With an entertaining text and star-studded photographs, this expanded and updated edition is the only official history of the Academy Awards, presenting the story of the Oscar from its banquet beginnings at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to the 80th awards ceremony, held at the 3,401-seat Kodak Theatre. Combining Hollywood insider Robert Osborne's cogent observations and the Academy's exceptional historical and photographic archives, this book is unrivaled in illustration, accuracy, and completeness.<BR>80 Years of the Oscar opens with a history of the founding of the Academy, detailing the organization's aims and covering the background of the establishment of these highly coveted awards. The rest of the book is divided into decades, with lively overviews that document trends, track new developments, and capture the thrills of the film industry's most significant and popular events.<BR>For each year author Robert Osborne presents the range of movies in competition and contemporary reaction to and from the winners, describing memorable moments of the evening's events. Each chapter concludes with a complete list of nominees in all categories, plus the winners in each. The annual illustrations include evocative stills from many of the winning films, and candid shots of the celebrities in attendance. Altogether this book is illustrated with more than 750 photographs, and also includes the original movie posters for every year's best picture. With illustrations that are themselves worth an Oscar, this is an unparalleled reference source for the film buff and scholar.