Top Ten Oscars facts

ï‚· The first Academy Awards were given out in May of 1929 to honour films made in 1927. There were only twelve categories compared with today’s 24.

ï‚· The origins of the nickname 'Oscar' for the Academy Awards are hotly contested. There are three theories: firstly that Margaret Herrick, then the Academy librarian and later its executive director, named it after her uncle, Oscar Pierce; secondly that columnist Sidney Skolsky, in search of a fresh moniker, was inspired by the old vaudeville joke, 'Will you have a cigar, Oscar?'; and thirdly that Better Davis christened the statue after her husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson.

ï‚· The youngest ever Oscar recipient was cutesy-pie moptop Shirley Temple who was six when handed a Special Award for her contribution during 1934. But the youngest winner of a competitive Oscar was Tatum O'Neal, voted Best Supporting Actress for Paper Moon in 1973 when she was 10.

ï‚· The 1973 ceremony was disrupted by a streaker, Robert Opal, who ran onto the stage while David Niven was introducing Elizabeth Taylor. Tragically, Opal was murdered in his San Francisco sex shop in 1979.

ï‚· Peter Finch was the first actor to win an Oscar posthumously. He died of a heart attack while leaving the Beverly Hills Hotel to do a pre-Oscar ceremony TV interview, but won the Best Actor award for his role in 1976's Network.

ï‚· Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett made history in 1998, as it was the first time two actresses had been nominated for playing the same role. They both played Elizabeth I, Judi in Shakespeare in Love and Cate in Elizabeth.

ï‚· Cabaret won eight awards in 1972 without winning Best Picture — the movie with the most Oscars to do so!

ï‚· Richard Burton was nominated for an Oscar seven times — but never won one.

ï‚· Marlon Brando refused his 1972 award for The Godfather, and instead sent onstage Sacheen Littlefeather to make the announcement. His reason? He didn't like "the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry and in television re-runs". It was later discovered that Littlefeather was actress Maria Cruz, not a Native American.

ï‚· Only two women have been nominated as Best Director. These were Lina Wertmuller, for 1976's Seven Beauties, and Jane Campion, for 1993's The Piano.