Interesting Oscar trivia and sidebars

RED carpet is in place on Hollywood Boulevard for the Oscars, which is always a source of show biz lore. Photo by Ruben V. Nepales

LOS ANGELES—At 23, Jennifer Lawrence is the youngest actress who’s been nominated three times for an Oscar. This is one of the interesting sidebars listed in a trivia sheet released by the Academy Awards.

Several of the sidebars have something to do with director David O. Russell. Three of his actors from “American Hustle”  —Jennifer, Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams—were repeat nominees from last year. Remarkably, Jennifer and Bradley earned nods last year for a film also directed by David, “Silver Linings Playbook.”

David himself scored a feat. For bagging back-to-back nods for directing and writing a single film (“Silver…” and “American…”), he joined an elite circle of filmmakers who accomplished the same achievement: Billy Wilder, Woody Allen, David Lean, John Huston, Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Richard Brooks.

Last year, “Silver…” became the only film aside from Warren Beatty’s “Reds” to receive nods for Best Picture, Director, Writer and all four acting categories. David duplicated that feat with “American…”

Still on acting categories, eight nominees are first-timers: Matthew McConaughey, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Barkhad Abdi, Michael Fassbender, Jared Leto, Sally Hawkins, Lupita Nyong’o and June Squibb. First time may be the charm for Matthew and Jared (both for “Dallas Buyers Club”) and Lupita (“12 Years a Slave”) who are predicted by pundits to win. Being nominated is especially remarkable for Barkhad and Lupita, because their nods are for their feature film debuts.

It may also be a memorable night for another first-time nominee, “Gravity” director Alfonso Cuaron.

Seven of the actor nominees have won before: Jennifer, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Sandra Bullock, Judi Dench, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. Cate, unforgettable as a modern-day Blanche Dubois in “Blue Jasmine,” is favored by Oscar experts to win again.

Record

Streep, of course, has the Academy record for the most nominated thespian—18 nods. Meryl’s performance in “August: Osage County” enabled the actress to score her sixteenth nomination in the Best Actress category.

Woody, on the other hand, holds the record number of writing nominations—16. Woody added to his record count with his Original Screenplay nod for “Blue Jasmine.”

With a total of 24 Oscar nods, Woody has the second most number of nominations among living persons. John Williams tops this field with 49 nods. The late Walt Disney had 59.

At 77, Bruce Dern earned his first Best Actor nod with his memorable turn as Woody Grant, a gruff man who believes he has won a million dollars, in “Nebraska.” He was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category in 1978 for “Coming Home.”

Will Brad Pitt win his first Oscar as a coproducer of “12 Years a Slave,” which is favored by awards prognosticators to win the evening’s top prize, Best Picture? However, “Gravity” or “American…” may spoil the night for the “12 Years…” contingent.

Producer Megan Ellison is the first woman and only the fourth person to earn two Best Picture citations in the same year with “American…” and “Her.” Other producers in this circle are Francis Ford Coppola and Fred Roos, and Scott Rudin.

Those musical Newmans —Thomas, Randy, Alfred, Lionel Emil and David—have amassed 88 nominations, more than any other family. Thomas’ Original Score citation for “Saving Mr. Banks” brings his nomination contribution to the family to 12.

In the Animated Feature Film category, Hayao Miyazaki, the master in this field, fittingly holds the most nominations with three.

Cambodia celebrates its first Foreign Language Film nomination this year with “The Missing Picture,” only the second documentary to be cited in this category. Israel’s “Waltz with Bashir,” an animated documentary, was the first.

Last but not least, if Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez bring home the Best Song trophy for the worldwide phenomenon, “Let It Go,” he’ll be the first Filipino-American to win an Oscar

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