Nzherald.co.nz will carry breaking news coverage of the Academy Awards throughout the day. Check the Academy Awards homepage for the latest articles, photos and video.
KEY POINTS:
* The oldest person to win an Oscar is Jessica Tandy, who won Best Actress in 1989 for Driving Miss Daisy. She was 81 years old. At 83 years old, if Ruby Dee wins the Best Supporting Actress today she will take the title. She is nominated for her role in American Gangster.
* George Burns is the oldest actor to claim the gong, winning Best Supporting Actor in 1976 for The Sunshine Boys, when he was 80 years old.
* Sound mixer Kevin O'Connell is the most-nominated person in Academy history to have never won a statue. This year marks his 20th nomination, for Transformers.
* Roderick Jaynes, nominated for Best Editing for No Country for Old Men, is not a real person. He is the fictional alter ego of the Coen brothers who edits all their films. This is his second nomination, after getting a nod in 1997 for Fargo.
* The youngest person to win an Oscar was 10-year-old Tatum O'Neal, who won Best Supporting Actress for Paper Moon in 1974. New Zealander Anna Paquin follows close behind, winning the same statue for The Piano in 1993, when she was 11 years old. Five-year-old Shirley Temple won an honorary Oscar in 1934.
* Three films share the title for most Oscar wins - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003), Titanic (1997) and Ben-Hur (1959). Each won 11 statues.
* Katherine Hepburn boasts the most Oscar wins with four Best Actress titles to her name, from 1932, 1967, 1968 and 1981.
* The most Best Actor Oscars ever won by one actor is two. Seven men have scored the double coup, including Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Fredric March, Dustin Hoffman and Tom Hanks.
* Jack Nicholson holds the most Oscar nominations for a male actor, with 11 nominations, while Meryl Streep tops the women's list with 13 nods.
* Walt Disney is the most successful Oscar winner of all time, with 26 statues to his name and 64 Oscar nominations.
* The longest Oscar ceremony ever was 1998, which ran for just over four hours.
* This year marks Jon Stewart's second year hosting the Oscars but he's got a way to go before he catches up with Bob Hope, who hosted the event 18 times between 1939 and 1977. Billy Crystal is the second most popular host, having presented the awards six times.
- NZHERALD STAFF
