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The Best Oscar Speeches of All

Time
BY SUZY WOLTMANN  | MARCH 10, 2023
Photo Source: HO/AMPAS/ Aaron Poole/©A.M.P.A.S./Blaine Ohigashi/©A.M.P.A.S.

The Academy Award acceptance speech has evolved—and more than

doubled in length—since the first ceremony was held nearly a century ago.
Some winners use their time onstage  to raise awareness for political and
humanitarian issues, while others pay tribute to the cultural legacies that
paved the way for their wins; many simply revel in the moment. Poignant,
entertaining, and infinitely rewatchable, here are some of the most iconic
turns on the Oscars stage.

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1929 
Darryl F. Zanuck
Honorary Award, “The Jazz Singer” 

The inaugural ceremony was a far less robust affair than it is today, lasting
only 15 minutes. The show’s single acceptance speech came from Zanuck,
the producer of “The Jazz Singer” (the world’s first “talkie,” which is now
infamous for its use of blackface). He dedicated the award to studio head
Sam Warner, who died the day before the film opened.

1940
Hattie McDaniel
Best Actress in a Supporting Role, “Gone With the Wind” 
Though nominated for her role as Mammy in this 1939 best picture winner,
McDaniel was forced to sit at a segregated table away from her costars.
When she became the first Black person to receive an Oscar, the actor
expressed her hope that she would “always be a credit to my race and to
the motion picture industry.” 

1964
Sidney Poitier
Best Actor in a Leading Role, “Lilies of the Field” 
It would be 24 years until another Black person won an Academy Award:
Poitier for his starring role in this 1963 Ralph Nelson film. After an
extended round of applause, a visibly overcome Poitier talked about his
“long journey to this moment,” for which he felt “indebted to countless
numbers of people.”

1973
Sacheen Littlefeather on behalf of Marlon Brando
Best Actor in a Leading Role, “The Godfather” 
In protest of “the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry,”
Brando boycotted the Oscars and sent Apache activist Littlefeather in his
stead. After announcing that the actor would not be accepting the award,
she called attention to the plight of Indigenous performers, as well as to the
civil rights occupation of Wounded Knee, SD. The speech so scandalized
the Academy that it led to a ban on proxy award acceptances.

1975 
Ingrid Bergman
Best Actress in a Supporting Role, “Murder on the Orient Express” 

After admitting that it’s “always very nice to get an Oscar,” Bergman called
out the Academy’s tendency to sideline foreign films. She ended by saying,
“Please forgive me, Valentina. I didn’t mean to,” directed at Italian actor
Valentina Cortese, who was nominated in the same category for François
Truffaut’s “Day for Night.”

1985 
Sally Field
Best Actress in a Leading Role, “Places in the Heart” 
If you know anything about awards speeches, you’ve heard of Field’s
famous declaration, “You like me! You really like me!” But that’s a
misquote; while accepting the statuette for Robert Benton’s drama, the
actor actually ended her speech by saying, “I can’t deny the fact that you
like me. Right now, you like me!” 

1991
Joe Pesci
Best Actor in a Supporting Role, “Goodfellas” 

Pesci might have been a motormouth as Tommy DeVito in Martin

Scorsese’s legendary mob film, but he accepted his award for the
performance with badass brevity. His speech was just five words long: “It’s
my privilege. Thank you.”

1992
Jack Palance
Best Actor in a Supporting Role, “City Slickers” 
At the age of 73, Palance proved he hadn’t let his fitness fade in the nearly
40 years since he’d last been nominated for an Oscar. He performed one-
armed pushups onstage, then downplayed the power move as “nothing,
really.” 

1998
James Cameron
Best Director, “Titanic” 

Cameron’s statuette was one of 11 that “Titanic” earned, tying it for most-
winning film with “Ben-Hur” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the
King.” So it isn’t surprising that the director ended his speech with his
movie’s most emblematic line: “I’m the king of the world!”

1999
Roberto Benigni
Best Foreign Language Film, “Life Is Beautiful” 
Benigni exuded pure joy when his comedy-drama won its third award of the
night, climbing on top of the seat in front of him and making his way to the
stage by walking across the packed rows. In his speech, the writer-
director-star dedicated the award to the Holocaust victims his film
portrayed: “They gave their life in order [that] we can say: Life is beautiful.”

2002
Halle Berry
Best Actress in a Leading Role, “Monster’s Ball” 

Berry broke into tears when she became the first Black woman to win best
leading actress. “This moment is so much bigger than me,” she said. She
then paid tribute to “every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has
a chance because this door tonight has been opened.” 

2015
John Legend and Common
Best Original Song, “Glory” (“Selma”) 
When Legend and Common took the stage, they used their time to draw
attention to the racism the Black community continued to face 50 years
after the Selma to Montgomery March. Legend ended on a note of hope,
saying, “When people are marching with our song, we want to tell you that
we are with you, we see you, we love you, and march on.”

2016
Leonardo DiCaprio
Best Actor in a Leading Role, “The Revenant” 
All it took was pretending to be viciously mauled by a bear for DiCaprio to
score his first win after two decades of Oscar noms. The actor’s speech
highlighted the impact of climate change and reflected the gravity of the
moment, especially in his closing statement: “Let us not take this planet for
granted. I do not take tonight for granted.”

2017
Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney
Best Adapted Screenplay, “Moonlight” 
When they accepted this win for their groundbreaking Black LGBTQ+
drama, Jenkins and McCraney shone a light on underrepresented
communities. McCraney said, to great applause, that he dedicated the
award “to all those Black and brown boys and girls and non–gender
conforming who don’t see themselves. We’re trying to show you you and
us.” 

2019
Ruth E. Carter
Best Costume Design, “Black Panther” 

Upon becoming the first Black person to win for costume design, Carter
began by thanking Spike Lee, whose “Malcolm X” earned the designer her
first Oscar nod. While “Marvel may have created the first Black superhero,”
she said, “through costume design, we turned him into an African king.” 

2019
Olivia Colman
Best Actress in a Leading Role, “The Favourite” 
Colman began her speech by cheekily promising a “massive snog” to
anyone she forgot to thank. She then paid tribute to her fellow nominees,
blowing a kiss to Lady Gaga and telling Glenn Close, “You’ve been my idol
for so long.” (Colman would later admit she was so drunk at the ceremony
that she couldn’t remember what she’d said.) 

2020 
Bong Joon-ho
Best Director, “Parasite” 
The South Korean filmmaker made history when his dark social satire
became the first non-English-language feature to win best picture.
Speaking via translator when he accepted best director, Bong thanked the
filmmakers who lit the way for him, including his fellow nominee Martin
Scorsese. He finished by saying, in English, that he would “drink until next
morning.” 

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