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2nd Academy Awards

FieldValue
imageMary Pickford Best Actress Coquette April 1930.jpg
captionPresenter William C. deMille (holding statuette) with Oscar winners Hanns Kräly, Mary Pickford, and Warner Baxter (left to right).
number2
awardAcademy Awards
dateApril 3, 1930
siteAmbassador Hotel,
Los Angeles, California
hostWilliam C. deMille
best_picture*The Broadway Melody*
most_winsSeven films each received one award.
most_nominations*In Old Arizona* and *The Patriot* (5)
last1st
next3rd

Los Angeles, California

The 2nd Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on April 3, 1930, at an awards banquet in the Cocoanut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, honored the best films released between August 1, 1928, and July 31, 1929. This was the first Academy Awards ceremony broadcast on radio, by local station KNX, Los Angeles. Over 300 attended the event, which included Academy members and guests.

The second ceremony included a number of changes from the first: most importantly, it was the first presentation for which the winners were not announced in advance, and the number of award categories was reduced from twelve to seven. It is unique in that there were never any official nominees; instead, AMPAS conducted further research and came up with a list of unofficial or de facto nominees using records of the films that the judges had given their opinions on. Chester Morris was the first nominee for Best Actor born in the 20th century.

Mary Pickford, a founding member of AMPAS and married to its first president, lobbied to be considered for the Best Actress award, inviting the judges over for tea at her home, while other actresses being considered for the same award were not made aware of their status.

Jeanne Eagels became the first and, to date, only actress to be posthumously nominated for Best Actress, for The Letter. The Divine Lady became the last film to win Best Director without receiving a Best Picture nomination.

This is the only year in which no film won more than one Oscar. The Broadway Melody became the second of seven films to win Best Picture without a writing nomination (preceded by Wings, and followed by Grand Hotel, Cavalcade, Hamlet, The Sound of Music, and Titanic), and the first of three to win Best Picture and nothing else (followed by Grand Hotel and Mutiny on the Bounty).

Winners and nominees

Awards

Nominees were announced on October 31, 1929. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Multiple nominations and awards

In Old Arizona and The Patriot, with five nominations each, tied the record for the film receiving the most Academy Award nominations. This record was set by 7th Heaven at the 1st Academy Awards (19271928). One year later, at the 3rd Academy Awards (19291930), the record was broken by The Love Parade, which garnered six nominations. The record for the film receiving the most Academy Award nominations with sixteen nominations is held by Sinners (2025). The previous record of fourteen nominations was held by All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997), and La La Land (2016).

The following 9 films received multiple nominations:

NominationsFilm
5*In Old Arizona*
*The Patriot*
3*Alibi*
*The Broadway Melody*
*The Divine Lady*
2*Madame X*
*Our Dancing Daughters*
*Street Angel*
*The Valiant*

Changes to Academy Awards

Beginning with the 2nd Academy Awards (19281929), the following changes were made by AMPAS.

  • Award categories were reduced from twelve to seven:
    • The awards for Best Director (Comedy Picture) and Best Director (Dramatic Picture) were merged into a single Best Director award.
    • The awards for Best Writing (Adaptation) and Best Writing (Original Story) were merged into a single Best Writing award (these would be split again for the 4th Awards).
    • The awards for Best Engineering Effects, Best Unique and Artistic Production, and Best Writing (Title Writing) were discontinued.

References

;Notes

;Citations

References

  1. (April 4, 1930). "Academy Awards Acting Honors to Mary Pickford as 'Coquette' and Warner Baxter in 'Old Arizona'". The Los Angeles Times.
  2. Dunning, John. (1998). "On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio". Oxford University Press.
  3. (April 3, 1930). "Academy Making Awards Tonight". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News.
  4. Whitfield, Eileen. (1997). "Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood". University Press of Kentucky.
  5. White, Michael. (April 28, 1972). "The Actress and the Four-Letter Cliche". [[The Guardian]].
  6. O'Connor, Clint. (July 13, 2008). "James Dean, Spencer Tracy among posthumous Oscar nods". [[The Plain Dealer]].
  7. "The 2nd Academy Awards (1930) Nominees and Winners". [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]].
  8. Rottenberg, Josh. (January 22, 2026). "‘Sinners’ sweeps Oscar nominations, breaking record with 16". The Los Angeles Times.
  9. "The 2nd Academy Awards (1930) Nominees and Winners". [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]].
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