Everyone knows about the Academy Awards that are given for movies every year. It has become a major deal for celebrities, as well as for the average person. For celebrities, you have it made if you walk the red carpet at the Oscars, and you are truly considered a great actor if you win the award for best actor or best actress. The history of the Oscars is quite interesting, and it is truly exciting to learn about something so important in the entertainment industry.



Eighty years ago saw the first Academy Award ceremonies. It was created to celebrate great acting talent among movie actors. At first, all the actors were put together into one category, whether they had a supporting role or not. Later on, after complaints from organizations such as the Screen Actors Guild, the awards for best supporting actor and best supporting actress were created.

Also in the first years, actors and actresses were considered for best actor or best actress for all their movies combined. But, this grew too confusing so it changed to the way it is today, where each actor is only nominated for one film per year. An American actor was only considered for awards at first as well, but of course, that has changed now.

With the Academy Awards having gone on for such a long time, you might think that there have been a lot of repeat winners for best actor. However, this occurrence has actually been quite rare. Movie actors who have won more than one statue encompass such names as: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Tom Hanks, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Cooper and Dustin Hoffman. Nearly every actor aspires to win an Oscar at some point.

Usually, this prestigious award is only given to dramatic, character actor performances. Comedies are usually over-looked when it comes to handing out the acting awards, as are young actors. In more recent years, the category of "animated picture" has been added, and they are usually light-hearted films, but other than for special effects, film editing or the music, these are usually not numbered among the movies for nominated actors.

Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule. The host of the academy awards is usually somewhat of a comedic professional. Jokes are made throughout the night about the actors and actresses, and depending on the host, political jokes are made as well.

It is really nice to see that there is a way to celebrate movie actors and their talent. This is exactly what the Oscars show does. Usually, anyone who wins the best actor or best actress award is a really good actor, and deserves to be recognized.

It is pretty amazing that something that started so small has grown in to the large production that it is today. It is rare that people get the recognition that they deserve, yet the Oscars offer that chance. Hooray for Hollywood!