CelebrityoscarsZsa Zsa Gaboroscars red carpet

Oscars' First Telecast: 60 Years Later, A Look At TV's Inaugural Academy Awards (PHOTOS)

What Did The First Televised Academy Awards Look Like?
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By 

Senior Entertainment Reporter, HuffPost

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Sixty years ago, in 1953, the red carpet was unfolded, the envelopes were opened under the gleam of the Hollywood spotlight and a legacy was born that only continues to become more glamorous. It was the first televised version of the Academy Awards.

As one might imagine, things were a bit different back then. Despite being the first telecast, it was the 25th time the Academy handed out its little gold men. Whereas today's ceremony is held exclusively in Hollywood, the 25th annual Academy Awards were conducted simultaneously at Hollywood's RKO Pantages Theatre and at New York City's now-nonexistent NBC International Theatre.

Cecil B. DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth" swept Best Picture out from under the heavily favored "High Noon," which managed to collect Best Actor for Gary Cooper. Shirley Booth nabbed Best Actress for her performance in "Come Back, Little Sheba." The night's other big winner was "The Bad and the Beautiful," which took home five Oscars. Bob Hope hosted Hollywood's event, while Conrad Nagel presented the awards in New York.

And, of course, we owe a debt to these early Academy Award ceremonies that set the tone for the red carpet becoming the must-see event it is. With this anniversary, we celebrate those who first established what a televised Oscar event should look like. Here's a peek back at the 25th annual Academy Awards.

Oscars' First Telecast
Zsa Zsa Gabor(01 of12)
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Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor and husband/actor George Sanders arrive at the 25th annual Academy Awards' New York ceremony held at the NBC International Theatre in New York City on March 19, 1953. (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) (credit:NBC / Getty Images)
Elizabeth Taylor(02 of12)
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Actress Elizabeth Taylor signs an autograph for a little girl on her way into the Academy Awards at the RKO Pantages Theatre. (Photo by Loomis Dean//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images) (credit:Loomis Dean / Time Life Pictures / Getty Images)
John Wayne(03 of12)
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Non-winning actor John Wayne holds two Oscars down at his side for absent Best Actor winner Gary Cooper, who won for the movie "High Noon," and Best Director winner John Ford, who won for "The Quiet Man," backstage at the 25th annual Academy Awards at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. (Photo by Loomis Dean//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images) (credit:Loomis Dean / Time Life Pictures / Getty Images)
Shirley Booth(04 of12)
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Shirley Booth, Best Actress winner for "Come Back, Little Sheba," talks to the press. (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) (credit:NBC / Getty Images)
Terry Moore and Bob Wagner(05 of12)
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Actress Terry Moore is escorted by actor Bob Wagner at the 1953 Academy Awards presentation on March 19, 1953. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
Danny Thomas(06 of12)
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Actor/comedian Danny Thomas arrives at the 25th annual Academy Awards New York ceremony held at the NBC International Theatre in New York City.(NBC / Getty Images) (credit:NBC / Getty Images)
Exterior(07 of12)
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This shot shows the outside of the Academy Awards' New York ceremony held at the NBC International Theatre in New York City on March 19, 1953. (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) (credit:NBC / Getty Images)
Rosemary Clooney and Jose Ferrer(08 of12)
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Rosemary Clooney and Jose Ferrer arrive at the International Theater in New York for the first telecast of the Academy Award ceremonies. Clooney and Ferrer got married later that year, on June 1, 1953, for the first time. They had five children before divorcing in 1961. They remarried in 1964 and divorced again in 1967.(AP Photo) (credit:AP)
Boris Karloff(09 of12)
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Actor Boris Karloff and his wife Evelyn Hope Helmore arrive at the International Theater for the annual Academy Awards presentation. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
Walt Disney(10 of12)
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Walt Disney (center) receives the Academy Award for Best Two-Reel Short Subjects for the short documentary film "Water Birds." The award was presented by Jane Wyman, left, and Ray Milland, right, in Hollywood. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
Various(11 of12)
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Mary Pickford, Cecille B. DeMille, Gloria Swanson, Bob Hope and Charles Brackett, president of the Academy, stand backstage at the presentation. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
Cecil B. DeMille(12 of12)
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Cecil B. DeMille poses in Los Angeles. He holds his Oscar for Best Picture, for "The Greatest Show on Earth," and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for consistently high production achievement. The 1953 Academy Awards were the first televised awards ceremony. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)

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