OSCAR HISTORY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization
composed of over 6,000 motion picture artists and craftsmen and women. The purposes of the
Academy are to advance the arts and sciences of motion pictures; foster cooperation among
creative leaders for cultural, educational and technological progress; recognize outstanding
achievements; cooperate on technical research and improvement of methods and equipment;
provide a common forum and meeting ground for various branches and crafts; represent the
viewpoint of actual creators of the motion picture; and foster educational activities between the
professional community and the public-at-large.
The Academy's field of activity does not include economic, labor, or political matters. The
Academy was organized in May, 1927, as a nonprofit corporation chartered under the laws of
California. Its original 36 members included production executives and film luminaries of the
time.
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was the first president. Others have been William deMille, M. C. Levee,
Conrad Nagel, J. Theodore Reed, Frank Lloyd, Frank Capra, Walter Wanger, Bette Davis, Jean
Hersholt, Charles Brackett, George Seaton, George Stevens, B. B. Kahane, Valentine Davies,
Wendell Corey, Arthur Freed, Gregory Peck, Daniel Taradash, Walter Mirisch, Howard W. Koch,
Fay Kanin, Gene Allen, Robert E. Wise, Richard Kahn, Karl Malden, Arthur Hiller and Robert
Rehme. Current president Frank Pierson took office in August 2001.
From its founding until 1946, when it moved into a building in Hollywood, the Academy occupied
a number of rented offices. In December of 1975, the Academy dedicated its new seven-story
headquarters at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
For the first time in the organization's history, the Players Directory, the Margaret Herrick Library,
the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, its administrative offices, and other facilities were all located under
one roof.
Within a decade, however, the rapid growth of the holdings of both the Herrick Library and the
Film Archive had necessitated the search for a new separate facility. In 1988, a 55-year lease was
arranged with the City of Beverly Hills for the conversion of its historic Waterworks building in
La Cienega Park into the new home of the Academy's film research facilities, now known as the
Center for Motion Picture Study.
Membership in the Academy is by invitation of the Board of Governors and is limited to those
who have achieved distinction in the arts and sciences of motion pictures. Some of the criteria for
admittance are: film credits of a caliber that reflect the high standards of the Academy, receipt of
an Academy Award nomination, achievement of unique distinction, earning of special merit, or
making of an outstanding contribution to film.
Members represent 13 branches Actors, Art Directors, Cinematographers, Directors,
Executives, Film Editors, Music, Producers, Public Relations, Short Films and Feature Animation,
Sound, Visual Effects, and Writers. In early 2001, the Academy's Board of Governers approved
the creation of a 14th branch for documentarian members of the Academy.
A candidate for membership in the Academy must first receive the favorable endorsement of the
appropriate branch executive committee before his or her name is submitted to the Board of
Governors for its approval. The Board of Governors also may invite to membership
members-at-large and associate members.
Members-at-large are those engaged in theatrical film production, but for whose craft there is no
separate branch. They have all the privileges of branch membership except for representation on
the Board.
Associate members are those closely allied to the industry but not actively engaged in motion
picture production. They are not represented on the Board and do not vote on Academy Awards.
Life members are designated by unanimous vote of the Board of Governors and have full
privileges of membership, but pay no dues.
Corporate management, control, and general policies are administered by the Board of Governors.
This group consists of three representatives from each of the 13 Academy craft branches.
Governors are elected for three-year terms, with one representative from each branch being
elected annually. This method assures a continuity of experience from year to year. The new
Documentarians Branch will have one Governor.
Officers are elected from the Board for one-year terms. They include a president, first vice
president, two vice presidents, treasurer, and secretary. No member of the Board of Governors
may serve more than three consecutive three-year terms and no officer may serve more than four
consecutive one-year terms in the same office.
Administrative activities of the Academy are conducted under the supervision of an executive
director who is appointed by the Board of Governors. Bruce Davis, Executive Director since
1989, and his staff of 153 conduct the day-to-day business of the Academy.
The operating revenues of the Academy are obtained from membership dues, rental of its theater
to film companies for previews and other special screenings, publication of the Players Directory,
the sale of rights to televise the annual Academy Awards Presentation, and from other special
programs.
OSCAR STATUETTE
A popular story has been that an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, Margaret
Herrick, thought the statuette resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so, and that as a result the
Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar.
No hard evidence exists to support that tale, but in any case, by the sixth Awards Presentation in
1934, Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used the name in his column in reference to Katharine
Hepburn's first Best Actress win. The Academy itself didn't use the nickname officially until 1939.
