Oscars: Big memories from over the years

1960: Ben-Hur bags 11 awards

History was made when this universally-acclaimed biblical epic broke the record for the most gongs ever picked up by a single flick, and cemented its place in Oscars history.

Picking up an incredible 11 awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, Ben-Hur set a standard that wasn’t matched for another 38 years. In 1998, James Cameron’s Titanic tied the record set by William Wyler’s masterpiece, and at the 76th Academy Awards in 2004, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King did the same. To this day, 11 gongs is the record, though with 13 nominations for Oppenheimer, could this year be the year it is toppled?

1973: Sacheen Littlefeather rejects Marlon Brando’s Oscar on his behalf

At the 45th Academy Awards, legendary actor Marlon Brando caused something of a stir.

Having been named Best Actor for his sensational turn in The Godfather, Brando declined his gong, in fact having somebody else do this on his behalf.

Taking the stage, Native American actress and activist Sacheen Littlefeather informed the assembled audience that Brando would not be accepting his award due to Hollywood’s mistreatment and depictions of Native Americans.

Having received harassment both during and following her speech, Littlefeather was the recipient of an apology from the Academy – though this did not come until nearly 50 years later, in 2022.

1999: The Gwyneth Paltrow acceptance speech

Even for the Oscars, this was a long list of thank yous.

At the 71st Academy Awards, a 26-year-old Gwyneth Paltrow stepped up to claim her Best Actress gong, having pipped Cate Blanchett, Fernanda Montenegro, Emily Watson, and the mighty Meryl Streep to the prize.

With the young star having picked up her award for her role in Shakespeare In Love, her acceptance speech has gone down in history as one of the most iconic, packed to the brim with tear-filled gratitude toward her family and industry colleagues. Though it has been parodied over the years by many a comedian, it could be argued that Paltrow’s address now in fact represents the quintessential way to take an Academy gong.

Shakespeare In Love picked up a raft of other awards at the 1999 Oscars, though this was not without controversy. In a shock move, it beat Saving Private Ryan to the Best Picture prize, and Judi Dench picked up the award for Best Supporting Actress despite only having had five minutes and 52 seconds of screen time.

2014: The selfie to end all selfies

Some photos can just never be forgotten, and this one is up there with the best of them.

Back in 2014, Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres decided to take the opportunity to snap the most star-spangled selfie ever with a cohort of movie royalty that were sat near the front of the stage. What was intended to be a cheeky pic including only a handful of stars ended up featuring Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong’o, Bradley Cooper, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, and Kevin Spacey.

Suffice to say, the photo nearly broke the internet when tweeted, dethroning Barack Obama’s ‘Four More Years’ tweet as the most retweeted tweet of all time. There’s no business like show business.

2017: The Moonlight and La La Land mix-up

Yeah... this one was a tad embarrassing...

At the 89th Academy Awards, presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced La La Land as the winner of Best Picture, only for the gong to have in fact been intended for coming-of-age drama flick, Moonlight.

With Beatty and Dunaway having seemingly been given the wrong card, the La La Land team’s acceptance speech was interrupted as Academy bods flocked to the stage to correct the sensationally awkward mistake.

With shocked faces all around, this one will always be up there as one of those less than magical Oscars moments, but a very memorable one nonetheless.