11th Academy Awards 11th Academy Awards The 11th Academy Awards were held on February 23, 1939, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. It was the first Academy Awards show without any official host. This was also the first ceremony in which a foreign language film (Jean Renoir's "Grand Illusion") was nominated for Best Picture. Frank Capra became the first person to win three Best Director awards, to be followed by John Ford (who would go on to win four) and William Wyler. This was the first of only two times in Oscar history that three of the four acting awards were
16th Academy Awards 16th Academy Awards The 16th Academy Awards, in 1944, was the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Free passes were given out to men and women in uniform. Originating on KFWB, the complete ceremony was internationally broadcast by CBS Radio via shortwave. Jack Benny served as master of ceremonies for the event, which lasted fewer than 30 minutes. The "Tom and Jerry" cartoon series won its first Oscar this year for "The Yankee Doodle Mouse" after two failed nominations in a row. It would go on to win another six Oscars, including three in