Who do you think receives the most gratitude during Academy Award speeches? When the elite is up on stage receiving the acclaim for which they’ve long sought?
Would you believe it’s Steven Spielberg? (I would!)
In honor of tonight’s 87th Academy Awards, Vocactiv studied 1,396 acceptance speeches archived on the Academy’s website. It was revealed that Spielberg “has been thanked an outrageous 42 times from the Oscar podium, not only by people who starred in his movies, like Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), but also by those who were simply inspired by him, such as Sam Mendes (American Beauty).”
Also thanking Spielberg is his long-time collaborator, composer John Williams. Williams holds the record for being the most nominated person alive, with 49 Academy Award nominations and 5 wins, ranking second only to Walt Disney.
I’m sure if I were to ever win an Academy Award, I, too would thank Steven Spielberg. This would come as a surprise to no one who knows me, I’m sure.
But who else received a thank you from Oscar winners? Those results are a bit surprising.
Producer Harvey Weinstein came in second place, followed by “Titanic” director James Cameron. George Lucas, a name that should certainly be familiar to most of us, grabbed fourth place. Impressive . . . most impressive for someone who isn’t even a member of the Academy. In fifth place is famed Tolkien adapter Peter Jackson.
God finally makes the list at sixth place. God creates Spielberg. Spielberg creates films. Spielberg inherits the earth?
And who does Spielberg thank in his speeches? As a two-time winner for Best Director (“Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan”) he has thanked the leading actors (Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Tom Hanks,); his wife Kate Capshaw; his children; and the individuals involved in bringing the story of “Schindler’s List” to his attention.
And though Spielberg isn’t nominated this year, you can still watch the Academy Awards when they air tonight at 8:30 EST on ABC.