Special Report

Looking Back at 25 Iconic Photos From the Oscars

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The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 25. It’s an event designed to produce striking images, with lots of stylishly dressed beautiful people strutting their stuff. This year’s Oscars will be presented in person, although public health and safety will be a priority, with multiple locations being used to facilitate social distancing and masks required.

24/7 Tempo has curated a list of 25 photographs taken at Oscars ceremonies over the years. From the charming image of Shirley Temple awarding an honorary Oscar to Walt Disney in 1939 to the look Robin Williams gives the crowd accepting his Best Supporting Actor award in 1998, we think at least these images spanning the years have earned a spot in history. 

The photos are arranged chronologically, and we’ve included for each slide except for 1927 the movie that won best picture the year the photograph was taken. Here are the best movies to ever win an Oscar.

The photos we have selected are not all of stars — and they weren’t even all taken in Hollywood. The very first on our list is of an Academy meeting in 1927, taken two years before the first awards. There’s one of valets waiting to park cars at the event in 1950, and another of a worker finishing an Oscar statuette in Chicago.

For more than a year the pandemic has limited our options for recreation and entertainment, and watching movies online has become more popular than ever. We are pleased to celebrate the people whose mission is entertaining us.

Click here to see 25 photos from Oscars past.

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1927: An Academy meeting, two years before the first awards
> Movie that won best picture in 1927: Not available

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1939: Shirley Temple gives special Oscars to Walt Disney
> Movie that won best picture in 1939: Gone with the Wind

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1943: Academy Awards night at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre
> Movie that won best picture in 1943: Casablanca

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1950: Valets waiting to park cars at the Oscars
> Movie that won best picture in 1950: All About Eve

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1954: Audrey Hepburn accepts the Best Actress Oscar
> Movie that won best picture in 1954: On the Waterfront

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1956: Academy Awards night at the RKO Pantages Theatre
> Movie that won best picture in 1956: Around the World in 80 Days

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1956: Master of Ceremonies Jerry Lewis
> Movie that won best picture in 1956: Around the World in 80 Days

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1956: Best Supporting Actress winner Jo Van Fleet
> Movie that won best picture in 1956: Around the World in 80 Days

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1966: Academy Awards Night at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
> Movie that won best picture in 1966: A Man for All Seasons

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1967: Dick Van Dyke at the Oscars in Santa Monica
> Movie that won best picture in 1967: In the Heat of the Night

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1969: Makeup artist John Chambers with Walter Matthau and monkey
> Movie that won best picture in 1969: Midnight Cowboy

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1973: An activist refuses Marlon Brando’s Oscar
> Movie that won best picture in 1973: The Sting

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1973: Oscar presenters and winners at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
> Movie that won best picture in 1973: The Sting

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1978: C-3PO with Oscar
> Movie that won best picture in 1978: The Deer Hunter

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1978: Winners and performers on stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
> Movie that won best picture in 1978: The Deer Hunter

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1981: Diana Ross and Michael Jackson on the red carpet
> Movie that won best picture in 1981: Chariots of Fire

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1984: Cheech and Chong clowning with Oscar
> Movie that won best picture in 1984: Amadeus

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1993: A worker finishing an Oscar statuette in Chicago
> Movie that won best picture in 1993: Schindler’s List

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1995: David Letterman hosts the Oscars
> Movie that won best picture in 1995: Braveheart

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1995: L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium done up for the Oscars
> Movie that won best picture in 1995: Braveheart

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1996: Oversize Oscar statues backstage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
> Movie that won best picture in 1996: The English Patient

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1998: A dessert at Elton John’s Oscar party
> Movie that won best picture in 1998: Shakespeare in Love

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1998: Robin Williams with his Best Supporting Actor award.
> Movie that won best picture in 1998: Shakespeare in Love

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1999: Three Oscar winners after the ceremony
> Movie that won best picture in 1999: American Beauty

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