Oscars trivia: Who was the first winner no-show?

Feb. 21, 2011 5:30 PM PT

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Test your Oscar trivia knowledge: Who was the first no-show winner at the Academy Awards?

Click on the extended entry for the answer.

Emil Jannings, who won best actor for ‘The Last Command’ and ‘The Way of All Flesh’ at the very first Oscar ceremony on May 16, 1929. In the first year of the Oscars, the awards covered 1927-28 and actors were awarded for performances within those years. Before the ceremony, Jannings had returned home to Berlin and never returned to America. He was presented with his Oscar before he left.

--Susan King

Awards Tracker

Susan King

Susan King is a former entertainment writer at the Los Angeles Times who specialized in Classic Hollywood stories. She also wrote about independent, foreign and studio movies and occasionally TV and theater stories. Born in East Orange, N.J., she received her master’s degree in film history and criticism at USC. She worked for 10 years at the L.A. Herald Examiner and came to work at The Times in January 1990. She left in 2016.

Oscars trivia: Who was the first winner no-show?

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