Oscar trivia

We all know about the Oscars, but there are some little facts that always interest us. Here are some select Oscar trivia to brush up your Oscar knowledge.

The so called "Big Five" Academy Award categories (also known as the Oscar Grand Slam) include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and screenplay ? either Best Adapted Screenplay or Best Original Screenplay. It Happened One Night (1934) was the first film to win all the Big Five Oscars.

Only three films till date have won the Oscar Grand Slam. Apart from It Happened One Night (1934), the other two films are One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Most nominated films: All about Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997), 14 nominations each.

Most awards: Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 11 wins each.

Titanic (1997) won 11 Oscars but didn't win any for acting and wasn't even nominated for its screenplay.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) scored 11 wins out of 11 nominations but didn't have any acting nominations.

Mexican film director Emilio "El Indio" Fernández was the model for the Oscar statuette. He had posed nude for Cedric Gibbons, who supervised the design of the award trophy.

Oscar Hammerstein II (Best Song: 1941, 1945) is the only Oscar to win an Oscar.

Jack Nicholson was nominated 12 times for an Oscar and won thrice.

Neither winners nor their heirs may sell the Oscar statuettes without first offering to sell them back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for $1. If a winner refuses to agree to this stipulation, then the Academy keeps the statuette.

Midnight Cowboy (1969) was the first and only X-rated film to win the Oscar for Best Picture. The film bagged three awards in all including Best Director and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The film was nominated in seven categories.

A Clockwork Orange (1971) was the last X-rated film to be nominated for Best Picture.

The French Connection (1971) was the first R-rated film to win Best Picture.

Marlon Brando (actor) and Bernard Bertolucci (director) also received Oscar nominations for an X-rated film, Last Tango in Paris (1972).

Only 250 people attended the first Academy Awards in 1929. The tickets to the event cost $5.

Marlon Brando refused his Best Actor award for The Godfather (1972) protesting against film industry's discrimination and mistreatment of Native Americans. Prior to Brando, Dudley Nichols (Best Writing for The Informer in 1935) and George C Scott (Best Actor for Patton in 1970) refused to accept their Oscars.

The Exorcist (1973) was the first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture.

The Godfather Part II (1974) was the first sequel to win Best Picture.

Rocky (1976) was the first sports film to win Best Picture.

The Turning Point (1977) and The Color Purple (1985) received 11 nominations without winning any Academy Awards.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) is the first and only martial arts film to be nominated for Best Picture.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) also leads foriegn films with most nominations (10 nominations, 4 wins) at the Oscars.

Beauty and the Beast (1991) was first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture.

Up is the first computer animated film to be nominated for Best Picture.

Gone with the Wind (1939) was the first colour film to win Best Picture.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) was the first film to be released on home video before winning Best Picture.