Top 10 Oscar moments to remember...
No one remembers which movies or actors win Oscars from year to year but what we do remember are the wacky things that happen at the awards ceremony so here's my pick for top 10 Oscar moments to remember:
- 10) (1976) Feeling patriotic, Elizabeth Taylor leads the audience in "America the Beautiful". Great idea in our bicentennial year, not a great idea if you don't know the words. Liz didn't. Sorry Ms. Taylor, being born in England is not an excuse...
- 9) (1997) Totally shocked when his name is announced at the podium as the winner of the "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar for "Jerry Maguire", Cuba Gooding Jr. does acrobatics at the podium and procedes to thank everyone in Hollywood from God to Cameron Crowe, Tom Cruise and several parking valets and continues to thank people despite being drowned out by the musical hook used to get him off the stage...
- 8) (1989) Rob Lowe sings a painful duet with "Snow White". I mean why would you decide to sing "Proud Mary" ? But then again, why would you do a duet with "Snow White" ? Disney was not amused and sued the academy for unauthorized use of "Snow White"...
- 7) (1934) Director Frank Capra hears "Come on up and get it, Frank" coming from the podium and thinking he was the "Frank" winning the "Best Director" Oscar rushes down from the audience to the stage only to find out, wrong "Frank". Frank Lloyd is the right "Frank". Mr. Capra sheepishly walks back to his table red-faced...
- 6) (1998) After winning an Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role for a non-English performance", Roberto Benigni does a "Tom Cruise" on his seat and leapfrogs from seat-to-seat up the 5 rows to get to the stage...
- 5) (1977) Announcing the names of two Oscar winners, Marty Feldman throws the award on the stage where it breaks into two pieces, gives each piece to the recipients and then says, "It said, "Maid in Hong Kong on the bottom"...
- 4) (1992) 73-year old Jack Palance accepts his "Best Supporting Actor" award and proving to host Billy Crystal that age is nothing more than a number, drops to the floor for one-armed pushups...
- 3) (1973) Marlon Brando decides not to show for his "Best Actor" Oscar for "The Godfather" and sends Sacheen Littlefeather, an Apache in full regalia to denounce anything and everything not "Native American". The joke is on us though when Sacheen turns out to be struggling actress Maria Cruz, not a "Native American"...
- 2) (1985) Sally Fields gushingly accepting her "Best Actress" Oscar for "Places in the Heart". For the record, this was her direct quote: "This time I feel it and I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now you like me"...
- 1) (1974) As Robert Opal streaks in back of David Niven as he's about to introduce Elizabeth Taylor who will present the "Best Picture" Oscar, Niven comes up with the best line in Oscar history, "Isn't it fascinating to think that the only laugh that man will probably get in his life was when he stripped to show off his shortcomings"...
Some things you may not know about the Oscars follows in my commentary...
March 3 Memories...
1634) Ex-artilleryman Samuel Cole opens the 1st tavern in America, "Cole's Inn" located near Faneuil Hall in Boston...
1863) The U.S. Postal Service authorizes free city delivery of mail (it's a good thing they didn't ask us to pay for that)...
1885) AT&T incorporates in New York as a subsidiary of American Bell Telephone Company...
1931) The "Star Spangled Banner" originally written as "Defense of Fort McHenry" by Francis Scott Key, becomes our national anthem...
1959) The San Francisco Giants officially name their new stadium Candlestick Park...
1959) Lou Costello, part of the legendary team of "Abbott and Costello" dies 3 days shy of his 53rd birthday...
1965) The Temptations are #1 with "My Girl" (written by Smokey Robinson who also wrote "My Guy")...
1966) Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay form Buffalo Springfield...
1984) Peter Ueberroth, president of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee is elected as the 6th commissioner of Baseball (effective Oct. 1)...
1985) "Moonlighting" starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis premieres on ABC-TV (the show runs until May 14, 1989)...
1991) Motorist Rodney King is severely beaten by LAPD officers in a scene captured on amateur video tape (all hell then breaks loose)...
1992) Islander great Mike Bossy becomes the 2nd Islander to be hoisted to the rafters at Nassau Coliseum (actually his #22 uniform, not Bossy was lifted to the rafters to join #5 Denis Potvin, his #5, not Denis)...
1995) A stalker is arrested while trying to break into Roberta Flack's Manhattan apartment but Roberta starts killing him softly with her song...
(To ensure accuracy in dates and content, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline)...
Happy Birthday To...
1947) Jennifer Warnes...
1950) Former SNLer Tim Kazurinsky...
1962) Former Jersey General & NFL running back Herschel Walker...
1962) Former Olympic track and field great Jackie Joyner-Kersee...
