The Five Greatest Moments in Academy Award History
© Jason O'Brien
Academy Award Memorable Moment Number 5
From 1989 -- "Over the Rainbow" sung by Los Angeles audience and six other countries via live remote. Michelle Pfeiffer walked out on stage towards the end of the 62nd Annual Oscars, and talked about the magic of movie music, and said "this is one of my favorites" ...
Diana Ross then took to the stage, singing the classic song from The Wizard of Oz, "Over the Rainbow." She then encouraged the audience in L.A. to sing with her, and then, on a huge tv screen behind her, live images from five other locations around the globe, including Australia, England, Japan, and Moscow.
The respective stars at those locations and the audiences there joined in singing, and for the briefest of moments, the world was united thanks to modern day technology, all singing together one of the most beautifully written songs in film history. It was very stirring.
Academy Award Memorable Moment Number 4
From 1990 -- special film where actors and directors talked about their "first times", their very first movie experiences. Bob Hope, in one of his last appearances on the Oscar telecast when he was still in good shape, surprisingly walked on stage to a very warm reception.
He then introduced this film package, assembled by veteran filmmaker Chuck Workman. The package was extraordinary, as it prompted thoughts in our own minds of the first movies we ever saw. It was fascinating to hear Katharine Hepburn talk about her movie idols, hearing Richard Harris and Candice Bergen talking about the thrill of seeing Snow White, Michael Douglas telling how he saw Lilly 9 times ... many humorous moments and many nostalgic moments were edited together, and it became one of the more memorable film packages used on the Oscars.
Academy Award Memorable Moment Number 3
From 1973 -- Katharine Hepburn's only appearance on the Oscar show. It didn't last very long, but oh what a moment. She is the most honored actor in the Academy's history, having received twelve acting nominations and a record four Oscars. But she never appeared on the Oscars until 1973, when she agreed to present the Thalberg award to Lawrence Weingarten ... she was on stage just briefly, made a comment about being away from the Oscars, and as soon as she was done, she was out of there in a limo, and the Oscars never saw her again.
