Golden Globe history and trivia

Golden Globe history and trivia

During World War II, a group of eight foreign journalists living in Los Angeles formed an organization which came to be known as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. It has since grown in numbers and prestige.

The History of the Golden Globes

In 1944, the HFPA presented scrolls of achievement in six motion picture categories: Best Picture (Song of Bernadette); Best Director (Henry King for Song of Bernadette); Best Actor (Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine); Best Actress (Jennifer Jones in Song of Bernadette); Best Supporting Actor (Akim Tamiroff in For Whom the Bell Tolls); and, Best Supporting Actress (Katina Paxinou in For Whom the Bell Tolls). None of the first winners were selected from a list of nominees.

As time passed, HFPA created the Award of Merit which is the familiar golden globe with a strip of film encircling it, added new categories, added nominations, and recognized achievements in television. Today, there are fourteen categories for movies, eleven for television, and one honorary Globe (Cecil B. DeMille Award). Unlike the Oscars, many of the categories are subdivided into “Drama” and “Comedy/Musical”. This year’s winners will be selected by ninety journalists who are based in the United States but work for foreign newspapers and journals.

Golden Globe Trivia

  • The HFPA has raised nearly eight million dollars for entertainment-related charities and scholarships.
  • The ninety some members of the HFPA represent magazines and newspapers in fifty-five countries with a total readership of 250 million.
  • The first awards in television were given in 1955. Shows honored were Dinah Shore, Lucy & Desi, The American Comedy, and Davy Crockett.
  • The first winner of the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1952 was the director himself. The second winner was Walt Disney. This year’s recipient is Steven Spielberg.
  • The first awards were given out by the journalists until 1958. That year Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis (the Rat Pack) spontaneously stormed the stage and took over the show. It went over so well that the HFPA invited them back as emcees the following year.