10 Oscar Tearjerkers

Continuing our focus on the Academy Awards we’re counting down the 10 Oscars Tearjerkers. These moments will give Gwyneth Paltrow a run for her money.

10. Remembering Egon.

The Moment: Whilst presenting an award at the 86^th Academy Awards Bill Murray breaks off from the teleprompter after reading out the nominees to include his friend Harold Ramis, nominated for Caddyshack, Groundhog Day and Ghostbusters who died less than a week earlier.

9. You’re my Best Friend

The Moment: If you had to pick someone to win an Oscar with then who better than your childhood best friend? That’s exactly what happened to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck at the 70^th Academy Awards where they won Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting. Even better was the moment they took to the stage giggling like teenagers.

8. Man of Steel

The Moment: Christopher Reeve tearfully appears on stage a year after his tragic horse riding accident which left him paralysed, receiving a standing ovation from the audience.

7. Spielberg Scoops

The Moment: after years of being overlooked by the Academy, Steven Spielberg finally bags his award for Best Director for Schindler’s List. It was the moment Spielberg couldn’t be ignored by the Academy anymore and you can see the emotion and joy etched all over his face when he gives his speech.

6. Heartfelt Hanks

The Moment: Tom Hanks gives a tearjerker of an acceptance speech when he won Best Actor for Philadelphia at the 66^th Academy Awards honouring the gay men who have inspired him throughout his career and his touching on the themes of tacking AIDS. Accidentally outing his former teacher though might not have been planned.

5. John Wayne’s Promise

The Moment: A cancer stricken John Wayne appears on stage to present Best Film at the 51^st Academy Awards, receiving a rousing reception from the crowd. An emotional moment for all, lead to a genuinely heart-breaking response from Wayne promising to ‘stick around a little longer.’ He died two months later.

4. The Joker’s Legacy

The Moment: Heath Ledger receives a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his brutally menacing portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight at the 81^st Academy Awards. Unable to accept the award, