Academy Awards: Most Unforgettable Hosts and Moments in Oscars History

Every year, the whole world watches the Academy Awards ceremony, as the best of the best gather on the red carpet, providing astounding impressions of elegance, or flaunting shocking outfits, all sprinkled with a sense humour.

Sputnik has gathered a list of hilarious hosts who have offered the most entertaining, unforgettable or bizarre moments in the nearly 90-year history of the Academy Awards. Such moments are sometimes able to attract even more attention from journalists and bloggers than the movies and actors that actually win the Oscars.

1/13

© AFP 2023 / Timothy A. Clary

Oscar host and comedian Billy Crystal peers through the podium as he introduces the Best Actor in the Supporting Role Category during the 70th Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on 23 March 1998 in Los Angeles.

2/13

© AFP 2023 / Gabriel Bouys

Actor Hugh Jackman, left, and singer Beyonce, centre, performing in a big musical number at the 81st Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California in 2009.

3/13

© AP Photo

A streaker appears on stage surprising David Niven, right, who isn't quite sure what's happening behind him, as the man, later identified as Robert Opel, unexpectedly crosses the stage near the end of the Academy Awards show in Los Angeles in 1974.

4/13

© AFP 2023 / Mark Ralston

Actor Chris Rock brings wooden boxes as actors Jacob Tremblay (L) and Abraham Attah present on stage at the 88th Oscars in 2016 in Hollywood, California.

5/13

© AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill

Host Jon Stewart holds an iPhone during the 80th Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, 2008.

6/13

© AFP 2023 / Gabriel Bouys

Actor James Franco and Anne Hathaway appear on stage at the 83rd annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre in 2011 in Hollywood, California.

7/13

© AP Photo

Actor Marlon Brando, left, engages in a mock tussle with host Bob Hope during the 27th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles in 1955. Brando won Best Actor for his performance in "On the Waterfront". Hope hosted or co-hosted 19 ceremonies, often joking that he never once won one of the statuettes he was handing out.

8/13

© AP Photo / Reed Saxon

Host Chevy Chase pulls up his pants at the 60th annual Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles after pretend "mooning" the crowd in 1988. Chase kicked off the night by jokingly taunting the crowd: "Good evening, Hollywood phonies".

9/13

© AP Photo / Chris Pizzello//Invision

Host Jimmy Kimmel, left, lifts Sunny Pawar as candy balloons fall on the audience at the Oscars in 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

10/13

© AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill

Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres performs during the 79th Academy Awards in 2007, in Los Angeles.

11/13

© AFP 2023 / Gabriel Bouys

Comedian Steve Martin, left, and actor Alec Baldwin don 3D glasses as they co-host the 82nd Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California in 2010.

12/13

© AFP 2023 / Timothy A. Clary

Oscar Host Whoopi Goldberg, dressed as Queen Elizabeth I of England, opens the 71st Academy Awards in 1999 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.

13/13

© AP Photo

Academy Awards host Johnny Carson listens to Muppet character Miss Piggy as she voices her dissatisfaction at not being nominated during the 52nd Oscar presentation in Los Angeles in 1980.