The 59th Annual Academy Awards

Today in 1987 - The 59th Annual Academy Awards were handed out at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles Music Center.

Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul ‘Crocodile Dundee’ Hogan hosted. (Hogan was also an Oscar nominee for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen with Ken Shadie and John Cornell for Crocodile Dundee.)
Best Picture: Platoon (Arnold Kopelson, producer); Best Director: Oliver Stone for Platoon; Best Actor: Paul Newman for The Color of Money; Best Actress: Marlee Matlin for Children of a Lesser God; Best Supporting Actor: Michael Caine for Hannah and Her Sisters; Best Supporting Actress: Dianne Wiest for Hannah and Her Sisters and Best Music/Song: Giorgio Moroder (music), Tom Whitlock (lyrics) for Take My Breath Away from Top Gun. And HBO (Home Box Office) earned its first Oscar as Down and Out in America tied for Best Documentary feature. The cable-TV film played in a Los Angeles movie theatre for one week to qualify for the Academy Award.

Happy Birthday

Today in 1970 one of, if not the greatest thoroughbred of all time, Secretariat was foaled at Meadow Farm in Virginia.

"Big Red" would win the Triple Crown in 1973 and in the process beat the 2 minute barrier in the Kentucky Derby. and win the Belmont stakes in 2:24, both of which have not been beaten. He was called by other jockeys "a living breathing locomotive" and in the famous Belmont race he was called "a tremendous machine".

45th Annual Academy Awards

Today in 1973 It was Oscar night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Cailfornia

The show was hosted by Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston and Rock Hudson. Most people, when offered an Academy Award, can’t get up to the stage fast enough to claim the little gold guy. But, Marlon Brando said, “You can keep it," when AMPAS offered him the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as The Godfather. Brando refused to accept the award because he felt that the U.S. and Hollywood were discriminating against American Indians. The Godfather (Albert S. Ruddy, producer) also was awarded the the prize for Best Picture. That Oscar was accepted, as were several for Cabaret: Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Actress (Liza Minnelli) and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey). Best Supporting Actress was Eileen Heckart for Butterflies are Free and the Best Music/Song prize went to Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn for The Morning After from The Poseidon Adventure.

Japan's Victoire Pisa wins $10M Dubai World Cup

Japan's Victoire Pisa wins $10M Dubai World Cup - More Sports - SI.com

Top 5 Books on the NY Times Bestseller List (Fiction) for March 27th 2011

Here are the Top 5 books on the New York Times Fiction Bestseller list for the week ending March 27th 2011

1 - The Jungle - Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul (Debut)

From Publishers Weekly
Juan Cabrillo and his crew of mercenaries engage in one daring rescue operation after another with progressively higher stakes in Cussler's high-octane eighth Oregon Files novel (after The Silent Sea), his sixth collaboration with Du Brul. The rescue of a kidnap victim, an Indonesian teenage boy, from an Afghan village, yields a bonus in the form of MacD Lawless, a former U.S. Army Ranger, who proves of immediate value. Betrayals, more rescues, and escapes follow as one mysterious man seeks world domination using a discovery linked to 13th-century China. Cabrillo's handpicked team members, who operate from their state-of-the-art ship, the Oregon, are the only chance to stop a plot that threatens to bring the U.S. government to its knees. The frenetic action moves from Afghanistan to Singapore and the Burmese jungle with lots of derring-do at sea before climaxing in a surprising locale in a fashion sure to delight series fans.

2  - Sing You Home - Jodi Picoult (2nd week on list)

3 -  The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss (2nd week on list)

4 -  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson (42 weeks on list)

5  - Love You More - Lisa Gardner (Debut)

Gunsmoke in Ben Tolliver's Stud

Season 6 11/26/1960

The 21st Academy Awards

Today in 1949 the Academy Awards were handed out for achievements in 1948 motion pictures.

Actor/producer/director Robert Montgomery hosted the ceremony held at the AMPAS Theater in Los Angeles. Hamlet, produced by Lawrence Olivier for J. Arthur Rank-Two Cities Films, won Best Picture of 1948. Olivier also was pronounced Best Actor for his portrayal of Hamlet.

The real star of the evening, however, was the Hollywood flick, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, the story of a trio of prospectors in their search for gold in them thar hills. The search finally led them to gold in the shape of Oscar ... three Oscars, to be exact, and a nomination for Best Picture.

And, as far as we know, it was the first, and remains the only time a father and son both won Academy Awards on the same night. They were presented to Walter and John Huston for their stunning work in the 1948 film. Walter was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and his son, John, received honors for Best Director and for Best Screenplay (based on a B. Traven story).

Other winners of the treasured golden statuette on this spring night were: Jane Wyman (the former Mrs. Ronald Reagan) for Best Actress (film: Johnny Belinda); Claire Trevor for Best Supporting Actress (film: Key Largo); Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for Best Music/Song (Buttons and Bows from the Bob Hope/Jane Russell flick, The Paleface). And although Olivier won the Best Actor Oscar, Humphrey Bogart was superb as the paranoid, and ultimately, homicidal Fred C. Dobbs in Sierra Madre.