2nd Academy Awards


The 2nd Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on April 3, 1930, at an awards banquet in the Cocoanut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, honored the best films released between August 1, 1928, and July 31, 1929. This was the first Academy Awards ceremony broadcast on radio, by local station KNX, Los Angeles. Over 300 attended the event, which included Academy members and guests.
The second ceremony included a number of changes from the first: most importantly, it was the first presentation for which the winners were not announced in advance, and the number of award categories was reduced from twelve to seven. It is unique in that there were never any official nominees; instead, AMPAS conducted further research and came up with a list of unofficial or de facto nominees using records of the films that the judges had given their opinions on. Chester Morris was the first nominee for Best Actor born in the 20th century.
Mary Pickford, a founding member of AMPAS and married to its first president, lobbied to be considered for the Best Actress award, inviting the judges over for tea at her home, while other actresses being considered for the same award were not made aware of their status.
Jeanne Eagels became the first and, to date, only actress to be posthumously nominated for Best Actress, for The Letter. The Divine Lady became the last film to win Best Director without receiving a Best Picture nomination.
This is the only year in which no film won more than one Oscar. The Broadway Melody became the second of seven films to win Best Picture without a writing nomination, and the first of three to win Best Picture and nothing else.
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Winners and nominees

Awards

Nominees were announced on October 31, 1929. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Multiple nominations and awards

In Old Arizona and The Patriot, with five nominations each, tied the record for the film receiving the most Academy Award nominations. This record was set by 7th Heaven at the 1st Academy Awards. One year later, at the 3rd Academy Awards, the record was broken by The Love Parade, which garnered six nominations. The record for the film receiving the most Academy Award nominations with sixteen nominations is held by Sinners. The previous record of fourteen nominations was held by All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land.
The following 9 films received multiple nominations:
NominationsFilm
5In Old Arizona
5The Patriot
3Alibi
3The Broadway Melody
3The Divine Lady
2Madame X
2Our Dancing Daughters
2Street Angel
2The Valiant

Changes to Academy Awards

Beginning with the 2nd Academy Awards, the following changes were made by AMPAS.
  • Award categories were reduced from twelve to seven:
  • * The awards for Best Director and Best Director were merged into a single Best Director award.
  • * The awards for Best Writing and Best Writing were merged into a single Best Writing award.
  • * The awards for Best Engineering Effects, Best Unique and Artistic Production, and Best Writing were discontinued.