FACTS & FIGURES: The Oscars

With live coverage of the 90th Academy Awards tonight on Sky Cinema Oscars (from 12 midnight), here are some things you might not know about the prestigious film awards...

The first Academy Awards were presented in 1929 during a 15-minute ceremony at a private dinner for 270 guests at a Hollywood hotel. That year, Charlie Chaplin was honoured for writing, directing, producing and starring in the 1928 silent film The Circus.

The largest number of Oscars won by a single film is 11, a record held by three titles: Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003). The Shape Of Water leads the way this year with 13 nominations.

Katharine Hepburn won a record four Oscars between 1934 and 1982, while

Meryl Streep has been nominated a record 21 times, winning one Best Supporting Actress and two Best Actress Oscars. Each Oscar costs around £400 to make – and recipients can’t sell them without offering them back to the Academy first. They were designed in 1928 by Cedric Gibbons, who won 11 of them for art direction. Jimmy Kimmel will host for a second consecutive year, making him the first person to host back-to-back ceremonies since Billy Crystal in 1997 and 1998.

Kathryn Bigelow is the only woman to win the Best Director gong – for The Hurt

Locker (2009) – although this year, Greta Gerwig has been nominated for Lady Bird.

This year, three Brits are nominated in the Best Actor category: Daniel Kaluuya ( Get

Out), Daniel Day-Lewis ( Phantom Thread) and Gary Oldman ( Darkest Hour).