While film’s all-stars rush to beat the cut-off music during acceptance speeches every year at the Oscars, it’s obvious and visibly frustrating for some that the academy doesn’t allocate enough time to dish out all those “thank yous.”
In the allotted time, award winners tend to emotionally share their accolades with God, family members, agents, co-stars, directors, producers, or anyone else who comes to mind. Some of those deemed worthy of a share in all the success are mentioned much more than others.
Ahead of Sunday’s 87th annual Academy Awards, Vocativ combed through hours of previous years’ acceptance speeches to find out exactly who gets the most shoutouts, and the top ten list results may surprise you.
Of the 1,396 acceptance speeches currently archived on the academy’s website, director Steven Spielberg takes the top spot, and has been thanked by eager winners a total of 42 times.
A distant second, former Miramax founder and current Weinstein Company head Harvey Weinstein has been mentioned 34 times, while director James Cameron came to mind 28 times to take 3rd place.
George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars franchise and head of LucasFilm LTD, comes in at 4th, leaving producer/director “Sir” Peter Jackson, who directed the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, to take the 5th spot on the list.
In a largely secular industry, God comes in just outside of the top five, at 6th place, and has been thanked a total of only 19 times.
Closing out the top ten:
7. Fran Walsh, wife of “Sir” Peter Jackson, 18 mentions
8. Sheila Nevins, 17 mentions
T9. Francis Ford Coppola & Barrie Osborne, 16 mentions each
T10. Martin Scorsese & Saul Zaentz, 15 mentions each
While Scorsese has been mentioned 15 times, the legendary director did not secure his first Oscar until 2007, for the 2006 film The Departed.
Vocativ also compiled an honorable mentions list, which includes those in the “10-Timers Club,” featuring individuals who have been thanked at least 10 times, but have yet to crack the top ten.
Those names include:
Jeffrey Katzenberg (12), John Lasseter (11), Bob Fosse (11) Ridley Scott (11), Bob Zemeckis (10), Robert Redford (10), Tim Burton (10) and George Clooney (10).
The 87th annual Academy Awards will air this Sunday on ABC at 7:00 Eastern time.
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