Oscar Trivia Quiz
Test yourself on the biggest awards show on the planet
By Sean Doorly
Nearly a billion people around the world tune in each year to the Academy Awards. That's very different from when they were first handed out in 1929 in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. There were 250 guests; tickets cost $10 -- and the presentation of the statuettes took only five minutes. (Now we're lucky if it's less than four hours.)
How well do you really know Hollywood's big award? We've assembled some fascinating facts and not-too-difficult questions in our trivia test. Discover who has won the most awards, how tall the statuette is and what two films are the most honored in Academy Awards history.
1. In what year did
"Shrek" win the Animated Feature Oscar?
2000
2001
2002
2003
"Shrek" took home the Animated Feature statuette in 2001 at
the 74th Academy Awards. It was the first year this category was awarded.
2. Which movie won Best Picture at the 75th Oscars in 2002?
"Chicago"
"Gangs of New York"
"The Hours"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"
The musical "Chicago," starring Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones
and Renee Zellweger won the Best Picture award at the 75th Academy Awards.
3. Which double-threat has won both an Oscar and a Grammy?
Will Smith
Eminem
Madonna
Jennifer Lopez
His name is Eminem and he has won seven Grammy Awards and an Oscar for
Best Original Song in 2002 for "Lose Yourself" from the movie
"8 Mile."
4. Who has won the most Academy Awards?
Steven Speilberg
Orson Welles
Walt Disney
John Williams
That honor belongs to Walt Disney. Uncle Walt is the all-time winner with
26 Academy Awards. "Star Wars" composer John Williams is the
most nominated living person, with 42 nods. Steven Spielberg won Best
Director awards for "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private
Ryan." Surprisingly, Orson Welles, the director of what many critics
consider the greatest movie of all time, "Citizen Kane," never
won a Best Director Oscar.
5. Who has never won an Oscar for Best Director?
Alfred Hitchcock
James Cameron
Clint Eastwood
Kevin Costner
Legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar for Best Director.
Hitchcock was nominated five times in this category -- including one for
"Psycho." James Cameron won for "Titanic," Clint Eastwood
for "Unforgiven" and Kevin Costner won for "Dances with
Wolves."
6. Which of these sequels won Best Picture?
"The Empire Strikes Back"
"The Godfather Part II"
"Gone With the Wind Part II"
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
"Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is only the second
sequel in Academy Awards history to win Best Picture. "The Godfather
Part II" won in 1974. We made up "Gone With the Wind Part II,"
but there was a sequel to the book, and it was titled "Scarlett."
7. How tall is Oscar?
10.5 inches
12.5 inches
13.5 inches
16.5 inches
The Oscar statuette depicts a knight holding a sword -- he stands at 13.5
inches tall, and weighs about 8.5 pounds.
8. In 2000, 55 Oscar statuettes were stolen. What was the reward offered
for their safe
return?
$50,000
$100,000
$250,000
$500,000
Junk dealer Willie Fulgear found the missing Oscars next to a trash dumpster.
Fulgear was rewarded $50,000, and he nabbed an invitation to the Academy
Awards ceremony. Only 50 to 60 statuettes are crafted each year, so you
can imagine the Academy was thanking their lucky stars that night.
9. The Oscar figure stands on a film reel. How many spokes does the reel
have?
3
5
7
None
There are five spokes on the statuette, signifying the five original branches
of the Academy (actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers).