60 Oscar Trivia Questions For Movie Buffs: How Many Awards Can You Claim?

The Academy Awards, widely known as the Oscars, are the most prestigious awards on the planet for the cinema industry.

These awards are given annually as an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements. It is the world's longest-running award show broadcasted live in the US, and it presents awards in a total of 24 categories.

With categories ranging from Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress, to Best Makeup And Hairstyling and Best Original Song, the Oscars in 2021 will be held on 25 April 2021.  These Oscars trivia questions will test your knowledge of the awards ceremony from the past. Passionate movie lovers are sure to ace these Oscar trivia questions, they won't disappoint you. If you think of yourself as a true cinephile, try these Oscar winners quiz trivia questions, full of Oscar trivia facts with your family and friends. You might even learn some new Oscar awards facts in this Academy Awards trivia!

If you love these Oscar facts and trivia, you can also check out our movie trivia game and 'Star Wars' trivia questions to further test your movie picture trivia knowledge.

This section is all about the beginning of this prestigious award ceremony, including many Oscar-winning movies and fun facts. Try out these Oscar trivia questions and answers to see if you can ace the quiz!

1. Question: When did the first Academy Award ceremony take place?

Answer: 16 May 1929.

2. Question: How many people attended the first Academy Award ceremony?

Answer: 250.

3. Question: How much did one ticket cost for the first Academy Award ceremony?

Answer: Five dollars.

4. Question: Which movie won the first Academy Award for Best Picture (then called Best Production)?

Answer: 'Wings'.

5. Question: Which organization is responsible for the Academy Awards?

Answer: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

6. Question: Who designed the famous Oscar statuette in 1928?

Answer: Cedric Gibbons.

7. Question: Who originally sculpted the award?

Answer: George Stanley.

8. Question: When were the Oscars shown on television for the first time?

Answer: 1953.

9. Question: Which year were the Oscars first broadcast in color?

Answer: 1966.

10. Question: Which movie was the first sequel to win the Best Picture award.

Answer: 'The Godfather: Part II' was the first of all movie sequels to win Best Picture.

11. Question: Which organization has been employed by the Academy since 1934 to ensure the results remain a secret?

Answer: Price Waterhouse (now Price Waterhouse Coopers).

12. Question: What was the first color film to win an Oscar for Best Picture in 1940?

Answer: 'Gone With The Wind'.

13. Question: Which famous figure has won the most Oscars? He was nominated for whooping 64 awards, and won 26!

Answer: Walt Disney.

14. Question: Which was the first film to win Academy Awards in all four categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay in 1934?

Answer: 'It Happened One Night'.

15. Question: Which new award category was added to the Academy Awards in 2001?

Answer: Best Animated Feature.

16. Question: In 1981, who became the first actor or actress to win four Academy Awards?

Answer: Katharine Hepburn.

17. Question: Who hosted or co-hosted the Academy Awards 18 times during his career?

Answer: Bob Hope.

18. Question: Who was the youngest person to win an Oscar, at the age of 10?

Answer: Tatum O'Neal.

19. Question: Which crooner won the Best Actor Oscar for 1944's 'Going My Way' and introduced his signature song 'White Christmas' in the movie 'Holiday Inn'?

Answer: Bing Crosby.

20. Question: Who won the very first Best Actor award?

Answer: Emil Jannings.

This section is all about historic moments in the famous award ceremony, with numerous Oscars fun facts and records. Try out this Oscar trivia quiz to test your knowledge!

21. Question: Who was given the longest standing ovation in Oscar history, 12 minutes, while receiving an Honorary Oscar Award in 1972?

Answer: Charlie Chaplin.

22. Question: Can you name the legendary costume designer who has won eight Oscars?

Answer: Edith Head.

23. Question: Who was the oldest person to get an Oscar at the age of 81? She won Best Actress for her part in 'Driving Miss Daisy'.

Answer: Jessica Tandy.

24. Question: Who was the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director in 2010?

Answer: Kathryn Bigelow.

25. Question: Who was the first African American woman to win an Oscar?

Answer: Hattie McDaniel.

26. Question: Which famous public figure won a special award presented by Shirley Temple, and had seven smaller Oscars in addition to the larger statue?

Answer: Walt Disney.

27. Question: At the 12th Academy Awards, a movie received 10 Academy Awards from 13 nominations. Can you name the movie?

Answer: 'Gone With The Wind'.

28. Question: Which was the first film adaptation of a William Shakespeare play to get an Oscar for Best Picture?

Answer: 'Hamlet'.

29. Question: Who was the first person to win four Awards in the Director category?

Answer: John Ford.

