Jack Oakie

The Jack Oakie Lecture was established in 1981 to honor achievement in the writing, directing and performing of motion picture comedy. Writer Larry Gelbart spoke at the inaugural presentation on November 12 (the anniversary of Oakie's birth) with Hal Kanter as host and Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Lynn Redgrave participating in the program. The lecture was named in honor of Jack Oakie, who then-Executive Director James M. Roberts called "a master of comic timing and a beloved figure in the industry."

Jack Oakie came to Hollywood in 1927. His career by that time already included vaudeville, Broadway musicals and appearances in New York films. In Hollywood, he made 87 pictures, most of them comedies or musical comedies, over which period he perfected his trademark comic triple-take. His career included such films as "Once in a Lifetime," "Million Dollar Legs" and "It Happened Tomorrow." Oakie received an Academy Award nomination in the supporting role category for his satirical portrait of a Mussolini-like head of state in 1940's "The Great Dictator." The Oakie Lectures have been funded by grants to the Academy Foundation from Oakie's widow, actress Victoria Horne. Oakie died in 1978.

The Jack Oakie Lectures:

Larry Gelbart, 1981
Gene Wilder, 1982
Jerry Lewis, 1984
Paul Mazursky, 1986
Harry Shearer, 1989
Leonard Maltin, 1992
Harold Ramis, 1994
Jim Abrahams, 1997
Hal Kanter, 1998
Stephen Silverman, 1999
Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz, 2003
Homage to Max Linder, 2005
Judd Apatow, James L. Brooks and Larry Gelbart, 2008