| 1st Annual Academy Awards
May 16, 1929 A Banquet at the Blossom Room of the
Your Hosts: Academy President Douglas Fairbanks |
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Highlights:
- Best Actor Emil Jannings was in Germany. Douglas Fairbanks read Jannings' telegram aloud: "Hand me now already the statuette."
- The Awards were handed out in five minutes.
- When the speeches after the presentation of the Awards were finished, Al Jolson rose to entertain the audience of 300 guests. "I noticed they gave The Jazz Singer a statuette," he said. "But they didn't give me one. I could use one; they look heavy and I need another paperweight. For the life of me, I can't see what Jack Warner can do with one of them. It can't say yes." The ceremony ended after Jolson finished singing.
All Awards Presented by Douglas Fairbanks
![]() 1929 Awards Banquet | ||