It's 100 Days until the Oscars! Do you remember your first time watching?
Friday, November 16, 2018 at 9:51AM How will you countdown? This upcoming Oscar ceremony will be the 91st annual event. In just 9 years, if the world survives that long, we'll have the Centennial of the Oscar! Can you imagine?! And do you remember the first ceremony you ever watched?
The first one I ever remember watching was the 56th ceremony...
...though I have one distinct memory of the Oscars (in the abstract) the year before. My only true memory of the night was Shirley Maclaine's speech; an actressexual I was from the very beginning! But that speech is a true marvel, isn't it? So many colors and jokes and tributes (without a boring list of names) and so much passion.
I was an enthusiastic moviegoer when I could get someone to take me for as long as I can remember but I was still two years away from paying attention to the Oscar race as it developed (1985 was the film year for that to which I owe People magazine (I think?) for a two page spread of possible Best Actress contenders that fascinated me). The only nominees in any category that I know I had seen before the 56th annual ceremony were Yentl (my family loved musicals), War Games (popular with kids), Never Cry Wolf (just discussed) and of course Return of the Jedi (with which I was fully obsessed as kids are prone to be with Star Wars). The only one of them that won a competitive prize was Yentl for Best Song Score or Adaptation Score which is a now defunct category.
[Thanks to everyone who responded in the comments here on their first memory and on twitter. So much fun to read!]
One extra bit of trivia from the 1983 Oscar race: Prince of Tides (1991) was not the first time Oscar got press for skipping Barbra Streisand in the Best Director category. She had actually won the Globe for directing Yentl.
But when the Oscar nominations were announced she was the odd woman out in Best Director since the Globes had had six nominees that year -- all five of the others were nominated at the big show.
Reader Comments (54)
Wow, all the nominees looked great but Jane Alexander is the most beautiful!
My first ceremony was the following year - I watched it because I heard Prince was nominated and I thought he might perform. He didn't.
I just found out that Gay Twitter hates Out of Africa and I'm beside myself. How can you hate a movie that starts with an inner monologue?
My first time watching and caring was the 60th Academy Awards, because I wanted to see Cher and Olympia Dukakis win (I am happy that my 13-year-old taste still holds up today). I know I watched earlier ceremonies because my mom always tuned in for Paul Newman and get angry about all the times he lost.
Part of wishes someone like Cheryl Ladd could present more awards, just out of the blue and no one having to ask why
My first viewing was the 1974 ceremony held in 1975. I was obsessed with Murder On the Orient Express, even though I hadn't seen the film yet. The show launched my other obsession with The Towering Inferno, which I would see later that summer and fall in love with. They played the clip from Chinatown, and I'll never forget turning to my mom and asking, "How can she be her sister and her daughter?" My mom looked at me and said, "I'll explain it to you in a few years."
Rock and Liza were so happy for Shirley! Hey producers, maybe it's time to shake things up with the presenters.
I honestly don't know how I didn't start sniffing glue after the Turner-Close-Pfeiffer consecutive fuckeries.
My first one was in 1983 ! I was 6 years old , and the only thing i can remember was Carol Burnett presenting
I hope they pull out ALL the stops for the 100th Oscars... I want it to be like 5 hours long! Have literally EVERY previously nominated actor back!
It should be a big over the top spectacle!! Make it happen!
The 63rd ceremony is when the show became an annual priority for me. I was 8 and my personal selections for Supporting and Best Actress were the same as the Academy's and damn it that's how I usually have a good time with the show. If my girls win their categories. Whoopi's win still holds emotional resonance for me.
I fuzzily remember early moments from previous ceremonies but nothing concrete.
I love that Shirley went over and gave Debra Winger a big fat kiss even though they supposedly hated each other. <3
The first broadcast I can remember watching from the start was March 1992 when Beauty and the Beast and John Singleton had historic nominations and Billy Crystal was at his best hosting and spoofing The Silence of the Lambs. Since I was still a kid, I had to go to bed before Best Picture. It was not until the year The English Patient swept that I was able to stay up and watch the whole ceremony.
I would usually be in school on Oscar nominations morning, but I remember missing school and watching the nomination announcement for the American Beauty year. That's a tradition I like to keep up with so I tend to take off work on nomination morning and the day after the awards.
Paltrow in the pink dress!
That win/performance/dress have not aged well but you can't tell me it wasn't a fairytale at the time.
My first was film year 1991. My parents had bought the Entertainment Weekly Who Will Win issue, so I was primed.
