The Oscars Quiz                                   worksheet A

1. This year’s Academy Awards are the
a) 75th.
b) 76th.
c) 77th.

2. True or false? This is the first year that the Awards have been held in February.

3. The award winners are chosen by
a) the public.
b) the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
c) a selected group of famous actors and actresses.

4. They will be held in
a) New York.
b) San Francisco.
c) Los Angeles.

5. Which actor has not been nominated this year?
a) Johnny Depp
b) Tom Cruise
c) Leonardo DiCaprio

6. Which of these nominated actresses has won an Oscar before?
a) Annette Bening
b) Kate Winslet
c) Hilary Swank

7. The youngest actress to win an Oscar for a performance was
a) 7 years old.
b) 10 years old.
c) 13 years old.

8. The oldest person to win an Oscar was
a) 76 years old.
b) 80 years old.
c) 82 years old.

9. Who won four ‘Best Actress’ awards between 1932 and 1981?
a) Katharine Hepburn
b) Marilyn Monroe
c) Greta Garbo

10. True or false? Jack Nicholson has won 12 Oscars.

11. Which man has won the most Oscars since the awards started?
a) Walt Disney
b) Marlon Brando
c) Michael Douglas

12. The longest acceptance speech lasted 
a) 20 minutes.
b) 40 minutes.
c) 90 minutes.

13. The Oscar statuette weighs
a) 1kg.
b) 2kg.
c) 3kg.

14. True or false? The statuette was named after Oscar Wilde.

The 2005 Oscars					         worksheet B

The 77th Annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, takes place at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday February 27th, 2005. This is only the second time that the awards have been held in February, the date traditionally being the third Sunday in March. Comic actor Chris Rock will host the show while the cream of Hollywood present the awards, chosen by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to this year’s winners.

Biopics are the favoured genre this year in the men’s Best Actor category. Leonardo DiCaprio plays millionaire adventurer Howard Hughes in The Aviator; Jamie Foxx is blind singer Ray Charles in Ray and Johnny Depp plays J. M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, in Finding Neverland. Meanwhile, in the Best Actress category Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) is the only nominee to have won an Oscar before. The others, including Annette Bening and Kate Winslet are all hoping to pick up their first Oscar this year. 

But none of this year’s nominees can compete with Tatum O’Neal, who at 10 years old became the youngest person to have won an acting Oscar (in the film Paper Moon in 1973, which starred her real-life father Ryan O’Neal).

Three years after Tatum O’Neal broke all records as the youngest winner, comedian George Burns became the oldest winner at the age of 80 for his role in The Sunshine Boys. Unfortunately for George, his ‘oldest winner’ title was lost to Jessica Tandy a few years later when she won her second Oscar at the age of 82.

Cate Blanchett has been nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category this year for her role in The Aviator as actress Katharine Hepburn, the person who has won more acting Oscars than anyone else in the history of the awards. Hepburn won four Oscars between 1932 and 1981 and was nominated for 12 overall. Bad boy Jack Nicholson has also been nominated 12 times but has only managed to pick up three trophies. Maybe next year, Jack. However, the undisputed ‘daddy’ of them all is none other than Walt Disney, who walked away with 26 Academy Awards and 59 nominations over his lifetime.

A change has been announced in how some nominees are going to collect their awards. In the past the winner has walked up to the podium after their name is announced. This year  though, some winners will not even go on stage, while in other categories all five nominees will get on stage before being told who has won. Sadly though, we’ll probably still have to tolerate the tearful acceptance speeches, but hopefully none as tedious as Greer Garson’s speech in 1942, which lasted one and a half hours!

Standing 34cm high and weighing just over 3kg, the Oscar statuette remains the most coveted acting award. It was given its nickname by Academy member Margaret Herrick in 1931, who remarked that the statuette looked just like her uncle – Oscar Pierce.

Will twice-nominated Clint Eastwood receive recognition this year or maybe Jamie Foxx, who also has two nominations: Best Actor for his role in Ray and Best Supporting Actor for his role in Collateral, which starred Tom Cruise. Or will Johnny Depp finally get that Best Actor Oscar? All will be revealed on February 27th. And this year’s winner is…