The rarest and weirdest achievements in Oscar History

"The Godfather" was a critical and commercial phenomenon from opening day onward, so it's no surprise Oscar voters heavily rewarded the first film and its sequel, which was released two years later. But Francis Ford Coppola's saga did pull off one usual feat during its awards run: Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro are the only actors to win Academy Awards for portraying the same character (Don Vito Corleone) in a continuing series. That's two more Oscars than Al Pacino ever won for his career-defining performance as Vito's son, Michael.

It's a sad case of better late than never with these three writers. During the 1940s and '50s, many screenwriters were either denied credit or employed via third-party "fronts" after having been blacklisted by the film industry for their alleged support of the Communist party. This cost Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson Oscars for The Bridge on the River Kwai (which was credited to the book's non-English speaking author, Pierre Boulle). Meanwhile, Dalton Trumbo's Oscar for "Roman Holiday" went to his front, Ian McLellan Hunter. It wasn't until the 1980s, after all three had passed, that the Academy honored these men.

Screenwriter Robert Towne had been nominated for an Oscar three times and won once by the time he received his fourth nod for "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan". Towne, however, was not pleased with the finished film, so the script was credited to "P.H. Vazak" aka Towne's dog. This remains the only instance of the Academy Awards acknowledging a canine scribe. Vazak did not attend the ceremony, which is just as well as Peter Schaffer won the Adapted Screenplay Oscar for "Amadeus."

It's one thing to nominate a dog for an Oscar, but quite another to recognize a fictional character. That's what happened in 2003 when the Academy played along with Charlie Kaufman's insistence that his non-existent brother, Donald, co-wrote "Adaptation" with him. Donald was tragically shot and killed in the third act of the movie, so he never got to enjoy the Academy's generosity.

There have been six ties throughout the eighty-eight-year history of the Academy Awards, and only twice in one of the major categories. The first is questionable: Frederic March ("Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde") beat Wallace Beery ("The Champ") by one vote, but the Oscars called it even. But the 1969 tie for Best Actress between Katharine Hepburn ("The Lion in Winter") and Barbara Streisand ("Funny Girl") was 100% legit. AMPAS membership has doubled since 1969, but there was a tie as recently as 2013. Who knows? Maybe Denzel and Casey will split the Actor honors this year.

If the Oscars have an equivalent to the Perfect Game in baseball, it's a film sweeping the five major categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay). Only three movies have ever pulled it off: "It Happened One Night" (1934), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and "Silence of the Lambs" (1992). "La La Land" is the only film with a shot at the sweep this year, but Best Actor seems well out of reach for Ryan Gosling, while Best Original Screenplay is likely to go to Kenneth Lonergan for "Manchester By the Sea."

Walt Disney won a record twenty-six Academy Awards throughout his life, which is what happens when you pioneer an art form and continuously set the industry standard for over six decades. Walt did most of his winning in the 1930s and '40s, thanks to his growing company's dominance in the Best Animated Short category. From 1932 to 1943, if he was nominated, he won. His first defeat in the category came in 1944, when "Reason and Emotion" lost to the Tom & Jerry classic "Yankee Doodle Mouse." 

At six years old, Shirley Temple was already two years into her big-screen acting career when she ensorcelled the entire world with her iconic rendition of "On the Good Ship Lollipop" in the film "Bright Eyes." It was one of six 1934 movies in which she made a credited appearance, and the Oscars were so knocked out by her talent that they gave her their first ever Juvenile Academy Award. The world hasn't seen anything like Shirley Temple since.

If you're good enough to earn thirteen Academy Award nominations, you're certainly good enough to win once, right? Don't tell that to cinematographer Roger Deakins ("No Country for Old Men") or composer Thomas Newman ("The Shawshank Redemption"), both of whom are considered masters in their respective fields, yet somehow keep getting passed over for the big prize. And yet their misfortune pales next to that of sound mixer Kevin O'Connell, who could go 0-21 this year if he fails to win for his work on "Hacksaw Ridge."

Mark Berger has been one of the most sought after sound engineers in the film industry since he began working on features in 1974 with "The Godfather Part II." He won an Oscar right out of the gate, and went on to earn three more nominations for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,""Apocalypse Now" and "Amadeus." That's four classics, four nominations and four wins. Amazingly, he hasn't been nominated in thirty-three years, and for this his competition is thankful.

