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1942 -

'Citizen Kane' was the favorite to win the Oscar for Best Picture. But instead the award went to 'How Green Was My Valley.'

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1953 -

'High Noon', directed by Fred Zinnemann, was tipped to win for Best Picture. But it was the aptly named 'The Greatest Show on Earth', starring Charlton Heston and Betty Hutton, which won the Oscar.

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1955 -

Judy Garland had an incredible career and was expected to win the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in 'A Star Is Born.' However, Grace Kelly surprised everyone with her win for her part in 'The Country Girl.'

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1973 -

Many expected Francis Ford Coppola to win the Oscar for Best Director for 'The Godfather.' But it was Bob Fosse who won the award for 'Cabaret.'

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1977 -

During the 1977 Oscars, a record was set by one actress. Beatrice Straight won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 'Network,' but she only appeared on screen for five minutes!

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1977 -

Either 'All the President's Men', which starred Robert Redford, or 'Network' were tipped to win the Oscar for Best Picture in 1977. But fans were surprised when 'Rocky,' starring Sylvester Stallone, was announced as the winner.

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1991 -

It was expected that Martin Scorsese would win the Oscar for Best Director for his movie 'Goodfellas.' But in fact Kevin Costner won it for 'Dances with Wolves.'

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1993 -

Marisa Tomei could easily have won the Oscar for Best Actress for several starring roles she's played over her career. But no one expected that the movie she won the award for would have been 'My Cousin Vinny.'

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1994 -

It's extremely rare for a child actor to win an Oscar, but it happened to Anna Paquin when she won the award for Best Supporting Actress for 'The Piano.' Curiosly, Paquin was competing against her co-star from 'The Piano', Holly Hunter, who also won the Oscar for Best Actress.'

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1995 -

'Pulp Fiction' and 'The Shawshank Redemption' were tipped to win the Oscar for Best Picture. But the award went to 'Forrest Gump' instead.

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1997 -

Lauren Bacall was the favorite to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in 'The Mirror Has Two Faces.' But it was French actress Juliette Binoche who took the award home, for her acting in 'The English Patient.'

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1999 -

''Saving Private Ryan', directed Steven Spielberg, was the sure choice to win the Oscar for Best Picture. But in the end it was 'Shakespeare in Love' which took home the award.

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1999 -

'Edward Norton, Nick Nolte and Tom Hanks were all contenders for the Oscar for Best Actor in 1999. But the award went to Roberto Benigni for his role in 'Life Is Beautiful.'

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2001 -

2001 was a year in which several big names were expected to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Among the actresses in the running were Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, and Frances McDormand. But to everyone's surprise Marcia Gay Harden took home the Oscar. The actress won for her role in 'Pollock.'

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2003 -

In the running for Best Actor in 2003 were big Hollywood names Tom Hanks and Daniel Day-Lewis.

However, it was the lesser known Adrien Brody who won the Oscar in the end, for his role in 'The Pianist.'

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2006 -

'Brokeback Mountain', starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal was the favorite for the Oscar for Best Picture in 2006. But the prize ultimately went to 'Crash,' directed by Paul Haggis.

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2006 -

IMovie watchers all over were surprised when Three 6 Mafia won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Their track was featured in 'Hustle & Flow', which starred Terrence Howard.

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2010 -

Armando Iannucci, for 'In the Loop,' and Jason Reitman, for 'Up in the Air,' were favorites to win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. But it was Geoffrey Fletcher who ended up winning for the movie 'Precious.'

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2011 -

The Oscar for Best Picture was destined for either '127 Hours,' 'The Social Network,' or 'The Fighter.' So many were shocked when the award went to 'The King's Speech', starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

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2017 -

'La La Land' had stunned critics and was tipped to win the Oscar for Best Picture. But after a mistaken announcement that 'La La Land' was the winner, the true winner of the night was revealed: 'Moonlight.' The surprise was universal.

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2019 -

In the run-up to her seventh Academy Award nomination in 2019, Glenn Close won the Best Actress Golden Globe, SAG, and Critics' Choice Award for her leading role in ‘The Wife.’ So it came as a shock to everyone, including Olivia Colman herself, when she scooped the award for ‘The Favorite’ instead, and went on to give a very stunned speech.

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2020 -

Despite international films previously receiving nominations, a non-English language film had never actually won Best Picture at the Oscars before 2020. So it came as a great surprise when the South Korean thriller ‘Parasite’ made history and took home the biggest accolade of the night.

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2022 -

One of the biggest shocks in Oscars history occurred in 2022 when Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, and her husband Will Smith was so offended that he got on stage and slapped the host. And then Smith went on to win the Best Actor Oscar for his leading role in ‘King Richard.’ A confused audience clapped during his acceptance speech, after which he was banned from the ceremony for 10 years.

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