The Early History of the Best Actress Award at the Academy Awards

When you think of the Academy Awards, you think of Hollywood glamour at it's finest, red carpets, diamonds dripping, limousines dropping off the handsome movie star or the newest Hollywood Starlet. The flash of the bulbs, red carpet interviews, the fashion, the emotion that goes into this night is purely for a chance to hold and take home a golden statuette just over 13 inches tall in height, though it's value can not be measured to the lucky recipients of the "best performance by an actress in a leading role" award, affectionately known as "Oscar".

Ever since Janet Gaynor won the first award for Best Actress, the world has been captivated by the romance of the "Oscar" and the honor and recognition that it bestows upon an actress. In 81 years of Oscar History, there have been 82 awards given out for best actress, but only to 68 different women, accounting for ties and repeat winners. A rare honor in the city of dreams, to be only one of 68 women to receive the ultimate reward for their hard work and talent.

68 women. 68 stories. The second woman to win an Oscar was Mary Pickford, who was one of the founders of United Artists Theater Group, paving the way for independent movies to be shown in wide circulation.
She was also one of the first powerful female producers. Looking back into the history of past winners, I was surprised to read about how many of them were very ambitious women who were very hungry for success, fortune and fame. Not at all the soft sweet persona's that some of them portrayed. Behind the scenes the early winners were fierce, demanded the best, fought for equalities, fought for better wages, contracts, rights to their work and ended up really blazing the way for women forevermore. Women like Norma Shearer, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Vivien Leigh, Joan Crawford all shaped the way women are treated, respected and utilized in the business known as Hollywood.

These women were from varied backgrounds, often poor or from simple homes, but aspired more than others. Their ambition stands out among all others paying off in the form of Oscars for Best Actress. The guts and glamour combination of woman in the early 20's, 30's and 40's set a course for current stars, yet I still find it hard to compare the soft and alluring leading lady roles they played with today's film industry and the roles that woman have. The magic is hard to relive as it was back then, the image of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara stayed with me as a young girl watching Gone with the Wind, yet I don't recall memorable scenes that are comparable in modern movies. The moments I remember in modern movies seem silly and shallow by comparison, such as one of my favorite scenes in "Pretty Woman" when he rescues her with an umbrella and climbs the fire escape. The scene in Dancing with wolves where the Indian yells to Kevin Costner that he is his friend....I cry every time, but it is very cinematic and the movies of old are so charming, they flow and they tease and they have fun and you cry and you feel the magic.

All in all, the list of 68 women who have been honored by this award have grown year by year, all their stories could fill up a entire encyclopedia set with interesting tidbits about their lives, various backgrounds, lives, loves, hardships, powerful stories all intertwined by one common bond, an honor given by their peers so great that their is no other award held in higher esteem for an actress. Yet, the magic is much different, the portrayals and roles so vastly different it's amazing. What a wonderfully evolving craft acting and theater is, but I very much miss the magic of the movies of old and would gladly give up all the special effects and star power even, to see a simple story that holds more magic than any modern movie of this day.