30. Question: Who won all the major nominations for the movie 'Annie Hall' without appearing at the award ceremony in 1978?

Answer: Woody Allen.

31. Question: Why was the Oscars postponed in 1981 at less than 24 hours notice?

Answer: Because of an attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan.

32. Question: Which movie is the most expensive Oscar winner?

Answer: 'Avatar'.

33. Question: For what film did Martin Scorsese win an Oscar in 2006?

Answer: 'The Departed'.

34. Question: Who won back-to-back awards for Best Actor for the movies 'Captains Courageous' (1937) and 'Boys Town' (1938)?

Answer: Spencer Tracy.

35. Question: Who is the only Oscar winner named Oscar?

Answer: Oscar Hammerstein II.

36. Question: In 2003, Meryl Streep became the actor with the most Oscar nominations in Oscar history. Who held the record before her?

Answer: Katharine Hepburn.

37. Question: The 2000 cinema 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' won four Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film. In what language was it filmed?

Answer: Mandarin.

38. Question: Meryl Streep holds the record for the most Oscar nominations. How many Oscar nominations does she have?

Answer: 21.

39. Question: In 1984, Linda Hunt won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as a male character in which movie?

Answer: 'The Year Of Living Dangerously'.

40. Question: Marlon Brando is well known for refusing his award for Best Actor for 'The Godfather' (1972) in protest. What was he protesting against ?

Answer: The film industry's treatment of Native Americans.

This section includes numerous random facts, and lesser-known information about the awards. Try out this Academy Awards quiz to see if you can recall these fun facts!

41. Question: Which famous actress screeched "You like me! Right now, you like me!" during her acceptance speech after winning an Oscar for Best Actress in 1985?

Answer: Sally Field.

42. Question: The majestic, heavy award presented at the Academy Awards has been referred to as an Oscar for years, but what is the statue's official name?

Answer: The Academy Award of Merit.

43. Question: The Academy Award for Best Makeup was not given out until 1981, after a film with incredible makeup achievements went unmentioned the year before. Which film helped create this Oscar for Best Makeup?

Answer: 'The Elephant Man'.

44. Question: A new contract requirement began in 1950 when Steven Spielberg managed to buy two Oscars (Bette Davis' 1938 Best Actress award for 'Jezebel' and Clark Gable's 1934 Best Actor award for 'It Happened One Night'). What does this contract state?

Answer: Neither winners nor heirs may sell the statuettes without first offering them back to the Academy for $1.

45. Question: In the 1960 Oscars a movie swept 11 categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Color Cinematography, and more.Can you name the movie?

Answer: 'Ben Hur'.

46. Question: Which South Korean comedy-thriller made history by becoming the first-ever foreign language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020? It also won the Best Screenplay award too.

Answer: 'Parasite'.

47. Question: Can you name the Oscar winning siblings who won Academy Awards for the movies 'A Time Out Of War' (1954) and 'A Strong Clear Vision' (1994)?

Answer: Denis Sanders and Terry Sanders.

48. Question: Out of numerous posthumous Oscar winners, who was the first to get a posthumous Oscar?

Answer: Peter Finch.

49. Question: Julie Andrews won the Academy Award for Best Actress after her first film performance. Can you name the film for which she won the award?

Answer: 'Mary Poppins'.

50. Question: Which actress joined the unique group of just 11 other actors and actresses in 2020, by earning double acting nominations in the same year.

Answer: Scarlett Johansson.

51. Question: Who is the second actor to win an Academy Award for playing the D.C. Comics character, the Joker, following Heath Ledger in 'The Dark Knight' (2008)?

Answer: Joaquin Phoenix.

52. Question: Who became the first person to win an Oscar for a Netflix original in 2020?

Answer: Laura Dern.

53. Question: Which movie was the technical first Best Picture winner in 1963, when the category name was changed to Best Picture?

Answer: 'Lawrence Of Arabia'.

54. Question: Where are the Academy Awards held every year?

Answer: The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

55. Question: Which movies have earned the most nominations without winning any Oscars?

Answer: 'The Turning Point' and 'The Color Purple'.

56. Question: Can you name the only franchise to win Best Picture twice?

Answer: Ford Coppola's 'Gangster' franchise.

57. Question: Which director has won the most Oscars for Best Director?

Answer: John Ford

58. Question: How many times did Alfred Hitchcock win Best Director?

Answer: Zero.

59. Question: Which film first won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film in 2001?

Answer: 'Shrek'.

60. Question: Which movie, produced in 1997, has won the most amount of Oscars?

Answer: 'Titanic'.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly trivia for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 60 Oscar trivia questions for movie buffs, then why not take a look at our '90s movie trivia, or our 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' trivia for more?