The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in Hollywood on May 16, 1929
with a mere 270 guests. The name Oscar would not used for another few
years. Emil Jannings was the first Best Actor and Janet Gaynor Best Actress.
The first 12 winners (and the 20 films that were given an honorary scroll of commendation) had already been revealed in the Los Angeles Times three
months earlier.
The inaugural awards were the only time in Academy history that the
ceremony wasn’t broadcast in some way; even a year later it was covered
live on radio.
Emil Jannings with his Best Actor statuette.
Douglas Fairbanks presents Janet Gaynor with the
first Academy Award for Best Actress, for her work
in Seventh Heaven.
William C Demille, President Of The Academy Of Motion Picture
Arts And Sciences hands an Oscar to Mary Pickford (with Warner
Baxter and Hans Kraly looking on) at the first ceremony in 1929.