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.