1968) Former Ranger and current Bruin Brian Leetch...
1982) Jessica Biel...
Commentary...
Some things you may not know about the Oscars:
- Oscar depicts a knight holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film (who knew ?)...
- Oscar was either named when an Academy librarian thought that it looked like her uncle Oscar (or) after Bette Davis' first husband (so take your choice)...
- A film has to open in the previous year to qualify...
- The 1st ceremony took place on May 16, 1929...
- For the 1st time (1940) a sealed envelope was used. Prior to 1940, newspapers had the results prior to the ceremony in time for the morning papers...
- In 1952, TV started covering the awards...
Today is the 62nd day of 2006 with 303 days remaining in the year, 17 days until spring and 29 days until opening day...
Saturday, March 4, 2006...
March 4 Memories...
1681) England's King Charles II grants a charter to William Penn for a plot of land that will become Pennsylvania...
1789) The Constitution goes into effect as the 1st Congress meets in New York City...
1791) Vermont, admitted as the 14th state, is the 1st addition to the original 13 colonies...
1826) The Granite Railway in Quincy, MA becomes the 1st chartered railroad in America...
1861) Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as our President...
1902) The American Automobile Association (AAA) is founded in Chicago...
1913) Woodrow Wilson is sworn in as our 28th President...
1925) Calvin Coolidge is sworn in and the inauguration is carried on the radio for the 1st time...
1933) FDR gives his inauguration speech which includes "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"...
1950) Walt Disney's "Cinderella" premieres...
1952) Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis tie the knot...
1954) The 1st successful kidney transplant is achieved at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston...
1968) Joe Frazier wins the vacated (by Muhammad Ali) heavyweight championship with an 11th round KO of Buster Mathis at Madison Square Garden...
1976) Hall & Oates record "Rich Girl"...
1989) Time Inc. and Warner Communications announce a plan to merge...
1990) One of the leading scorers in NCAA history, Hank Gathers of Loyola Marymount suddenly collapses and dies during a game against Portland at the age of 23 (Gathers was projected as a 1st round pick in that year's NBA draft...
1994) 4 extremists are convicted in the World Trade Center bombing which killed 6 and injured more than a thousand...
1996) Grand Ole Opry fixture, Minnie Pearl dies...
To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1932) Miriam Makeba...
1938) Paula Prentiss...
1953) Musician and Gloria's husband Emilio Estefan...
1958) Patricia Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond")...
1961) Steven ("Wings") Weber...
Today is the 63rd day of 2006 with 302 days remaining in the year, 16 days until spring and 28 days until opening day...
Sunday, March 5, 2006...
March 5 Memories...
1770) The Boston Massacre kills 5 as British soldiers, taunted by a crowd of colonists, open fire (2 Brits will later be convicted of manslaughter)...
1868) The Senate organizes a court to argue impeachment charges against President Andrew Johnson...
1955) Elvis Presley makes his 1st TV appearance on "Louisiana Hayride" (and on the same date in 1960 Elvis is honorably discharged from the Army)...
1963) Country singer Patsy Cline dies in a small plane crash at 30 (also killed are her pilot/manager and Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins)...
1966) Steel union official Marvin Miller is selected as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (I used to ride the 5th avenue bus with Mr. Miller and liked the man a lot. He is a brilliant negotiator and baseball players should kiss the ground he walks on for their salaries)...
1969) The magazine "Creem" is published for the 1st time...
1973) Yankee pitchers Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich arrive at spring training and announce that they have swapped wives, children and dogs (within 2 years both players are history)...
1982) John Belushi dies of a drug overdose in Hollywood at the age of 33...
1993) Cuban President Fidel Castro says that Hillary Clinton is "a beautiful woman" (when asked how many fingers a reporter is holding up, el Presidente says: "are you holding up fingers ?")...
1993) Redskin coach Joe Gibbs after winning 3 Super Bowls in 12 years, announces his retirement (Gibbs becomes a successful racing car team owner in Nascar but returns to the NFL and Washington)...
1997) North and South Korea holds peace talks for the 1st time in 25 years...
2001) VP Dick Cheney undergoes angioplasty for a partially blocked artery...
2002) MTV begins airing "The Osbournes" (TV will never be the same)...
2004) Martha Stewart is convicted of obstructing justice and lying to the government about why she unloaded Imclone stocks just before the price dropped...
To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1936) Dean Stockwell...
1938) Fred Williamson...
1954) Marsha Warfield (Roz on "Night Court")...
1955) Penn Jillette (the loud half of Penn and Teller)...
1975) Model Niki Taylor...
Today is the 64th day of 2006 with 301 days remaining in the year, 15 days until spring and 27 days until opening day...
