OSCARS 2024
When were the first Oscars in history and how many categories did they have?
Learn some curiosities about the first Oscar Awards ever, when they were held, the categories, and the winners.
On Sunday 10 March, another edition of the Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, will take place. Through this ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes the best productions in the film industry. The gala will be held at its usual venue, the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, starting at 7 p.m. ET.
The 2024 gala represents the 96th awards ceremony. The first Academy Awards took place on 16 May 1929, when the film industry began to honor “excellence in cinematic achievements.” Just two years earlier, in 1927, the International Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had been founded under the initiative of Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) president, Louis B. Mayer.
One of the first committees of this new organization was the Awards of Merit committee, established in 1928. The seven-member committee suggested to the board that awards be presented in 12 categories.
The first ever Oscars ceremony
That first ceremony in 1929 was entirely different from the galas usually organized in Hollywood. The awards were presented during a banquet at the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, with 270 guests. In fact, the winners were already known at that first edition as they had been announced three months earlier.
The following year, the rules changed, and the names were announced during the ceremony, with a list shared with the media for publication after the event. However, the tradition was broken a decade later when the Los Angeles Times published the names ahead of time. Since then and until now, the system of sealed envelopes has been used.
Who won each category at the first Oscars?
The first edition of the Oscars recognized 12 categories. Below is a list of the awards presented that night:
- Outstanding Picture (now Best Picture): "Wings"
- Best Unique and Artistic Picture: "Sunrise"
- Best Director (comedy): Lewis Milestone for "Two Arabian Knights"
- Best Director (drama): Frank Borzage for "Seventh Heaven"
- Best Actor: Emil Jannings for "The Last Command" and "The Way of All Flesh"
- Best Actress: Janet Gaynor for "Seventh Heaven," "Street Angel," and "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans"
- Best Original Story: Ben Hecht for "Underworld"
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Benjamin Glazer for "Seventh Heaven" based on the play by Austin Strong
- Best Art Direction: William Cameron Menzies for "The Dove" and "Tempest"
- Best Cinematography: Charles Rosher and Karl Struss for "Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans"
- Best Engineering Effects (now Best Visual Effects): Roy Pomeroy for "Wings"
- Best Title Writing: Joseph Farnham for "The Fair Co-Ed," "Laugh, Clown, Laugh," and "Telling the World"
In addition to the twelve categories, the Academy bestowed a special recognition upon Warner Bros and Charles Chaplin.