As the Oscars draw near, here is a flashback of the most iconic moments that make the awards truly memorable. By Team Viva

 Receiving an Academy Award is the pinnacle of any actor’s success story. As the who’s who of the world film industry come together under one roof to celebrate this moment, the sheer madness on the red carpet and on-stage often leads to some of the most memorable Oscar moments for the world to see and remember.

As the stakes run high, the event lends itself to moments that consist of thrill, anxiety and anticipation even among the highly cautious celebrities. Very often, their rare moments of candour, sometimes heartwarming and often hilarious,  go on to become some of the best water cooler conversations for years to come. Read: pizza fiestas, celebrity selfies and red carpet faux pas.

Truly a world event, the Academy Awards, now in its 90th year has enjoyed some of the most iconic moments and here are some of them.

Marlon Brando Refusing his Oscar

Which actor would refuse the movie industry’s heftiest honour? Well, here’s news – the legendary Marlon Brando would and that too for a very unexpected reason.

Instead of attending and collecting his statue in 1973 for his gut-wrenching role as Vito Corleone in The Godfather, he decided to boycott the event altogether and send the Native American civil rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather to the podium instead. While there, she read a letter from the actor that explained why Brando was rejecting the Oscar –  due to “the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry.”

Not only did Brando’s rejection of the Oscar go down in history as one of the most memorable moments of the awards’ history but this incident has been etched onto the minds of audiences because The Godfather, a legendary film, saved Brando’s career from hitting a point of no-return.

Hattie McDaniel isthe first black Oscar Winner

Hattie McDaniel had broken many stereotypes when she won the award for her portrayal of Mammy, a slave in the Georgian plantation in the classic film — Gone with the Wind. For the 1940 awards, she was made to sit at the back due to segregation and in an irony her Oscar win ensured that she came to the front and on-stage to receive the award. It also paved the way for many more people of colour to be nominated and even win thereon.

Heath Ledger awarded Posthumously

Hearts were shattered world-wide at the shocking demise of one of Hollywood’s most iconic and versatile actors. Heath Ledger not only captured the true essence of every character that he portrayed  but introduced quirks that became iconic and memorable. The Joker in The Dark Knight was one such role and it came as no surprise that he won the award for best supporting actor posthumously at the 2008 Oscars ceremony. His daughter going on-stage on his behalf to collect the award didn’t leave a dry eye in the auditorium, or for that matter anywhere in the world. Undoubtedly, this was and has been one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the awards’ history.

Crash, Winning Best Picture

Winning an Oscar is every director and producers dream and when they make movies, they hope their hard work will get acclaim. But Paul Haggis was left truly stunned when his movie Crash ended up winning the best film at the Oscars over everyone’s favourite and critically acclaimed movie Brokeback Mountain. Jack Nicholson, who was the presenter of the award, was shocked when he opened the envelope. This moment went on to prove that the outcome of the world’s most esteemed film award ceremony can never be predicted.

Cuba Gooding Jr’s Oscar Speech

Winning an Oscar can be overwhelming and mar one’s sense of judgment. While, every Oscar Winner is given exactly 45 seconds to make their Oscar Speech, for Cube Gooding Jr it fell short by a minute. The star won his first Academy for his portrayal of sportsmen Rodney ‘Rod’ Tidwell in the romantic comedy Jerry Maguire in 1997 and over shot his 45 second timeframe by a minute when he continued his speech over the Orchestra.

Halle Berry Oscar Win

Though Hattie McDaniel was the first black recipient of an acting Academy award, it was Halle Berry’s win in 2002 for her role in Monsters Ball that was the first ever for the coveted title of ‘Best Actress’, won by a woman of colour. Her heart-warming speech had diversity at its crux.

Ellen Degeneres’s Selfie

What happens when you get a world famous comedian and a dozen movie stars in one frame? A social media meltdown. When Ellen Degeneres invited few of the nominees and winners for a selfie and posted it on her Twitter handle, it resulted in the in a temporary breakdown of the social media site it was retweeted over 3.4 million times. A memorable world-event that many audiences around the globe have saved on their smart phones or systems.

Leonardo Di caprio’s Oscar Speech

Winning the award for Best Actor is a dream for most but for Leonardo Di Caprio, it remained a dream for far too long, despite his path-breaking and multi-faceted performances. After being snubbed five times over a period of 23 years as his first Oscar nomination was at the age of 20, the actor was finally called on-stage to collect the golden statute for his performance in The Revenant. The speech that he delivered was nothing short of magic and went down in Oscar history to become more important than the actual win.

La la Land Gaffe

A blooper is what made this one memorable. The film, La La Land not only won hearts around the world but also went on a winning spree at the 89th Academy Awards. So, it was not a surprise when they were asked to come on-stage to collect the most sought-after title of  ‘Best Picture’.  Only this time around, they didn’t win.

When the entire cast and crew of the movie came on-stage to give their speech, award presenter Warren Beatty clarified that it was an incorrect announcement and went on to declare that Moonlight, was the winner that night. While everyone laughed it off, the shock that came with the second announcement has cemented itself as one of the biggest goof ups yet and is right up there in the most iconic moments in the 91 years of Oscar history!

(Watch the Oscars live on February 25 at 6:30 am only on Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD.)