25 moments that made the Oscars unforgettable
From Halle Berry’s historic win in 2002 to a streaker and stunning gaffes, there have been some doozies.
“There’s been a mistake.” Those four words changed the course of Academy Awards history last year, when 2 1⁄2 minutes into Team La La Land’s best-picture acceptance speeches, producer Jordan Horowitz informed the crowd that Moonlight had actually won.
The jaw-dropping gaffe, the result of a mix-up by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, was an awesome reminder of the unpredictability of Hollywood’s biggest awards, which celebrate their 90th year March 4 (ABC, 8 p.m. ET/5 PT). Here are some of the other most talkedabout moments through the years:
1. Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Oscar (1940)
She was the first black actor to ever be nominated or win, for best supporting actress for Gone With the Wind. The next to earn the prize wouldn’t be until 1964, when Sidney Poitier took home best actor for Lilies of the Field.
2. Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand tie for best actress (1969)
They each received 3,030 votes for their performances in The Lion in Winter and Funny Girl. But it was Streisand’s speech that won the night in Hepburn’s absence, when she accepted the trophy and uttered her character’s famous line, “Hello, gorgeous.”
3. Charlie Chaplin gets an epic 12-minute standing ovation (1972)
The silent-film icon garnered the longest ovation in the awards’ history when he returned to the U.S. to accept a lifetime achievement Os- car after 20 years in exile for alleged Communist sympathies.
4. Marlon Brando refuses to accept Oscar (1973)
Brando sent Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather up to accept his best-actor trophy for The Godfather to protest the misrepresentation of American Indians in Hollywood.
5. Tatum O’Neal becomes youngest Oscar winner ever (1974)
At just 10 years old, O’Neal won the award for best supporting actress for her performance in Paper Moon, which she starred in alongside her father, Ryan O’Neal.
6. A streaker crashes the awards (1974)
Shortly before Elizabeth Taylor was set to announce best picture, gay rights activist Robert Opel stripped naked and ran across the stage behind Oscar co-host David Niven. He explained that it was “one of those one-time things.”
7. Sally Field exclaims “You like me!” (1985)
Accepting her best-actress Oscar for Places in the Heart, Field memorably gushed, “I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!” The giddy declaration has was later parodied by Madonna, Jim Carrey and Field herself.
8. Cher turns heads in seethrough dress (1988)
The Oscars have long been a runway for some of Cher’s boldest fashion statements. But her jewel-encrusted naked dress may have been her most daring when she won best actress for Moonstruck.
9. Rob Lowe opens the show with a bizarre duet (1989)
The actor was endlessly lampooned for this campy opening number, in which he performed a duet of Proud Mary with Snow
White-clad newcomer Eileen Bowman.
10. Jack Palance does push-ups onstage (1992)
Then 73, the best-supporting-actor winner for City Slickers used his time at the podium to bemoan how producers favor young actors. He then proved his vigor by getting down and doing three one-armed push-ups midspeech.
11. Marisa Tomei shockingly wins best supporting actress (1993)
After Tomei beat out veterans Vanessa Redgrave and Joan Plowright for her comedic tour de force in My Cousin Vinny, conspiracy theories circulated that presenter Jack Palance couldn’t read the winner’s card and called the last name on the teleprompter. The rumor has since been debunked.
12. Roberto Benigni literally jumps for joy (1999)
When Sophia Loren announced Life is Beautiful for best foreign-language film, its Italian director/actor was so elated that he walked across the tops of seats as he made his way to the stage. “This is the moment of joy, and I want to kiss everybody because you are the major of the joy,” Benigni said.
13. Angelina Jolie shares an uncomfortable moment with her brother (2000)
Taking best supporting actress for Girl, Interrupted, Jolie uncomfortably thanked her older brother James Haven, saying, “I’m in shock and I’m so in love with my brother right now.” They were later photographed briefly locking lips at the event, fueling speculation about their curiously close relationship.
14. Halle Berry makes history (2002)
As the first and only black woman to win best actress, the Monster’s Ball star proclaimed, “This moment is so much bigger than me.”
15. Adrien Brody kisses Halle Berry onstage (2003)
In a move that has become even more cringe-worthy to watch in light of Hollywood’s sexual harassment scandal, Brody brought Berry in for a long, awkward kiss when he took the podium to accept best actor for The Pianist.
16. Crash takes best picture over Brokeback Mountain (2006)
In what’s considered one of the greatest upsets in Oscar history, Paul Haggis’ race drama beat out Ang Lee’s critically favored front-runner, making it only the second film ever to win the top prize without a Golden Globes picture nomination.
17. Martin Scorsese finally wins best director (2007)
After five nominations, Scorsese scored on his sixth try with mobster drama The Departed.
18. Heath Ledger wins posthumous Oscar (2009)
After his death at 28 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, his family accepted his best-supporting-actor award for his towering performance as the Joker in Batman movie The Dark Knight.
19. James Franco and Anne Hathaway bomb as Oscar co-hosts (2011)
Despite Hathaway’s earnest attempts to pick up his slack, Franco’s checked-out turn made for one of the least energetic hosting gigs ever.
20. Jennifer Lawrence trips over her dress (2013)
The then-22-year-old fell as she climbed the steps to accept her best-actress trophy for Silver Linings Playbook, cementing her status as America’s most relatable (and clumsiest) star.
21. Ellen DeGeneres takes the most star-studded selfie ever (2014)
The Oscar host had the most retweeted tweet of the year for her A-list group shot with Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie and Lupita Nyong’o. “If only Bradley’s arm was longer,” she captioned the snap.
22. John Travolta butchers Idina Menzel’s name (2014)
The actor launched a thousand memes when he introduced the Frozen star’s performance of Let It Go, pronouncing her name as “Adele Dazeem.”
23. Patricia Arquette calls for pay equity (2015)
Three years before Time’s Up entered the national lexicon, the Boyhood supporting actress winner singled out the wage gap between men and women. “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all,” she said, earning cheers from Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez.
24. Chris Rock takes no prisoners in opening monologue (2016)
The comic made for a searing Oscar host amid outrage over the second year of #OscarsSoWhite, taking aim at the lack of diversity in the acting nominees and stars such as Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith who boycotted the ceremony because of it. “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties,” he jabbed. “I wasn’t invited!”
25. Leonardo DiCaprio wins best actor (2016)
After five nominations, he at last clinched the gold for his performance in survival drama The Revenant. The environmental activist used the podium to rally for the fight against global warming.