Since its conception, the Oscar statuette has met exacting uniform standards with a few notable
exceptions. In the 1930s, juvenile players received miniature replicas of the statuette; ventriloquist
Edgar Bergen was presented with a wooden statuette with a moveable mouth; and Walt Disney
was honored with one full-size and seven miniature statuettes on behalf of his animated feature
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. Between 1942 and 1944, in support of the war
effort, Oscars were made of plaster. After the War, winners turned in the temporary awards for
golden Oscar statuettes.
The traditional Oscar statuette, however, hasn't changed since the 1940s, when the base was made
higher. In 1945, the base was changed from marble to metal and in 1949, Academy Award
statuettes began to be numbered, starting with No. 501.
BEST PICTURES IN THE HISTORY
(1928) WINGS
(1929) THE BROADWAY MELODY
(1930) ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
(1931) CIMARRON
(1932) GRAND HOTEL
(1933) CAVALCADE
(1934) IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
(1935) MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY
(1936) THE GREAT ZIEGFELD
(1937) THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA
(1938) YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
(1939) GONE WITH THE WIND
(1940) REBECCA
(1941) HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY
(1942) MRS. MINIVER
(1943) CASABLANCA
(1944) GOING MY WAY
(1945) THE LOST WEEKEND
(1946) BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
(1947) GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT
(1948) HAMLET
(1949) ALL THE KING'S MEN
(1950) ALL ABOUT EVE
(1951) AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
(1952) THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
(1953) FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
(1954) ON THE WATERFRONT
(1955) MARTY
(1956) AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
(1957) THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
(1958) GIGI
(1959) BEN-HUR
(1960) THE APARTMENT
(1961) WEST SIDE STORY
(1962) LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
(1963) TOM JONES
(1964) MY FAIR LADY
(1965) THE SOUND OF MUSIC
(1966) A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
(1967) IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
(1968) OLIVER!
(1969) MIDNIGHT COWBOY
(1970) PATTON
(1971) THE FRENCH CONNECTION
(1972) THE GODFATHER
(1973) THE STING
(1974) THE GODFATHER PART II
(1975) ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
(1976) ROCKY
(1977) ANNIE HALL
(1978) THE DEER HUNTER
(1979) KRAMER VS. KRAMER
(1980) ORDINARY PEOPLE
(1981) CHARIOTS OF FIRE
(1982) GANDHI
(1983) TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
(1984) AMADEUS
(1985) OUT OF AFRICA
(1986) PLATOON
(1987) THE LAST EMPEROR
(1988) RAIN MAN
(1989) DRIVING MISS DAISY
(1990) DANCES WITH WOLVES
(1991) THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
(1992) UNFORGIVEN
(1993) SCHINDLER'S LIST
(1994) FORREST GUMP
(1995) BRAVEHEART
(1996) THE ENGLISH PATIENT
(1997) TITANIC
(1998) SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
(1999) AMERICAN BEAUTY
(2000) GLADIATOR
WINNERS LIST OF THE 74TH ACADEMY REWARDS
ACTOR - LEADING Denzel Washington TRAINING DAY
ACTOR - SUPPORTING Jim Broadbent IRIS
ACTRESS - LEADING Halle Berry MONSTERS BALL
ACTRESS - SUPPORTING Jennifer Connelly A BEAUTIFUL MIND
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM SHREK Aron Warner
ART DIRECTION MOULIN ROUGE Catherine Martin (Art Direction) and Brigitte Broch (Set
Decoration)
CINEMATOGRAPHY LORD OF THE RINGS Andrew Lesnie
COSTUME DESIGN MOULIN ROUGE Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie
DIRECTING A BEAUTIFUL MIND Ron Howard
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE MURDER ON A SUNDAY MORNING Jean-Xavier de Lestrade
and Denis Ponce
DOCUMENTARY SHORT THOTH Sarah Kernochan and Lynn Appelle
FILM EDITING BLACK HAWK DOWN Pietro Scalia
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM NO MAN'S LAND Bosnia & Herzegovina Directed by Danis
Tanovic
MAKEUP LORD OF THE RINGS Peter Owen and Richard Taylor
MUSIC (SCORE) LORD OF THE RINGS Howard Shore
MUSIC (SONG) MONSTERS, INC. "If I Didn't Have You" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
BEST PICTURE A BEAUTIFUL MIND Brian Grazer and Ron Howard
SHORT FILM - ANIMATED FOR THE BIRDS Ralph Eggleston
SHORT FILM LIVE ACTION THE ACCOUNTANT Ray McKinnon and Lisa Blount
SOUND BLACK HAWK DOWN Michael Minkler, Myron Nettinga and Chris Munro
SOUND EDITING PEARL HARBOR George Watters II and Christopher Boyes
VISUAL EFFECTS THE LORD OF THE RINGS Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard
Taylor and Mark Stetson
WRITING (ADAPTED) A BEAUTIFUL MIND Written by Akiva Goldsman
WRITING (ORIGINAL) GOSFORD PARK Written by Julian Fellowes 
Nominations for the 74th Annual Academy Awards were announced on February 12, 2002 by
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Frank Pierson and Oscar winner Marcia
Gay Harden.