Billy Crystal sang, Jack Palance did pushups, Geena and Susan jokes about making a sequel, and Mercedes Ruehl became the star of my Supporting Actress obsession origin story.
The first telecast in which I recall being invested was of the 63rd ceremony because that was the first year I was old enough to understand what the Oscar meant. It also helped that a movie I saw and loved (Ghost) was a multiple nominee. I was a few months from 11, and this was in the days before the show aired on Sunday nights, so I definitely didn't make it the entire way through. However, I did get to see Whoopi win best supporting actress, which was the best part for me.
The first ceremony I was intensely invested in, as in making predictions and following all of the precursors, was the '02 telecast (CHICAGO). With that said, the '96 ceremony (THE ENGLISH PATIENT) is the first I can vaguely recall viewing at least some of. I also kinda-sorta remember rooting for AS GOOD AS IT GETS in '97.
Unfortunately I live in Central Europe and The Oscars start around 2 a.m. at night, so I couldn't watch them often. But I clearly remember seeing the ceremony of 2006 and what a joy it was, despite already knowing who'll take the two lead Oscars.
The Oscar for The Life of Others was surprising, because I thought Pan's Labyrinth had this. That was a HUGE celebration in the media right after!
It was also quite the first time I've noticed Meryl Streep had 14 noms and two wins already and I just thought: Wow.
I've also seen the following ceremony and I was really happy for Cotillard.
The first Oscars I remember watching was the Million Dollar Baby year. Because of that, I still have it engrained in my brain that Hillary Swank is basically the biggest and most glamorous Hollywood movie star, even though I know now that it has never been true. It’s funny how that works.
o my lord, you listen to Shirley MacLaine up there and think, THAT is how you give an acceptance speech. She was so thoughtful and eloquent and funny. And points out how dull, unimaginative and sometimes even graceless most acceptance speeches are (the endless litanies of names, blah blah, blan). Shirley is one-of-a-kind.
Not necessarily the Oscars, but I do remember reading the Golden Globe nominations in the local newspaper in 2003 (I was 11), and telling my mom I hoped Uma Thurman would win for Kill Bill Vol. 1, but knew Charlize Theron would win for Monster. I don't know how I knew it, but I knew.
That is a pretty terrific speech. Also love Liza's and Shirley's Muppets hair.
Boy, I am soooo much older than most Film Experience fans. My first Oscar ceremony was heard rather than seen and it was in 1959 (The awards for '58). And I really only heard some of it. Though I was already movie crazy, my parents figured I was too young to stay up and watch TV that late. But - necessity being the mother of invention - I discreetly took my tiny crystal radio set (they were popular as kids' toys in the 50's) and (literally undercover in bed) tuned into the radio broadcast as best I could. Problem was the fragile signal kept fading in and out. Plus I had to keep one ear open anticipating a parental bust. I do remember hearing the song "A Very Precious Love" from "Marjorie Morningstar" performed (though I can't recall who sang it on the show) and loving it. The next year I was rated old enough and got to watch the whole exciting thing on TV.
The first ceremony I ever watched all the way through was the Oscars for 1997 but my first memory of the Oscars was Anna Paquin's win. Somehow I saw that and thought it was so cool someone only a couple years older than me won. But after that I probably changed the channel to cartoons or something haha. The Oscars for 1996 were the first to pique my interest since I am from Minnesota and Fargo was all the talk that year but I didn't watch much of the ceremony, I only remember seeing Cuba Gooding Jr's win.
My aunt worked at a dentist office in the early 90s, and far and away the best thing about it was that she was able to get me the week old Entertainment Weekly magazines. Their Oscar issue for '91 changed the game for me, and it was the first time I not only casually watched the telecast, but genuinely cared about who and what might win. I was thrilled when The Silence of the Lambs swept. I was 12, wasn't supposed to have seen it, didn't fully get every detail, but was blown away by it (that damn escape scene will never get old). Imagine my disappointment as the years went on in realizing how rarely me and Oscar would actually agree...
I remember going with my family to try and see Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (RIP William Goldman!) and it was always sold out, so we ended up seeing True Grit instead probably three weeks in a row. I knew we were trying to see Butch because it was nominated for Best Picture. I would have been 8 years old.
I probably saw all the TV shows from that time on, but the first one I recall knowing about was 1973. I'm certain my family wanted The Sting to win over The Exorcist because The Exorcist was R-rated and evil. I think my sister wanted Diana Ross to win for Lady Sings The Blues the year before, but I didn't follow that and didn't know Liza or Fosse (for shame I know!).
