"They said what?!"...The Oscars in quotes

24 February 2017

On Sunday the cream of Hollywood will assemble in Los Angeles for the 89th Academy Awards. Memorable moments are a staple of the annual back-slap-a-thon. BBC Arts picks 17 of the best quotes from years gone by - from the cheeky to the downright near the knuckle.

“They said you can't just ask women what dress they're wearing. They ask the men more because men always wear the same thing. If George Clooney showed up with a lime green tux on and a swan coming out of his ass, people would say: 'What are you wearing?'”

- Chris Rock, host, 2016

“Tonight we celebrate Hollywood’s best and whitest, sorry… brightest.”

- Neil Patrick Harris, host, 2015

“Possibility No1: 12 Years a Slave wins best picture. Possibility No2: You’re all racists. And now, welcome our first white presenter, Anne Hathaway.”

- Ellen DeGeneres, host, 2014

“I like animation because you can play anything. If you're a white man, you can play an Arabian prince. And if you're a black man you can play a donkey or a zebra.”

- Chris Rock, presenting the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, 2012

“When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no. Come on... Her, again?' You know. But, whatever.”

- Meryl Streep, Best Actress, The Iron Lady, 2012

“So tonight, enjoy yourselves because nothing can take the sting out of the world's economic problems like watching millionaires present each other with golden statues.”

- Billy Crystal, host, 2012

“Roxy Sorkin, your father just won the Academy Award. I'm going to have to insist on some respect from your guinea pig.”

- Aaron Sorkin addresses his daughter after winning Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network, 2011

“Naturally, some things have changed. Security here tonight is tighter than some of the faces.”

- Whoopi Goldberg, host, 2002

“Hosting the Oscars is much like making love to a woman. It's something I only get to do when Billy Crystal is out of town.”

- Steve Martin, host, 2001

“This is a terrible mistake, because I used up all of my English.”

- Roberto Benigni, after winning his second Oscar of the night, Best Actor, for Life is Beautiful, 1999

“My friend James Cameron and I made three films together - True Lies, The Terminator and Terminator 2. Of course, that was during his early, low-budget, art-house period.”

- Arnold Schwarzenegger, introducing Titanic as Best Picture nominee, 1998

“Most of all, I want to thank my father, up there, the man who when I said I wanted to be an actor, he said, 'Wonderful. Just have a back-up profession like welding’.”

- Robin Williams, Best Supporting Actor, Good Will Hunting, 1998

“Oh, wow. This is the best drink of water after the longest drought of my life.”

- Steven Spielberg, Best Picture, Schindler’s List, 1994

“When you're lying drunk at the airport you're Irish. When you win an Oscar you're British.”

- Brenda Fricker, Best Supporting Actress, My Left Foot, 1989

“I haven't had an orthodox career and I wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it and I can't deny the fact that you like me — right now, you like me!”

- Sally Field, Best Actress, Places in the Heart, 1984

“Welcome to the 51st Academy Awards — two hours of sparkling entertainment spread over a four-hour show.”

- Johnny Carson, host, 1979

“For the first time, you can actually see the losers turn green.”

- Bob Hope, host, 1966 - the first ceremony to be televised in colour

A version of this article was originally published in February 2016.