33 Curiosities You Probably Don't Know About Oscars

If you had already checked the list of nominees and were more than eager to know which productions would take home the most desired golden statuettes, you certainly did not take your eyes off the television last night.

The biggest cinema awards last night celebrated its 86th edition and voted “Gravity” and “12 Years of Slavery” as the best films of the year, as well as rewarding actors and actresses for their performances and recognizing the work of the entire crew without which cannot produce a movie.

But while you know who are the big winners of the gala night, do you know any more behind-the-scenes curiosity about the seventh art's biggest prize? Not?! So be sure to check out these curious and fun facts about the Oscars.

The stars

1) George Clooney is one of the only artists to have competed in different categories such as acting, screenplay, production and directing.

2) The shortest performance worthy of an Oscar belongs to actress Beatrice Straight who was on the scene for only 5 minutes and 40 seconds in the movie “Intrigue Network” (1976).

3) While Meryl Streep collects nominations (18 in total), Katherine Hepburn is the actress who has earned the most statuettes, taking four Oscars home.

4) Walt Disney is the big winner of the biggest movie award, having brought 26 statuettes home. The filmmaker also achieved the award-winning feat for 22 consecutive years.

5) Only two actors won the Oscar for playing the same character and were Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro for the role of Vito Corleone in "The Godfather" (1972) and "The Godfather II" (1974), respectively.

6) Woody Allen is the director with the most nominations: 16 in the Best Original Screenplay category, with only three Oscars to take home.

7) The youngest star to win the Oscar is actress Tatum O'Neal, who was awarded Best Supporting Actress in the movie "Paper Moon" (1973) when she was just ten years old.

8) Not all Oscar nominees really exist! The award story has seven fake nominees, a number including duo Joel and Ethan Coen, who directed the film "Where the Weak Are Not Ever" (2007) under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes.

9) Oscar Hammerstein II was the only man to win the award with his name for the song The Last Time I Saw Paris from the movie "If You Were Sincere" (1941).

10) In 1972, Marlon Brando turned down the Best Actor Award for his participation in "The Godfather" (1972). And to make clear his discontent, he sent India Sacheen Littlefeather to the ceremony as a protest to the way television and film portrayed the indigenous figure.

The productions

11) To be eligible for the Best Picture Oscar of the Year, the production must meet some requirements: be over 40 minutes long, have been shown for at least a week in Los Angeles, and have a projection resolution of 2048x1080 pixels.

12) The most awarded films in Oscar history are “Ben-Hur” (1959), “Titanic” (1997) and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003). Each of the productions earned 11 statuettes, and "The Lord of the Rings" won all categories in which he had been nominated.

13) Animals also have a turn, and the last movie with a dog to be awarded was “The King's Speech” (2010).

14) The longest production in history to win an Oscar is the classic “War and Peace” (1968), which was awarded the Best Foreign Film category and is over seven hours long.

15) “Avatar” (2009) is the highest budget film in history to win an Oscar. The total amount invested in production has not been confirmed, but it is estimated to be around $ 230 million.

16) Italy dominates the Best Foreign Film category, with eleven award-winning productions. Among them are the classic “Cabiria Nights” (1957), “8½” (1963) and “Amarcord” (1973), by Federico Fellini.

Gala Night

17) The speech is certainly one of the most exciting moments for the Oscar winners, and perhaps that is the explanation for actress Gwyneth Paltrow saying “thank you” 11 times and crying in front of the audience after winning the gold statuette of Best Actress for "Shakespeare in Love" in 1999.

18) The longest Oscar speech was from actress Greer Garson, who took seven minutes to thank everyone for the 1934 Best Supporting Actress award.

19) Among the most dubious speeches, singer Cher (“The Moon Charm”, 1987) thanked her hairdresser, Roberto Benigni (“Life is Beautiful”, 1997) thanked “child poverty” and Maureen Stapleton (“Reds”), 1981) thanked “all the people I have ever met in my entire life”.

20) After the awards ceremony - named Governors Ball - 1, 200 bottles of champagne, 1, 000 lobsters, 1, 200 oysters and 18 pounds of caviar are served.

21) The head of the desserts served at the ball uses 7 kilos of edible gold powder to decorate the four thousand miniatures of chocolate figurines that are offered annually at the party.

A little of history

22) The first edition of the Academy Awards - which only recently received the name of The Oscars - took place on May 16, 1929.

23) That year, the entrance to the ceremony, which took place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, cost $ 5, which would be $ 65 today.

24) In the 61st edition of the awards, which took place in 1989, the Academy decided to change the expression "And the winner is ..." by the phrase "And the Oscar goes to ...".

25) During World War II, the lack of metal fonts meant that the figurines delivered during the awards were made of plaster. Years later, the Oscars were replaced by traditional metal pieces.

The Oscar Numbers

26) An estimated 700 million people attended the Oscar ceremony yesterday in the United States.

27) The red carpet extended at the entrance to the Dolby Theater was over 150 meters long and 10 meters wide.

28) Each figurine delivered at the gala has a manufacturing cost of $ 500. They measure 34 centimeters and weigh just over three pounds. 2, 809 Oscars have been delivered since 1929.

29) In addition to giving interviews and taking hundreds of photos, all Oscar winners must sign a term to take the statue home. With that, they pledge never to sell the figurine without first offering it back to the Academy for a dime! If an artist loses the prize, he can be replaced with a new figurine.

30) This deal is valid only for prizes awarded after 1950. An example of this was actor Harold Russell who in 1992 sold the 1947 Oscar for his performance in “The Best Years of Our Life” (1946). He raised $ 60, 500 to cover his wife's medical expenses.

31) Of the 55 statuettes stolen by driver Lawrence Ladente in 2000, 52 were returned by his accomplice, one was recovered in a police raid made in Miami in 2003 and two are still missing.

32) It takes about a month to finalize the figurines that are delivered on the night of the ceremony. Gold men are molded, polished and finished by Chicago's RS Owens & Company.

33) The election of the best of the year is made in two parts: Firstly, Academy members vote according to their specialty, choosing five options in order, and electing the one they consider the best movie of the year. In the second step, participants vote in all categories from ballots that are mailed.