Despite a long list of comedians hosting the Oscars over the years, it’s rare that a comedy film gets much attention at the annual ceremony. And how many comedians can you name whose work has had any effect on the way things have played out during the show? The Academy Awards might very well be “Hollywood’s biggest night,” but that night was clearly never intended to celebrate comedy, outside of the comics they enlist to tell jokes while people wait to receive their trophies and accolades. That said, let’s take a look back at a few of the occasions where comedy let its presence be known to the members of the Academy.
4. MARISA TOMEI’S WIN SPAWNS AN URBAN LEGEND
At the 65th Annual Academy Awards in 1993, Marisa Tomei won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny. As a relatively unknown actress at the time, Tomei’s win shocked people, leading some to theorize that she wasn’t the intended recipient of the award. Film critic Rex Reed in particular suggested that Jack Palance, who presented the award that night, had read off the wrong name. The theory received so much attention that Bruce Davis, the Academy’s executive director, issued an official statement debunking it years later.
3. ART CARNEY BEATS OUT SOME STIFF COMPETITION
Honeymooners star Art Carney took home the award for Best Actor in 1974 for his performance in Harry and Tonto. To this day, the win is considered one of the biggest surprises in the history of the Oscars, primarily because of who Carney was up against. Also in the running that night were Jack Nicholson for Chinatown, Al Pacino for The Godfather Part II, Dustin Hoffman for the Lenny Bruce biopic Lenny, and Albert Finney for Murder on the Orient Express. They all got topped by a story about Ralph Kramden’s goofy neighbor going on a cross-country trip with his pet cat.
2. THE BOWERY BOYS GET ACCIDENTALLY NOMINATED
When the nominees were announced for the 29th Annual Academy Awards, many were confused to learn that the 1955 film High Society, a low-budget Bowery Boys comedy, was a contender for Best Writing for a Motion Picture Story. But as the Academy explains on its website, voters had clearly mixed up the Bowery Boys entry with a 1956 musical of the same name starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. The writers of the 1955 comedy, Edward Bernds and Elwood Ullman, later withdrew their names from the ballot, even though the Bing Crosby movie wasn’t even eligible for the award in question.
1. JOHNNY CARSON AND BUDDY HACKETT UNINTENTIONALLY REVEAL THE WINNERS
During an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson that was taped a few hours before the 1969 Oscars, Carson and comedian Buddy Hackett performed a skit in which they correctly predicted the winners of two of the awards from that evening’s ceremony. Carson jokingly announced Oliver! as the winner for Best Picture, and Hackett said that Jack Albertson had won Best Supporting Actor for The Subject Was Roses. Their lucky guesses led many to suspect they had inside information, including the Academy, which investigated the possibility of a security breach. The incident later became known as the “Great Carson Hoax.”
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