100 Oscar Trivia Questions & Answers — Academy Awards

Oscar History & Records — 25 Questions

1. What year was the first Academy Awards ceremony? (1929 — held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel)
2. How long did the first Oscars ceremony last? (15 minutes)
3. What does "AMPAS" stand for? (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
4. What is the Oscar statuette made of? (Britannia metal plated in gold — stands 13.5 inches tall, weighs 8.5 lbs)
5. How did the Oscar get its nickname? (Disputed — one story credits Academy librarian Margaret Herrick saying it resembled her uncle Oscar)
6. What is the most Oscar wins for a single film? (11 — shared by Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003))
7. What film holds the record for most nominations without a win? (The Turning Point (1977) and The Color Purple (1985) — both 11 nominations, 0 wins)
8. What film has the most nominations ever? (All About Eve (1950) and La La Land (2016) — both with 14 nominations)
9. Who has won the most Oscars overall (any category)? (Walt Disney — 22 competitive Oscars plus honorary awards)
10. Who has the most acting Oscar wins? (Katharine Hepburn — 4 Best Actress awards)
11. Who has the most Best Actor wins? (Daniel Day-Lewis — 3 wins: My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, Lincoln)
12. Who has the most Oscar nominations (acting)? (Meryl Streep — 21 nominations)
13. What is the youngest Best Actress winner? (Marlee Matlin at age 21 — Children of a Lesser God, 1987)
14. What is the oldest Best Actress winner? (Jessica Tandy at age 80 — Driving Miss Daisy, 1990)
15. Who was the first Black winner of a major acting Oscar? (Hattie McDaniel — Best Supporting Actress for Gone with the Wind, 1940)
16. Who was the first Black Best Actor winner? (Sidney Poitier — Lilies of the Field, 1964)
17. What is the "Best Picture curse"? (The belief that Best Picture winners are ignored on film rental/streaming after the ceremony)
18. What film won Best Picture in 2020? (Parasite — also Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Film)
19. What film won Best Picture in 2022? (CODA)
20. What film won Best Picture in 2023? (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
21. What film won Best Picture in 2024? (Oppenheimer)
22. What film won Best Picture in 2026? (Anora)
23. What is the Academy voting membership? (Over 10,000 film industry professionals across branches)
24. What is the preferential ballot used for Best Picture? (Ranked-choice voting — voters rank films in order of preference)
25. What is the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film now called? (Best International Feature Film — renamed in 2020)

Famous Speeches & Controversies — 25 Questions

26. Who said "You like me, right now, you like me!" at the Oscars? (Sally Field — Best Actress for Places in the Heart, 1985)
27. Who refused their Oscar in protest of Hollywood's treatment of Native Americans? (Marlon Brando — sent Sacheen Littlefeather in his place, 1973)
28. Who thanked "God and the Warner Brothers" in a famous early acceptance speech? (Al Jolson — though many stars made religious/studio thank-yous)
29. What happened at the 2022 Oscars slap incident? (Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock after Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head)
30. What was the consequence for Will Smith after the slap? (Banned from attending Academy events for 10 years)
31. What is the "Best Picture envelope mishap" of 2017? (La La Land was incorrectly announced as winner before Moonlight was revealed as the actual winner)
32. Who gave the most famous post-win Oscars speech? (Halle Berry — first Black woman to win Best Actress (Monster's Ball, 2002) — gave an emotional speech)
33. What director said "I'm the king of the world!" at the 1998 Oscars? (James Cameron upon winning Best Director for Titanic)
34. What political speech was given when "Bowling for Columbine" won? (Michael Moore criticized President Bush at the 2003 ceremony)
35. What famously long speech did Gwyneth Paltrow give? (Her 1999 Best Actress speech for Shakespeare in Love was widely mocked for its length and crying)
36. Who wore the infamous meat dress — not at Oscars, but at the VMAs? (Lady Gaga — at the 2010 VMAs; mentioned for extreme celebrity fashion)
37. What were the #OscarsSoWhite protests about? (2016 — all 20 acting nominees were white for two consecutive years)
38. What host resigned over old tweets ahead of the 2019 ceremony? (Kevin Hart)
39. What year did the Oscars air without a host? (2019 — after Hart withdrew, the ceremony had no traditional host)
40. Who was the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar? (Kathryn Bigelow — for The Hurt Locker, 2010)
41. What is the Academy's reaction to streaming films? (Changed rules after COVID to allow streaming releases; traditionally required theatrical run)
42. What happened with Harvey Weinstein and the Oscars? (Following #MeToo, Weinstein was expelled from AMPAS in 2017)
43. What is "For Your Consideration" (FYC)? (Studio campaigns sending screeners and ads to voters to influence nominations)
44. What is the "Best Picture" precursor circuit? (SAG, PGA, DGA, WGA, BAFTAs — wins typically predict Oscar outcomes)
45. Who hosts the Governors Awards? (A separate AMPAS ceremony honoring lifetime achievement)
46. What did Elia Kazan's honorary Oscar spark in 1999? (Protests from filmmakers who refused to clap — due to his 1952 HUAC testimony naming colleagues as Communists)
47. What is an Oscar "sweep"? (When one film wins all or most major categories in one year)
48. What year did "Titanic" sweep the Oscars? (1998 — winning 11 awards at the ceremony)
49. What is the "Big Five" at the Oscars? (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay — very few films win all five)
50. What films won all Big Five Oscars? (It Happened One Night (1934), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), The Silence of the Lambs (1991))

