The first Academy event took place on May 16, 1929 at a private dinner held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California. AMPAS president Douglas Fairbanks hosted the show.
Recipients were announced three months earlier; the next year the Academy kept the results secret but gave an advance list to newspapers for publication at 11 p.m. This continued until 1940 when the Los Angeles Times published the winners in its evening edition – readily available to arriving guests. That prompted the sealed-envelope system in use today. By the second year, enthusiasm for the Awards was such that a Los Angeles radio station produced a live broadcast.
The first Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress Academy Awards are presented for performances in films of 1936. The honors went to Walter Brennan for “Come and Get it” and Gale Sondergaard for “Anthony Adverse.” The Academy Players Directory was published, including photos of actors and the name of their agent or industry contact. The directory was published by the Academy until 2006, when it was sold to a private company. Read more about the history of the Academy Awards on Oscars.org.
