Oscars

How Do You Know? (2010)

(That's the movie title)

Jack Nicholson was born in New York City, New York, U.S.

The 2 Irish-born actors to win acting Oscars are:

1) Barry Fitzgerald, for Best Supporting Actor for the 1944 movie, "Going My Way" (for which he was also nominated for Best Actor, which is no longer possible), and

2) Brenda Fricker, the Best Supporting Actress winner for 1989's "My Left Foot".

More famously, Daniel Day-Lewis, who holds the record for the most Best Actor Oscars with 3 (and was nominated for 2 more), was born in England but holds duel citizenship in the UK and Ireland, dividing his time between Ireland and New York with his wife and family.

Irish-born Peter O'Toole holds the record for most Oscar nominations without a win (8), but was finally awarded the Academy Honorary Award in 2003 in recognition of his career. So, technically, he's the 3rd Irish actor to win an Oscar, though not an acting one.

Other Irish actors who have been nominated for Oscars include Richard Harris (twice), Stephen Rea, and Liam Neeson.

In 2009, the Academy decided to expand the filed of nominees for Best Picture from five to ten. The Academy has not nominated ten films in this category for many years, but it is not the first time. One of the reasons that the Academy cited for making this change is that it was that at least two Oscar-worthy films were not nominated in 2008, which many critics thought should have been. Those two films were Dark Knight and WALL-E.

Another possible reason for including ten nominees in the Best Picture category is to increase viewer ship. The Academy Awards ceremony has suffered from falling ratings the past several years. By including more films in the Best Picture category, the Academy can include more popular films, and that might encourage more people to tune in.

One of the criticism of the longer list of nominees is the new method of voting. Instead of Academy members simply voting for their favorite, they have been instructed to rank all ten in their order of worthiness. This could possibly have the effect of diluting the vote. For example, if the Academy members are divided between the first and second most-worthy film, but they all agree on which is the third most-worthy film, then the third-most worthy film will win the award.

It was "What a Wonderful World," which was a hit song for Louis Armstrong in 1968. At the 2012 Academy Awards, it was performed by Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding and the Southern California Children's Chorus.

Hilary Ann Swank has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for playing Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry (1998) and a struggling waitress-turned-boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby.

Best Picture - Schindler's List Best Director - Steven Spielberg, Schindler's List Best Actor - Tom Hanks, Philadelphia Best Actress - Holly Hunter, The Piano Best Supporting Actor- Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive Best Supporting Actress- Anna Paquin, The Piano Best Original Screenplay - The Piano Best Costume Design- The Age of Innocence Best Makeup- Mrs. Doubtfire Best Song- "Streets of Philadelphia" from Philadelphia Best Foreign Language Film- Belle epoque (Spain) Schindler's Listalso won for Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography, Art Directon and Score. Jurassic Park won for Sound, Visual Effects and Sound Effects Editing.

The nominees for Best Actor of 1956 were Yul Brynner for "The King and I"; James Dean (posthumously) for "Giant"; Kirk Douglas for "Lust for Life"; Rock Hudson for "Giant"; and Sir Laurence Olivier for "Richard III." The Oscar went to Brynner.

Breakfast at Tiffany's won the Oscar for Music - Scoring - in 1961.

Votes are certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor Price Waterhouse).

Yes. Sir Ian McKellen was nominated for Best Supporting Actor of 2001 for his performance as Gandalf the Grey in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." He was a favorite to win, but the Oscar went to fellow countryman Jim Broadbent, who won for his work in the biopic "Iris." It didn't hurt Broadbent that he was a cast member that year of the popular musical "Moulin Rouge!," in which he played the French cabaret's owner and emcee.

Untrue, but obscure. Rita Moreno and Bill Cosby (artists); Christopher Cerf, Joe Raposo and Lee Chamberlain (producers) were awarded a Grammy for Best Recording for Children in 1972 (15th Annual Grammy Awards). The recording was generated from a PBS children's show called "The Electric Company".

Rocky won in 1976; Annie Hall won in 1977.

It would be hard to cite one acceptance speech as the best. But one of the most memorable was Louise Fletcher's podium appearance after winning the 1975 Academy Award for Best Actress in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

She used sign language at the end of her remarks, addressing her deaf parents who were watching television from their home in Birmingham, Alabama. "I want to thank my mother and my father for teaching me to have a dream," Fletcher said. "You are seeing my dream come true."

It was British actor Edmund Gwenn, who won the 1947 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as Kris Kringle in "Miracle on 34th Street."

The 75th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2002, were held on March 23, 2003, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. It was produced by Gil Cates and hosted for the second time by Steve Martin.

Wings (a silent film about two friends and their adventures in the Air Corps during WWI and their rivalry for the affection of the same woman) was released in 1927 and won the first-ever Best Picture Academy Award in 1928.

In terms of longevity, the oldest-living major Academy Award winner is Dame Olivia de Havilland, who celebrated her 101st birthday on July 1, 2017. She won Best Actress awards for "To Each His Own" (1946) and "The Heiress" (1949).

De Havilland replaced Luise Rainer, the German-born star who died December 30, 2014 -- two weeks shy of what would have been her 105th birthday on January 12, 2015. Rainer received back-to-back Best Actress awards for "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936) and "The Good Earth" (1937).

In terms of competition, the oldest person to win an Oscar was Christopher Plummer. On February 26, 2012, at the age of 82, he won the 2011 Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in "Beginners." He surpassed the previous record set on March 26, 1990 by Jessica Tandy, who won the 1989 Best Actress award for "Driving Miss Daisy" when she was 80 years and 292 days old.