Best Picture Winners by Decade — 25 Questions

51. What won Best Picture in the 1930s era of classic Hollywood? (Gone with the Wind — 1940 ceremony for 1939 film)
52. What won Best Picture in 1942? (Mrs. Miniver)
53. What won Best Picture in 1945? (Going My Way)
54. What won Best Picture in 1950? (All About Eve lost to... All About Eve lost — Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve was nominated but lost to... actually it lost to How Green Was My Valley in 1942; All About Eve lost to All About Eve — note: it lost to An American in Paris)
55. What won Best Picture in 1960? (Ben-Hur, 1960 ceremony for 1959 film)
56. What epic film won Best Picture in 1963? (Lawrence of Arabia)
57. What won Best Picture in 1968? (In the Heat of the Night)
58. What film won Best Picture in 1972? (The French Connection)
59. What film won Best Picture in 1973? (The Godfather)
60. What won Best Picture in 1975? (The Godfather Part II)
61. What film won Best Picture in 1976? (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
62. What won Best Picture in 1978? (Annie Hall — famously defeating Star Wars)
63. What won Best Picture in 1980? (Kramer vs. Kramer)
64. What won Best Picture in 1983? (Gandhi)
65. What won Best Picture in 1987? (Platoon)
66. What won Best Picture in 1991? (Dances with Wolves)
67. What won Best Picture in 1992? (The Silence of the Lambs)
68. What won Best Picture in 1994? (Schindler's List)
69. What won Best Picture in 1995? (Forrest Gump)
70. What won Best Picture in 2000? (American Beauty)
71. What won Best Picture in 2003? (Chicago)
72. What won Best Picture in 2005? (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
73. What won Best Picture in 2007? (Crash — controversially over Brokeback Mountain)
74. What won Best Picture in 2010? (The Hurt Locker)
75. What won Best Picture in 2011? (The King's Speech)

Oscar Trivia & Fun Facts — 25 Questions

76. What does the Oscar statuette depict? (A knight holding a crusader's sword, standing on a reel of film)
77. Who designed the Oscar statuette? (Art director Cedric Gibbons, sculpted by George Stanley — 1929)
78. Can Oscar winners sell their statuettes? (No — since 1950, winners must offer it back to AMPAS for $1 before selling)
79. Who is the youngest Best Director nominee? (John Singleton — Boyz n the Hood at age 24)
80. Who was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture? (Beauty and the Beast, 1992)
81. What is the Oscar for Best Animated Feature? (Introduced in 2002 — first winner was Shrek)
82. What is the most-Oscared animated film? (Wallace & Gromit — multiple short film wins; Spirited Away has a feature film win)
83. Who is the longest Oscar speech giver? (Greer Garson for Mrs. Miniver (1943) — reportedly over 5 minutes)
84. What is the shortest Oscar speech? (Patty Duke (1963) simply said "Thank you")
85. What film won Best Picture despite being a foreign language film? (Parasite, 2020)
86. Who presented the Best Picture envelope mix-up in 2017? (Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway)
87. What song won Best Original Song most recently? (Varies by year — Billie Eilish won for "What Was I Made For?" from Barbie in 2024)
88. Who wrote the most Oscar-winning film scores? (John Williams — 5 wins, 54 nominations — the most nominated living person)
89. What is the Academy's honorary Oscar called? (The Academy Honorary Award or the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award)
90. What is the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award? (Given to producers for consistently high quality of motion picture production)
91. How many films is the Best Picture shortlist? (Since 2010, between 5–10 films can be nominated; currently 10 maximum)
92. What is the Oscar for "Best Makeup and Hairstyling"? (An award since 1982 — first winner was Quest for Fire)
93. What is the Oscar for Visual Effects? (Academy Award for Best Visual Effects — given since 1977)
94. What CGI film first won Best Visual Effects? (Innerspace (1987) / The Abyss (1990) pioneered digital effects wins)
95. Who voiced the Oscars animated promo sequences? (Varies by year; recent ceremonies used celebrity-voiced segments)
96. What is the "Scientific and Technical Award"? (Oscar recognizing technical achievements that contributed to filmmaking)
97. What is the "Student Academy Award"? (Annual awards for outstanding student films at recognized academic institutions)
98. What is the Oscar for Best Costume Design? (Given since 1949 — honors historical accuracy and creative wardrobe design)
99. What film won the most Oscars while not winning Best Picture? (Cabaret (1972) won 8 Oscars — but lost Best Picture to The Godfather)
100. What is the Academy's official website? (oscar.go.com / oscars.org)