Neither Marlon Brando nor DiCaprio: This actor received the longest standing ovation in Oscars history, lasting over 10 minutes
We take a look back at the lengthiest ovation ever received in the history of the Academy Awards.
It’s not uncommon for an actor or director to receive a lengthy standing ovation at one of the major film awards ceremonies.
While this may partly be in recognition of impressive work on a recent movie, it chiefly tends to be an acknowledgement of their overall impact on the film industry.
Which major Hollywood figures have had major Oscars ovations?
For example, the director Martin Scorsese received a long ovation at the Oscars in 2007, after winning the only Best Director award of his illustrious career, for The Departed.
It was the sixth time that Scorsese - who has now received a total of 10 Best Director nods - had been nominated for the accolade.
Other major Hollywood names who have been treated to sizeable rounds of applause include Marlon Brando and Leonardo DiCaprio, with the latter earning particular acclaim after picking up the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in 2015’s The Revenant.
DiCaprio had previously been nominated for five Academy Awards without landing a golden statuette.
However, none of the artists above can lay claim to receiving the longest ever ovation at the Oscars.
Who has had the longest ever Oscars ovation?
The honor of receiving the longest ovation in Oscars history goes to the big-screen legend Charlie Chaplin, who was applauded for no fewer than 12 minutes at the 1972 Academy Awards.
The actor, filmmaker and composer was given the lengthy ovation as he collected an Academy Honorary Award for “the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century”.
Chaplin’s ovation and Academy Honorary Award represented a form of public apology from the United States, as he had been exiled from the country after being accused of being a communist during the period of the McCarthyist Second Red Scare.
After 20 years away from the U.S., he returned to America to receive the acclaim of an industry that owed so much to him.
Chaplin a giant of Hollywood history
Chaplin, who went on to win a competitive Oscar for Best Original Score for Limelight in 1973, was one of the most significant figures in Hollywood history.
He began his career in the silent-movie era, enjoying initial hits such as 1915’s The Tramp and 1921’s The Kid.
After Chaplin cofounded the United Artists production and distribution company with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith, he made his very finest movies: major successes like 1928’s The Circus, 1931’s City Lights, 1936’s Modern Times and 1940’s The Great Dictator.
He was nominated for three Oscars for The Great Dictator - including Best Actor - and earned an Academy Award nod for 1947’s Monsieur Verdoux. On top of his lifetime-achievement prize in 1972, the London native also collected an Honorary Academy Award for The Circus in 1929.
Chaplin died in 1977, at the age of 88.
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