In 1953, the first nationwide televised Oscars ceremony was held, with Bob
Hope acting as the master of ceremonies (above).

 
John Wayne accepts the Best Director Oscar from Olivia DeHavillan for John
Ford who was absent during the 25th annual ceremony.

Bob Hope

The first Academy Awards of Merit (Oscars) were presented on May
16, 1929, at a private brunch at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with
an audience of about 270 people. Fifteen statuettes were awarded,
honoring artists, directors and other personalities of the filmmaking
industry of the time for their works during the 1927–1928 period.

Wings won for Best Picture and Emil Jannings won for Best Actor
for Last Command, although he never actually showed up for the
ceremony. The post Academy Awards party was held at the Mayfair
Hotel. The cost of guest tickets for that night’s ceremony was $5.

Emil Jannings

Douglas Fairbanks presenting the very first Best Actress
Oscar to Janet Gaynor

Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins

Christopher Atkins (Christopher Atkins Bomann) became famous
when he co-starred with Brooke Shields in a debut role in the film
The Blue Lagoon (1980) for which he was nominated for several 
Golden Globe Awards including New Star of the Year in a Motion
Picture, and Best Young Actor.

.

George Harris Kennedy, Jr. has appeared in over 200
film and TV productions. He is perhaps best known for
three of his roles: as the convict "Dragline" in Cool
Hand Luke, for which he won an Academy Award; as
airline mechanic Joe Patroni in all four of the 1970s
Airport disaster movies; and as Captain Ed Hocken
in the Naked Gun series of comedy films.

Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke

George Kennedy in a scene from Airport

Leslie Nielsen (left) and George Kennedy from Naked Gun