Academy Awards: From Bob Hope to Jimmy Kimmel, Looking Back at the 7 Best Hosts in the History of Oscars
In this special feature, we look at 7 such celebs who did a terrific job hosting the Academy Awards ceremony and entertained us at every turn.
The 91st Academy Awards is going to be special in a very unusual, and unwanted way. For the first time in 30 years in the history of the Oscars, the ceremony will be held without a host. The segments will be held together by the presenters, but there won't be any celeb heralding them on stage or enthralling us with some fine jokes. The reason was a very controversial one. The Academy Award committee had hired the very funny motormouth Kevin Hart to host this year's edition. Then Hart found himself in a soup when some of his past offensive tweets were dug up. Oscars 2019 Will Be Held without a Host after Kevin Hart Controversy.
Like James Gunn did with Disney, Hart followed suit and stepped down as the host just six weeks before the ceremony. The committee couldn't find another host to replace him. They even tried to rehire Hart, provided he apologised for his tweets. He didn't and they were back to being without a host. As they say, the show must go on.
There is no doubt that the lack of a host will definitely sting all Hollywood fans who are eagerly waiting for the award shows, considered the most prestigious of the lot. In the past, we have seen bad ones (looking at you, Anne Hathaway and James Franco), disappointing ones (Neil Patrick Harris, we had so many hopes from you) and some really, really good ones! Oscars 2019 Top Questions: From ‘Who is Hosting the Oscars?’ to ‘Who Has Won the Most Oscars’, All Your Queries on 91st Academy Awards Answered!
In this special feature, we look at 7 such celebs who did a terrific job hosting the Academy Awards ceremony and entertained us at every turn.
Bob Hope
How can we even have this list without mentioning the man who has hosted the show the most? Bob Hope has hosted the ceremony so many times(1940-43, 1945, 1946, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1959-62, 1965-68, 1975, 1978) that the Academy even gave him a medal in 1966 for his contribution to the Oscars. In short Bob Hope was to Oscars what the late David was to Filmfare.
Jimmy Kimmel
Despite the whole screwup over the Best Film winner (La La La Land? Nope, it's Moonlight!), in 2017, Jimmy Kimmel got the opportunity to host the ceremony next year too (even though the goofup was not in the least his fault). That's how good he was! Most of Kimmel's jokes landed well and his ribbing of Matt Damon deserves a special tribute.
Steve Martin
Oh, Steve Martin, who don't you host more often? Having hosted the ceremony a couple of times (once paired with Alec Baldwin), Steve Martin won the fans with his warm, affable nature and gentle jokes that never go below the belt.
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres' poker humour is just too famous and she did a fab job hosting the ceremony twice. We still cannot forget her impromptu selfie with celebs like Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Bradley Cooper, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey (ahem...ahem...) that is considered one of the most viral pictures on social media.
Hugh Jackman
Who knew Wolverine could be such a great host? Who knew then that the man who made adamantium claws famous is an awesome singer? That's Hugh Jackman for you, as the Australian superstar surprised us with a wonderful hosting stint in 2009.
Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal is damn funny. Even the Academy agrees with this opinion of our, which is why he hosted the ceremony nine times! His cracks will make you erupt in laughter without any troubles and his habit of spontaneously bursting into a song just make things even better.
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg holds the record for the first woman to host the Academy Awards ceremony and also the first African American to do so! But more than the race or the gender card, Goldberg made for a wonderful host, taking the duties for four times, and yet never felt stale even once. One of the biggest highlights of her hosting is her wacky fancy dressing!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 14, 2019 07:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).