During World War II, a group of eight foreign journalists living in Los Angeles formed an organization which came to be known as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. It has since grown in numbers and prestige.
The History of the Golden Globes
In 1944, the HFPA presented scrolls of achievement in six motion picture categories: Best Picture (Song of Bernadette); Best Director (Henry King for Song of Bernadette); Best Actor (Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine); Best Actress (Jennifer Jones in Song of Bernadette); Best Supporting Actor (Akim Tamiroff in For Whom the Bell Tolls); and, Best Supporting Actress (Katina Paxinou in For Whom the Bell Tolls). None of the first winners were selected from a list of nominees.
As time passed, HFPA created the Award of Merit which is the familiar golden globe with a strip of film encircling it, added new categories, added nominations, and recognized achievements in television. Today, there are fourteen categories for movies, eleven for television, and one honorary Globe (Cecil B. DeMille Award). Unlike the Oscars, many of the categories are subdivided into "Drama" and "Comedy/Musical". This year's winners will be selected by ninety journalists who are based in the United States but work for foreign newspapers and journals.
Golden Globe Trivia
- The HFPA has raised nearly eight million dollars for entertainment-related charities and scholarships.
- The ninety some members of the HFPA represent magazines and newspapers in fifty-five countries with a total readership of 250 million.
- The first awards in television were given in 1955. Shows honored were Dinah Shore, Lucy & Desi, The American Comedy, and Davy Crockett.
- The first winner of the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1952 was the director himself. The second winner was Walt Disney. This year's recipient is Steven Spielberg.
- The first awards were given out by the journalists until 1958. That year Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis (the Rat Pack) spontaneously stormed the stage and took over the show. It went over so well that the HFPA invited them back as emcees the following year.
- One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is the only film to win in all five major categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay).
- From 1958 to 1963, the awards were only televised locally in the Los Angeles Area. The first national telecasts in 1964 and 1965 were as part of the Andy Williams Show.
- The record for most individual nominations is held by Jack Lemmon (22) and Meryl Streep (19). The most individual winners are Jack Nicholson with six and Shirley MacLaine, Rosalind Russell, Oliver Stone, and Francis Ford Coppola with five each.
- Rosalind Russell won all five times that she was nominated for Best Actress, but never won an Oscar after being nominated four times.
- The youngest winner was nine-year old Ricky Schroeder in 1980. The oldest were Henry Fonda (76 in 1982) and Jessica Tandy (80 in 1990).
- The most individual nominations in one year went to Jamie Foxx in 2005 with three (two in the Best Actor category and one for Best Supporting Actor).
- The 1989 Best Actress was a three way tie between Jodie Foster (The Accused), Shirley MacLaine (Madame Sousatzka), and Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas in the Midst).
- The most nominations for a film was Nashville (1976) with nine. It won only one, for the song "I'm Easy" by Keith Carradine.
- The newest category, Best Animated Feature, was added in 2006. The winner was Cars.
- In 1973, Marlon Brando refused the Best Actor award for his role in The Godfather as a protest against "U.S. imperialism and racism." That same year he also refused an Oscar for the same role and reasons, thus making him the only individual to turn down two major acting awards.
For more information on the Globes see: The Official Golden Globes Website
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