Pierson and Harden announced ten of the 24 categories at a 5:30 a.m. news conference attended
by over 400 international media. Nominations in all categories were distributed simultaneously to
news media in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards Web site
Harden received her first Academy Award Nomination last year at the 73rd Academy Awards,
and won the Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Lee Krasner, the artist wife of abstract
expressionist painter Jackson Pollock, in "Pollock."
Academy members selected the nominees in their respective branches, with the exception of the
Animated Feature, Foreign Language Film and Makeup categories, where nominations were
selected by vote of screening committees. All members select the Best Picture nominees. The
secret ballots were mailed to 5,739 members in early January and were returned directly to
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international accounting firm, for tabulation.
Official screenings of all pictures with a nomination will begin this weekend for members at the
Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings in special categories also will be held in
London, New York and San Francisco.
The Academy's entire active and life membership is eligible to select the winners in all categories,
although in five of them - the two short film, the two documentary and the foreign language film
categories - members can vote only after attesting they have seen all of the nominated films in
those categories.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2001 will be presented on Sunday, March
24, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland and televised live by the ABC Television
Network beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST. A half-hour arrival segment will precede the presentation
ceremony at 5 p.m.
Gordon E. Sawyer Award
Edmund M. Di Giulio, one of the industry's foremost engineering minds, was voted the Gordon E.
Sawyer Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Award, an Oscar statuette, was presented at the Scientific and Technical Awards Dinner on
Saturday, March 2, 2002 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Established in 1981, the Sawyer Award, an Oscar statuette is "presented to an individual in the
motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry." Di
Giulio is the 16th recipient.
Perhaps best known for his part in the engineering and development of the Steadicam, Di Giulio
has been active on various Academy subcommittees for many years and chaired the Academy's
Scientific and Technical Awards Committee for five years.
"In my opinion, Ed is something of an engineering statesman, and someone one could always call
on for advice and guidance," said Richard Edlund, current chair of the Scientific and Technical
Awards Committee. "We could think of no one who more deserves the Sawyer Award than he
does."
To this point in his career, Di Giulio has received four Sci-Tech Awards, which he shares with
several other people. While at Mitchell Camera Corporation in the early sixties, he developed the
company's first reflex camera - the Mark II - and in 1968, he received the Scientific and
Engineering Award for the important design and application of a conversion that made it possible
to change over most of the industry's existing sound cameras to reflex viewing. In 1992, he
received another Scientific and Engineering Award for the camera system design of the CP-65
Showscan Camera System for 65mm motion picture cinematography. In 1998, Di Giulio received
a Technical Achievement Award for the design of the KeyKode Sync Reader.
The next year, Di Giulio received the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, awarded for
"outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy."
Di Giulio has authored a number of influential scientific papers and is a well-known lecturer who
has appeared at technical conferences and symposia both in the United States and around the
world. An Academy member since 1966, Di Giulio is also fellow of the Society of Motion Picture
and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and holds more than a dozen patents in computer and cinema
technology.
Robert Redford was voted an Honorary Award, presented during the 74th Academy Awards, by
the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The citation reads: "Robert Redford - Actor, Director, Producer, Creator of Sundance, inspiration
to independent and innovative filmmakers everywhere."
"Bob's dedication to independent filmmaking has had an enormously positive impact on the
motion picture industry since he created Sundance 20 years ago, and young filmmakers for years
to come will continue to benefit from the training that his institute provides and the world-class
showcase that his festival offers," said Academy President Frank Pierson.
Since his acting debut in the 1962 drama "War Hunt," Redford has appeared in more than 35 films
including "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Way We Were," "All the President's
Men" and "The Sting," for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in
1973.
After gaining success as an actor, Redford tried his hand at directing and won an Academy Award
in his directorial debut for the film "Ordinary People" in 1980. He received two nominations in
1994 for directing and producing Best Picture nominee "Quiz Show."
Honorary Awards, in the form of Oscar statuettes, are given by the Academy for "exceptional
distinction in the making of motion pictures or for outstanding service to the Academy." Previous
recipients include Ernest Lehman, Stanley Donen, Deborah Kerr, Federico Fellini, Ralph Bellamy,
Michael Kidd, Alex North and Hal Roach.