I paid some attention and knew that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a big deal. But the first race I know that I knew all the nominees and really followed was 1977. I was (still am?) the only person I knew who has happy that Annie Hall won over Star Wars. I also remember being pretty much unable to decide which actress was the best in 1977. I'm glad Diane Keaton won, but I don't know who I would have chosen in that race. I probably still don't!
Just to prove that Ken and I aren't the same person, but I, too, am a lot older than most of the others on this site. My first Oscars was the 1969 ceremony in 1970. I was super glad Goldie Hawn won, because I knew her from tv. It was really frustrating because I was too young to see any of the R-rated films (and my parents weren't about to take me to any of that smut), let alone the X-rated Best Picture Midnight Cowboy.
The first full ceremony I remember watching was 2003 (Charlize!) but I definitely have earlier memories of Julia's and Halle's wins.
Peggy Sue: I LOVE Out of Africa. It is a top 10 all-time favorite for me, and I will defend it to the death. It's not my favorite Streep performance (though it's up there), but aside from The Hours, it is my favorite Streep movie.
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My first time was the 1968 Oscars, when Streisand tied with Hepburn. If I recall well, wasn't this the first one broadcast in color? Once I started, I must have missed two or three ceremonies in these 50 years!
My Moulin Rouge loving 11 year old self watched their first Oscars and cried when Halle beat Nicole. I could still cry.
The first time I watched part of the ceremony was in 1998 because of Titanic.
Next year, again part of the ceremony because of the nomination for Fernanda Montenegro (I am a Brazilian)
In 2002, I watched part of the ceremony (again) because of Harry Potter.
only in 2003 that I watched all the ceremony and never stopped since then. I really like watch the Oscars! is the only day of the year that I watch TV. it is like a personal ritual for me. I am not happy with the decision of the academy to put some categories during the commercials. Was because of that categories (trying to understand what they mean on filmmaking) that my interest for movies expand (because internet enter in my house and I started to research about movie history and not English movies). I am a cinephile because of the Oscars.
My first memory related to the oscars was unfortunately my mother trying to get me to watch the 06 awards and I was not into it. It wasn't until 2008 when I actually watched the ceremony having seen a few of the nominees. The 09 race was when I got really invested having seen most of the nominees prior to the ceremony.
From the 08 ceremony the past winners presenting the acting awards is something I'll never forget seeing. I know people complain because it adds to the running time but seeing Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Halle Berry, Sophia Loren & Shirley MacLaine present Kate Winslet an oscar is a moment I tune in to watch the oscars for.
I wish they would bring this back or just include earlier oscar winners so we could have one final memory of these older stars who are increasingly leaving this planet.
Nathaniel! Your brilliant site continues to hug the soul!
My first Oscar memory is the 1995 ceremony. I was 11 and remember being disappointed that Jessica Lange won for BLUE SKY over Jodie Foster in NELL (based solely on the clips shown as I’d seen neither movie). I became film and awards obsessed soon after. I came to co-sign Lange’s win (and wish the late, great Carrie Snodgress got a supporting nomination for BLUE SKY).
By the next year, I was Oscar-obsessed and passed out ballots to my whole family, which I tore out of copies of a brand new (at the time) publication, IN STYLE. I was THRILLED to see Louise (Susan Sarandon) win and just knew I had to find a way to see LEAVING LAS VEGAS against my parents’ wishes.
I’m remained obsessed ever since, and I began to feel much less solitary once I discovered The Film Experience in late 2002. Thank you for all you do!
Best Actress continues to break my heart unlike any other category...
#JusticeForGlenn #JusticeForAnnette
I'm also of the "older persuasion" because, YO ADRIAN!, I definitely remember the 1976 Oscars because of "Rocky", and have some vague memories of the 1975 Oscars because of "Jaws".
Been addicted ever since.
The first ceremony I saw was 1987 - The Last Emperor, Bertolucci, and four terrific acting winners (Michael Douglas, Cher, Sean Connery, Olympia Dukakis). And Chevy Chase improvised his way through as host as it was during a writers' strike. I was 13. But the first time I remember being aware of the Oscars was three years earlier, seeing a poster for Amadeus in the paper and it said 'Winner of 8 Academy Awards'. Now that sounded major!
Peggy Sue and Jes V.: I too love Out Of Africa!
