 57 million viewers), the 70th Academy
Awards ceremony to present Oscars for 1997 films, the blockbuster
Titanic (1997) was the Best Picture-winning film, with 11 Oscars.
For the decades after, such as for the 2000s, Oscars viewership
has significantly declined, and has hovered between only 35 and
45 million viewers. The most recent viewership record was for
the 2014 Oscars ceremony with 43.7 million viewers.
3. Answer: Christopher Plummer
Although there have been 10 Best Supporting Actor Oscar winners
in Academy Awards history aged 70 or higher, the oldest
winner was Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2010) at
age 82 (and 75 days).
4. Answer: Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda was 76 years (and 317 days) when he won the Best
Actor Oscar for On Golden Pond (1981), his sole Oscar. The other
three closest winners in age were John Wayne (for True Grit (1969)),
George Arliss (for Disraeli (1929/30)), and Paul Newman
(for The Color of Money (1986)) - all at 62 years of age with
their sole Oscar wins.
5. Answer: Katharine Hepburn
Hepburn won when she was
74 years (and 321 days) for On Golden Pond (1981). She also
won earlier at age 61 years (and 337 days) for The Lion in
Winter (1968). The oldest winner in the category, Jessica Tandy,
was 80 years (and 292 days) when she won for Driving
Miss Daisy (1989).
6. Answer: Star Wars: Episode I -
The Phantom Menace (1999)
Episode I (1999) topped all of the other six films in the first
two trilogies with an unadjusted domestic revenue total of $474.5
million. The runner-up was Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
at $461 million.
7. Answer: Limelight
Charlie Chaplin's Limelight (1952), his last film produced in America,
won the Best Original Dramatic Score among films released in 1972,
after it became eligible following a Los Angeles-area theatrical
showing in 1972. It was the only competitive Oscar Charlie Chaplin
ever received, six days before his 83rd birthday. The award was
shared with deceased Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell.
8. Answer: Peter Finch
Peter Finch remains the only one to actually win the Best Actor Oscar
posthumously, for Network (1976). Spencer Tracy was only nominated
(for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), and Heath Ledger
won Best Supporting Actor Oscar posthumously for The Dark Knight
(2008). James Dean was nominated as Best Actor for two films
posthumously, Giant (1956) and East of Eden (1955) but did not
win either.
9. Answer: Barry
Fitzgerald
Barry Fitzgerald received both Best Actor and Best
Supporting Actor nominations for Best Picture-winning Going My
Way (1944) for the same performance, and won for Best Supporting
Actor. His competing co-star Bing Crosby won Best Actor. Following
Fitzgerald's win, the Academy introduced a rule prohibiting
this to ever happen again.
10. Answer: Mae West
Because of her plentiful bust that could appear to be a flotation
device being worn, actress Mae West's name (in 1940) became
attached to the inflatable life jackets or preservers originally
issued to Royal Air Force aviators during the Second World
War.
11. Answer: Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett was a Best Supporting
Actress Oscar winner for her role as Katharine Hepburn in The
Aviator (2004). Robert Downey, Jr. was nominated as Best Actor
for the title role in Chaplin (1992). Kenneth Branaugh also was
nominated for playing Laurence Olivier and Michelle Williams
was nominated for playing co-star Marilyn Monroe in My Week With
Marilyn (2011).
12. Answer: The Godfather
In the Godfather's study, Italian funeral parlor director Bonasera
(Salvatore Corsitto) spoke to Don Corleone about his demands
for justice after his daughter was brutally raped.
13. Answer: Both of the Above
James Coco was nominated for two opposing awards
for the same film, an Oscar and Razzie, for his supporting role
in Only When I Laugh (1981). Amy Irving was nominated for both
a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and Razzie for Yentl (1983).
14. Answer: Five
Only five females have been nominated (with one win, so far): Lina
Wertmuller for Seven Beauties (1976, It.), New Zealander Jane Campion
for The Piano (1993), Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation (2003),
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2009) (win), and Greta Gerwig
for Lady Bird (2017).
15. Answer: Best Costume Design
Ruth Carter, a costume designer for many of Spike Lee's films, received
her first Oscar nomination
for Best Costume Design, but she lost to Eiko Ishioka for Dracula
(1992). However, she became the first
African American to win the Academy Award for Best
Costume Design (it was her third nomination in the category)
for Black Panther (2018).
16. Answer: Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise starred in Best Picture-winning Rain Man (1988) and also
was a nominee (as Worst Actor) in Razzie's Worst Picture of the same
year, Cocktail (1988).
17. Answer: Precious (2009)
Precious (2009) was the first-ever Best Picture nominee to be directed
by an African-American filmmaker, Lee Daniels, who received his
first Best Director nomination for the film. Spike Lee received
only a Best Original Screenplay nomination for Do the Right Thing
(1989), and Best Director-nominated John Singleton's Boyz N the
Hood (1991) was not nominated for Best Picture.
18. Answer: Up (2009)
Disney's/Pixar's Up (2009) received both a Best Picture nomination
and a Best Animated Feature Film nomination.
19. Answer: a convenience store
Slacker Dante worked at a Quick
Stop convenience store in New Jersey, while his friend Randal
(Jeff Anderson) worked at the neighboring video store.
20. Answer: Psycho
Hitchcock's horror thriller Psycho (1960) was his last black and
white feature film, deliberately made to be low-budget and possibly
less bloody without color. |