Actor Sidney Poitier was voted an Honorary Award, presented during the 74th Academy Awards,
by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The award, an
Oscar statuette, is being given to Poitier "for his extraordinary performances and unique presence
on the screen, and for representing the motion picture industry with dignity, style and intelligence
throughout the world."
"When the Academy honors Sidney Poitier," Academy President Frank Pierson said, "it honors
itself even more."
In a career that has spanned more than 50 years, Poitier has been nominated for two leading actor
Oscars, in 1958 for his role in "The Defiant Ones," and in 1963 for "Lilies of the Field," for which
he won the statuette.
He has appeared in over 40 films since 1949, including such classics as "Blackboard Jungle," "To
Sir, with Love," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "A Raisin in the Sun" and "In the Heat of the
Night."
So many governors made comments seconding Poitier's nomination that it took Actors Branch
Governor Tom Hanks' remark - "When I was a young actor, I worked as a bellboy. I carried Mr.
Poitier's bags once, and he tipped me five bucks!" - to finally bring the proposal to a vote.
Academy rules state that Honorary Awards, in the form of Oscar statuettes, may be given for
"exceptional distinction in the making of motion pictures or for outstanding service to the
Academy." Previous recipients include Paul Newman, Satyajit Ray, Michelangelo Antonioni,
Akira Kurosawa, Sophia Loren, Walter Lantz, James Stewart and Henry Fonda.
John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation
The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded Ray
Feeney the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation. The medal was presented during the
Scientific and Technical Awards presentation dinner on Saturday, March 2, 2002.
Feeney received the Bonner Medal for his pioneering efforts to improve visual effects in the
motion picture industry.
Since the mid-70's, Feeney has worked to provide leading-edge scientific and engineering
solutions to the film industry. The new technologies offered by Feeney and RFX, Inc., the
company he founded in 1978, have served as the catalysts to produce ground-breaking visual
effects for both feature films and television.
In conjunction with leading filmmakers and software engineers, Feeney also founded Silicon
Grail, a company that develops digital compositing software to more efficiently create visual
effects for feature films.
"Ray Feeney has played a leading role in the motion picture industry by working to improve upon
current technologies. He has played a pivotal role in the field of visual effects and is truly
deserving of the Bonner Medal," said Richard Edlund, chair of the Scientific and Technical
Awards Committee. No stranger to Academy recognition, Feeney has won four Scientific and
Engineering Awards from the Academy during his illustrious career: in 1988, for developing one
of the first motion control camera systems; in 1991, for his work on the Solitaire Film Recorder;
and in 1994, honoring his development of film input scanners and the Cinefusion bluescreen
extraction technology.
Named in honor of the late director of special projects at Warner Hollywood Studios, the Bonner
Medal is awarded for outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Director Arthur Hiller was voted the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Board of
Governors. The Oscar statuette, was presented to Hiller during the 74th Academy Awards
Presentation on March 24, 2002.
The Hersholt Award is given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian
efforts have brought credit to the industry.
"The board was persuaded not by Hiller's participation in a single cause, but by the wide diversity
of his charitable and educational interests," Academy President Frank Pierson said. "In a long and
productive career as a director and producer, Arthur has been extraordinarily generous with his
time, a most precious commodity in the hell-for-leather pace of motion picture making. His
activities extend far beyond the community of film to the society at large."
Hiller has been involved with such charitable organizations as the Motion Picture and Television
Fund, KCET, Amnesty International, Inner City Filmmakers, the Los Angeles Central Library's
reading program, the Deaf Arts Council, the Anti-Defamation League, Los Angeles County
Museum programs on film and television, Humanitas, the Streisand Centre at UCLA and the
Venice Family Clinic. Hiller is a frequent participant in classes and workshops at universities,
festivals and other organizations in the United States and abroad.
Hiller was nominated for an Academy Award in 1970 for directing "Love Story," and served as
Academy President from 1993 through 1997. Hiller's other film credits include "The
Americanization of Emily," "The Out-of-Towners," "Plaza Suite," "Man of La Mancha," "The
Hospital," "The In-Laws," "Silver Streak," "Author! Author!," "Outrageous Fortune" and "The
Man in the Glass Booth."
Hiller's career spans many years and several media. It began in Canadian radio and moved into
television in 1954 when he started directing for CBC Television. Shortly after, he was brought to
the United States by Matinee Theatre and worked on many other prestigious television series such
as "Playhouse 90," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Gunsmoke" and "Naked City."
. war
effort, Oscars were made of plaster. After the War, winners turned in the temporary awards for
golden Oscar statuettes.
The traditional Oscar statuette,. the statuette resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so, and that as a result the
Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar.
No hard evidence exists to