Who has hosted the most Academy Award ceremonies? List of hosts
Jimmy Kimmel will once again host the Academy Awards ceremony. It will be his fourth time repeating as emcee of the Oscars. Here’s who else has hosted
The 96th Academy Awards will take place on March 10 and Jimmy Kimmel is returning to the stage to emcee the ceremony for a fourth time. The job has become one of the least wanted in Hollywood, Kimmel even alluded to the difficulty producers have in booking emcee talent for the gala. “Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honor or a trap. Either way, I am grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after everyone good said no,” Kimmel quipped.
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That wasn’t always the case though, with a few celebrities that were perennial anchors of the production to hand out Hollywood’s most prestigious awards. Here’s a look at who has hosted the Oscars ceremony in the past.
Who has hosted the most Academy Award ceremonies?
An actor and comedian that never received a competitive Oscar, but he did receive five honorary awards, was nevertheless the person who was called on to host the most Academy Award ceremonies. Bob Hope helmed the show nineteen times, the first was the 12th Academy Awards in 1940 and the last in 1978 for the 50th installment. At one of his appearances he joked, “Welcome to the Academy Awards, or as they’re known at my house, Passover.”
It is unlikely that another will ever beat that record, the next closest to that tally of emceeing the Oscars was Billy Crystal. However, he didn’t even host half as many as the man he credited with directly inspiring him, anchoring the ceremony nine times before calling it quits for good.
Legendary late night talk show host Johnny Carson takes third place with five times at the helm. Followed by Jack Lemmon and Whoopi Goldberg who each hosted the show four times. Jimmy Kimmel will now join the select group, which includes Conrad Nagel, David Niven, Jerry Lewis and Steve Martin, who have anchored the show three times.
Just twelve other celebrities have dared to take on the monumental task of hosting the Academy Awards more than once. They include Chevy Chase, Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Frank Sinatra, Goldie Hawn, Jack Benny, James Stewart, Jane Fonda, Jon Stewart, Richard Pryor, Sammy Davis Jr and Walter Matthau.
Full list of Academy Award hosts
List of Academy Awards hosts
1st: Douglas Fairbanks
2nd: William C deMille
3rd: Conrad Nagel
4th: Lawrence Grant
5th: Conrad Nagel and Lionel Barrymore
6th: Will Rogers
7th: Irvin S Cobb
8th: Frank Capra
9th: George Jessel
10th: Bob Burns
11th: None
12th: Bob Hope
13th: Bob Hope
14th: Bob Hope
15th: Bob Hope
16th: Jack Benny
17th: Bob Hope and John Cromwell
18th: Bob Hope and James Stewart
19th: Jack Benny
20th: Agnes Moorehead and Dick Powell
21st: Robert Montgomery
22nd: Paul Douglas
23rd: Fred Astaire
24th: Danny Kaye
25th: Bob Hope and Conrad Nagel
26th: Donald O’Connor and Fredric March
27th: Bob Hope and Thelma Ritter
28th: Claudette Colbert, Jerry Lewis and Joseph L Mankiewicz
29th: Celeste Holm and Jerry Lewis
30th: Bob Hope, David Niven, Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Rosalind Russell and Donald Duck
31st: Bob Hope, David Niven, Jerry Lewis, Laurence Olivier, Mort Sahl and Tony Randall
32nd: Bob Hope
33rd: Bob Hope
34th: Bob Hope
35th: Frank Sinatra
36th: Jack Lemmon
37th: Bob Hope
38th: Bob Hope
39th: Bob Hope
40th: Bob Hope
41st: None
42nd: None
43rd: None
44th: Alan King, Helen Hayes, Jack Lemmon and Sammy Davis Jr
45th: Carol Burnett, Charlton Heston, Michael Caine and Rock Hudson
46th: Burt Reynolds, David Niven, Diana Ross and Rock Huston
47th: Sammy Davis Jr, Bob Hope, Shirley MacLaine and Frank Sinatra
48th : Gene Kelly, Goldie Hawn, George Segal, Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau
49th: Ellen Burstyn, Jane Fonda, Richard Pryor and Warren Beatty,
50th: Bob Hope
51st: Johnny Carson
52nd: Johnny Carson
53rd: Johnny Carson
54th: Johnny Carson
55th: Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, Richard Pryor and Walter Matthau
56th: Johnny Carson
57th: Jack Lemmon
58th: Alan Alda, Jane Fonda and Robin Williams
59th: Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan
60th: Chevy Chase
61st: None
62nd: Billy Crystal
63rd: Billy Crystal
64th: Billy Crystal
65th: Billy Crystal
66th: Whoopi Goldberg
67th: David Letterman
68th: Whoopi Goldberg
69th: Billy Crystal
70th: Billy Crystal
71st: Whoopi Goldberg
72nd: Billy Crystal
73rd: Steve Martin
74th: Whoopi Goldberg
75th: Steve Martin
76th: Billy Crystal
77th: Chris Rock
78th: Jon Stewart
79th: Ellen DeGeneres
80th: Jon Stewart
81st: Hugh Jackman
82nd: Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin
83rd: Anne Hathaway and James Franco
84th: Billy Crystal
85th: Seth MacFarlane
86th: Ellen DeGeneres
87th: Neil Patrick Harris
88th: Chris Rock and Reginald Hudlin
89th: Jimmy Kimmel
90th: Jimmy Kimmel
91st: None
92nd: None
93rd: None
94th: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes
95th: Jimmy Kimmel
96th: Jimmy Kimmel