Dave in Hollywood: You're not the only one - I think that Annie Hall is one of the best Best Picture winners in history - and I love Star Wars.
And I love this site. Thanks Nathaniel!
I know I saw years before, my mother was an inveterate watcher back then, but the first one I clearly remember is the 46th in 1974.
It was the year of the streaker which flustered Elizabeth Taylor so much she could barely get through her presentation but David Niven handled it with aplomb.
Also Susan Hayward, along with Charlton Heston, presented the Best Actress Oscar-Glenda Jackson won but wasn't there-there had been rumors she was seriously ill so it was a surprise for her to appear. Of course it was all a brave front and her last public appearance, she died the next year.
Tatum O'Neal's surprising win, deserving even if it is egregious category fraud.
As well as Kate Hepburn's one and only appearance to present the Thalberg Award...in pants natch.
I really can't recall my first Oscar telecast even if my parents were big movie fans, especially my dad who I think was secretly in love with Vanessa Redgrave. But I think my earliest recollection was seeing the People's Choice Awards and Marsha Mason won for Chapter Two. I remembered how casually the winners were dressed then. My sister later announced that Sissy Spacek won in the Oscar ceremony. My sister was probably the only one old enough to have seen Carrie so she was already a huge Sissy fan. So I guess my first Oscar experience was the year Sissy Spacek won in 1981.
@Jon -- was the 1998 Oscars a huge deal for Brazilians because of Fernanda Montenegro? Did you all stay up all night to watch the telecast? I was rooting for her as I love Central do Brasil.
Thank you all for your comments/memories, and thank you Nathaniel for your wonderful site!
I'm from France, and the Oscar ceremony, as far as I know, has always been broadcast on Canal+, our first pay-per-view channel. My parents never subscribed, so I definitely remember the first ceremony I asked a friend to record for me on VHS: it was 1999, the year of Shakespeare in Love :) I was 13.
(The year before, I heard on the radio the distinct voice of Sean Connery saying "and the Oshhhcar goes to... TITANIC!" So THAT actually was my first Oscar memory :)
2003 was a turning point; that's when I really got invested in the Oscars' outcome: I was in love with Nicole since Moulin Rouge! and so totally hoped she'd win for The Hours. (Of course she did.) I was so glad for Brody, and the Pianist, a film that changed me. I was also very happy for Elliot Goldenthal, Pedro Almodovar & Hayao Miyazaki! It truly was an awesome year.
I've asked my friend to record the show every year until 2004. He is a big LOTR fan, so it was nice to finally thank him with the Return of the King's clean sweep :)
2005: I manage to catch the show live on TV. Best Picture is announced around 3 AM here.
2006: I still hope Brokeback would win :/
2009: Watching Cotillard win live was astounding. Then, a few hours later, watch the ecstatic French TV morning news. Same thing in 2012 with The Artist.
2010: The year I started to record the ceremony :) The tricky thing is to avoid any spoiler on social media/news before watching the recording the morning after.
That clip is great. All the titans in one room - Debra Winger, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Shirley MacLaine, Liza, Rock. Thatt era is the silver era of movie-going. Hopefully we get to a bronze. I don't remember the first show I watched, but I was immediately onto Streep from day one. Like Madonna, she is a rallying cry who really helped a lot of people when they were young because you could adopt them as your own. Now, I only see this maybe with Emma Stone, so I wish her the best.
Ryan Crowe - Your hashtags will come true, the second isn’t a few months away, but soon enough
The first ceremony i watch was in 2000 celebrating the movies from 1999 because every month i used to buy a film magazine and they did an Oscar coverage that likes me so much that my curiosity was bigger than the fact that i haven't seen any of the films nominated. Time later i knew the Golden Globes, the SAG, the spirit awards etc. and i use to be very excited waiting for the nominees and winners every year until the names of the ceremonies start to coming repetitive.
My love ends in 2008 when i discover that the nominees and winners can be predicted (and choosen) many time before the ceremony and that exists a lot of films out of the Oscar criteria so i opted for watch a lot of films from diferent years, genres and countries which makes me confirm my love for the movies.
Thanks Nathaniel for bring back so many memories in my relationship with movies.
