On May 16, 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences handed out its first awards, at a dinner party for
around 250 people held in the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood,
California.
The brainchild of Louis B. Mayer, head of the powerful MGM
film studio, the Academy was organized in May 1927 as a non-
profit organization dedicated to the improvement of the film
industry.
Its first president and the host of the May 1929 ceremony was
the actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Unlike today, the winners of
the first Oscars—as the coveted gold-plated statuettes later
became known—were announced before the awards
ceremony itself.
The winners of the first ceremony, including Janet Gaynor
for best actress, were announced a few months in advance. Douglas Fairbanks, president of the academy, handed out
the honors.
Vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, Conrad Nigel, presents the Oscar to actress
Norma Shearer.
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.