Hollywood has produced many great acting families, and it's not altogether rare for them to perform together. But only twice have family members received Oscar nominations for appearing in the same film. The most memorable duo was Henry and Jane Fonda in "On Golden Pond" (1981), which was especially significant for being Henry's first Best Actor win (Jane already had two trophies) and, sadly, his final performance. Ten years later, Diane Ladd and daughter Laura Dern earned, respectively, Best Actress and Supporting Actress nominations for their work in Martha Coolidge's "Rambling Rose."

The Academy Awards have rescinded nominations on technicalities before, but the "Alone Yet Not Alone" flap is unique for several reasons. First, virtually no one had heard of the film when its nomination for Best Original Song was announced. When it was revealed that the song's co-composer, Bruce Broughton, was on the executive committee of the Academy's music branch, and had used his position to campaign for the song, the nomination was withdrawn.

When Charlie Chaplin appeared likely to dominate the very first Oscar ceremony, the Academy yanked all four of his nominations for "The Circus" and instead gave him a Special Award for writing, producing, directing and acting in the film. He would go on to make masterpieces like "Modern Times," "City Lights" and "The Great Dictator," but would not win a competitive Oscar until 1972 for the score to "Limelight" (which had received its official U.S. release twenty years after it was made).

Two films hold the record for the most Oscar nominations without a single win: "The Turning Point" (1977) and "The Color Purple" (1986). Both received eleven nominations, and the shutout of the latter film felt particularly egregious at the time. "The Color Purple" was considered Steven Spielberg's first "adult" film, and some felt he sentimentalized Alice Walker's beloved novel. Amazingly, Spielberg was denied a Best Director nod, which turned out to be a bad omen for the film's Oscar chances. The Academy made it up to him the following year by giving him the Thalberg award. It was his first Oscar.

Seventy-one years later, William Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives" remains one of the most powerful films ever made about soldiers' post-war struggles with re-adjusting to civilian life. It's most indelible element by far is Harold Russell, a first-time actor who was cast after Wyler saw him in an Army film about rehabilitating veterans. Russell, who'd lost both of his hands to an explosives accident in training, was both heartbreaking and inspiring in the film. He easily won Best Supporting Actor, but the Academy was so moved, they gave him a second Oscar for "bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans."

Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" is one of the most successful gambles in film history. Greenlit as a trilogy before the studio could be sure there was a sizable audience for the material, the series became a worldwide phenomenon that shockingly conquered the Academy's infamous aversion to the fantasy genre. The goodwill for the film was so powerful, that there seemed to an unspoken agreement amongst voters that they'd honor the achievement with the top prize once the third film arrived. The movies continued to deliver, and the Academy made good with a Best Picture Oscar for "Return of the King."

The world will never know where James Dean's incendiary acting talent would've taken him, but, in the wake of his untimely death in 1955, the Academy knew they had lost something special. Both of Dean's Best Actor nominations (1956 for "East of Eden" and 1957 for "Giant") were posthumous, a tribute to the rarity of his gift and the abruptness of his departure.

Shakespeare has a pretty terrific batting average at the Oscars, but he's always done particularly well with "Romeo and Juliet." The tragedy of the star-crossed young lovers has yielded four Best Picture nominees. Two were straight adaptations (George Cukor's in 1936 and Franco Zeffirelli's in 1968) and another was a musical reinterpretation ("West Side Story" in 1961). The fourth isn't an actual adaptation, but it's no coincidence that 1999 Best Picture winner "Shakespeare in Love" centers on the first production of the play.

Sydney Pollack's "They Shoot Horses, Don't They" is a tremendously soul-crushing film about characters desperate for money during the Great Depression, so maybe that's how it somehow racked up nine Oscar nominations in 1969 (including Director, Screenplay and Actress) yet came up short in Picture. It's one of the most confounding snubs in Academy history, and it's not rendered any more explicable by the nomination of "Anne of the Thousand Days," which received mixed reviews. "Midnight Cowboy" won Best Picture that year. It's not like the Academy was afraid of dark or challenging movies.

While people complain about Michelle Williams's lack of screen time in "Manchester By the Sea," let's remember the five minutes and two seconds of straight fire that won Beatrice Straight Best Supporting Actress in 1977 for "Network." Many performers have turned small roles into Oscars through the sheer emotional power of their portrayal, but no one has ever taken the trophy with less on the page than Straight.