The 84th Academy Awards Memorable Moments

84th Academy Awards Winners

Best Picture: The Artist


The Artist also won Academy Awards for Directing (Michel Hazanavicius), Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), Costume Design (Mark Bridges), and Music – Original Score (Ludovic Bource). 


Jean Dujardin’s Best Actor role in The Artist has the smallest amount of dialogue for a speaking role – a mere two words – of any winning performance in the sound era.


The Artist was also the first entirely black-and-white film to win Best Picture since The Apartment (1960), directed by Billy Wilder – whom director Michel Hazanavicius thanked three times in his acceptance speech for Best Director. 


For his role in Beginners, Supporting Actor winner Christopher Plummer became the oldest winner in an acting category at the age of 82. However, the oldest acting nominee is Gloria Stuart, who was 87 when she was nominated for Titanic.


Woody Allen received his third Oscar for Original Screenplay for Midnight in Paris, which was also his highest-grossing film to date.


Though he had been Meryl Streep’s hair and makeup artist for 37 years, J. Roy Helland received both his first nomination and win for transforming her into Margaret Thatcher for The Iron Lady. 


A Separation was the first film from Iran to win Foreign Language Film. The country received a previous nomination for Children of Heaven (1998).


Billy Crystal hosted the show for his ninth time, second only in number of hosting duties to Bob Hope. He was also the first solo host since Hugh Jackman at the 81st Academy Awards.


The final film in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, broke multiple box office records upon its release including the highest global opening weekend, highest domestic opening day, and highest-grossing opening weekend for both a 3D and IMAX film.


Animated Feature Film nominee Kung Fu Panda 2 became the highest-grossing film worldwide directed by a woman, Jennifer Yu Nelson.

 

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