The last 19th-century-born actor to win an Oscar
In a cinematic world of cosmic superheroes, wild fantasy planets and 4D filmmaking, it’s easy to forget just how rudimental the art form was upon its inception. Indeed, before the likes of Steven Speilberg, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese and Denis Villeneuve, Eadweard Muybridge, Georges Méliès and the Lumière brothers helped to pioneer and master the early craft of cinema as the world entered the 20th century.
Thanks to such pioneering masterworks as The Horse in Motion, The Arrival of a Train and A Trip to the Moon, helmed by the aforementioned filmmakers, the movie industry was put into motion, first reaching popularity as sideshows in carnivals worldwide. As the technology improved, the audience’s appetite for the moving image grew, leading to Hollywood’s prosperity in the 1910s.
Once eager businessmen realised the commercial potential of cinema, studios were formed, and star actors were naturally created. Florence Annie Bridgwood was known to be the first-ever movie star, sparking a Hollywood mainstay, later being joined by the likes of Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, Douglas Fairbanks, Buster Keaton and William S. Hart.
Such early pioneers later made way for true established Hollywood icons, such as John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Elizabeth Taylor and Humphrey Bogart, taking the concept of the movie star to the next level.
Indeed, every generation of movie stars involves a handing-over of the baton, with this being illustrated in 1951 with the unlikely release of the John Huston film The African Queen. As well as being nominated for ‘Best Director’ at the Academy Awards, the film also gave Humphrey Bogart his first and only Oscar win, taking home the award for ‘Best Leading Actor’, becoming the last 19th-century-born actor to win at the annual ceremony.
Nominated for three Oscars throughout his time as an actor, with the other nods coming for the 1944 classic Casablanca and 1955’s The Caine Mutiny, Bogart walked away with just one win. Despite this, he is recognised as one of the most important stars of the 20th century, working with such filmmakers as Howard Hawks, Michael Curtiz, Raoul Walsh and John Huston.
After Bogart claimed his Oscar statuette in 1951, Hollywood silently shifted its interests, particularly with the ever-more commercial industry giving birth to a new kind of star who cared a lot more about their public image. Stars like Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando and James Dean were each challenged to thrive in the industry with unprecedented public scrutiny.
Such has only been exacerbated in the 21st century, where social media has meant that Hollywood’s biggest stars are seemingly public each moment of every day.
Check out Bogart in the classic trailer for The African Queen below.