My first was #53. Since I had friends who were attending "the Fame school," I was thrilled when the movie picked up two awards (I had the soundtrack on vinyl as well as the 45 single of another Original Song nominee, "Nine to Five"). It made perfect sense to me, a 14-year-old, that Timothy Hutton won; his performance was (and still stands as) one of the greatest depictions of teenage angst and alienation. But I was royally pissed to learn that only Sissy Spacek was nominated from Coal Miner's Daughter; Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm were robbed. Thus began my nearly 40-year, love-hate relationship with Oscar.
The first time I watched and was invested was Nicole winning for The Hours.
I do remember moments from American Beauty's ceremony, and Nicole's category the year she was nominated for Moulin Rouge!
The first thing I remember is the musical production of songs from Beauty and the Beast. I may have seen earlier ceremonies, but that's my first memory.
Strangely, my first memory is of my disappointment that "Dr. Doolittle" was such an underdog to "Bonnie and Clyde".
I know that my view of the 1978 Best Picture race is a minority opinion on this site, but I still believe the cinematic accomplishment that is "Star Wars" deserved recognition ahead of all four of the other fine nominees, "Annie Hall", "Julia", "The Turning Point", and "The Goodbye Girl".
My countdown ritual this year will be according to habit - staying on top of the Best Picture race with sites like TFE and consensus lists like "Gurus of Gold" to help me see all of the Best Picture nominees before they are announced, then catch up with nominated films that I missed in Best Picture and all other categories as much as I can before High Holy Night.
Another Brazilian who watched for the first time in 1999 because of Central Station and Fernanda Montenegro! My mum let me stay up to watch and then had to have the conversation about how the best person doesn't always win... It was a good ten years until anyone at my house ever watched anything with Gwyneth Paltrow again!
I can't remember exactly... I'm sure I started early. But for some reason, I have a pretty distinct memory of watching Nicole Kidman's clip for The Hours. I guess it had an impact on me. haha
I first remember watching the year of "Schindler's List" (the 66th). I hadn't seen the movie yet, but I remember thinking Liam Neeson was a total babe based on the ceremony <---- probably my first movie star crush.
I taped it on VHS and watched it all throughout the summer following.
I think 2001 teased me and 2002 was the first ceremony I could see. As an European the broadcast is in the middle of the night, making me drop any classes I had at the Uni the day after.
Remember the drama around Russell Crowe and his change to win a second Oscar. Nicole Kidman hyped up though I preferred her performance in The Others.. Though I was dissapointed that neither won, I really did enjoy the historic Halle Berry moment and Denzel winning
Then I started to question the Oscar nominations because how could masterpieces like In The Mood For Love, Under The Sand, The Son"s Room, not get any attention. And that is why I was so pleased that Hable con Ella by Pedro Almodovar won for best original writing
I had hear and knew the importance of the Cannes film festival so to me Cannes is the ultimate film award there is. To me Cannes is about art and The Oscar is about marketing really
I'm one of the oldsters who frequent this site: I remember seeing at least parts of the telecasts for the 1972 & '73 films, but I know for sure that I watched the '74 awards all the way through b/c I was rooting really hard for Paper Moon and The Exorcist. In the years to come I've only missed a single telecast - the one for 1984. At the time I hadn't seen a single one of the Best Picture nominees, as I was strangely indifferent to them - it wasn't until many years later that I finally saw Amadeus and I actually just watched Places in the Heart a couple years ago after reading TFE's Smackdown take on it. So that year def ranks as the weakest for me (based on what was nominated), with 1995 & 2000 close behind. But I'll never miss the show again if I can help it!
I remember bits and pieces of various Oscars from the ‘80s (particularly Best Actress in ‘87 and ‘89), but more vividly recall following—and actively rooting for T2 at—the ‘91 Oscars. It’s still astonishing that a stone-cold masterpiece like Beauty & The Beast could crack the top five and that Silence of the Lambs could win! Such an exciting Oscars with yet another dynamite Best Actress lineup (well, Clarice and Thelma & Louise anyway). By ‘95, I was fully, totally invested and remain a little wistful that Elisabeth Shue didn’t win for one of the best Best Actress performances ever. But those are the breaks, considering perhaps the strongest Best Actress lineup of all time.
P.S. Gwyneth Paltrow’s win may not have aged well, but her actual performance in Shakespeare in Love is unimpeachable. I subscribed to Premiere Magazine in the ‘90s, and loved reading editorials about the next Julia Roberts, for example—a field that included Julia Ormond, Marisa Tomei, and Paltrow. There also was one about hot, young movie stars on the verge of turning 30! (Brad Pitt, Bridget Fonda, etc.), which seems so quaint now.