Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: April 14, 1969
PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The 41st Academy Awards
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: First of all, yes, you’re reading that correctly. The Academy Awards for 1968 were not held until April 14th of 1969. They weren’t postponed for any reason. That’s just how late the Oscars used to be held: more than a quarter of the way into the next year. No wonder the studios got in the habit of releasing all the Oscar movies in December; how else could you remember them?
Anyway, after you take a moment to be thankful that Oscar season only stretches into February now, stop to consider what a mind-blower the Best Actress tie at the ’68 Oscars must have been. It was only the second time there was a tie in a major Oscar category (the first was Best Actor in 1931/32), and it hasn’t happened since. Not only that, but the two actresses who tied ended up being Katharine Hepburn, nearly universally acknowledged as the finest actress of her time, and Barbra Streisand, an entertainment phenomenon whose career was just getting started.
But truly, the reason why the 1968 Best Actress tie is such a great moment for TV history comes down to Ingrid Bergman as the presenter. Bergman was no slouch in the Oscars department herself; she’d already won two Oscars by the time this ceremony took place, and she’d win a third before her career was over. She’s no-fuss as she hits the podium to read the nominees: Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter, Patricia Neal in The Subject Was Roses, Vanessa Redgrave in Isadora, Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, and Joanne Woodward in Rachel, Rachel. It’s an incredibly accomplished quintet of actresses. Hepburn, Neal, and Woodward were all Oscar winners by this point, and Redgrave would go on to win in 1977 (who could forget the infamous “Zionist hoodlums” speech).
When it comes time to open the envelope, Bergman pauses and her speech slows. “The … winner … it’s a tie!” And then she puts a hand up to her delighted face, which is basically exactly what I would do in that very situation, were I a two-time Oscar winner announcing the first major-category tie in three decades. She’s just so tickled! One of the things I love about the Oscars is that the nominees all desperately want to win, but there is also a genuine camaraderie among them. A tie is the purest way of bringing that emotion out. When Bergman won her third Oscar in 1974, she famously apologized to co-nominee Valentine Cortese for defeating her, a sentiment that seemed neither forced nor condescending. Maybe that was Bergman’s gift. One of them, anyway. She managed to both fully invest in the Oscar myth while also advocating a broader, kinder appreciation.
The only downside to this incredible moment in Oscar history was that Hepburn, true to her form, was not there to accept. Streisand’s speech, beginning with a “Hello, gorgeous” directed at the statue (the “It came true” of its time), was lovely and memorable. But truly, it was Ingrid Bergman who stole the show.
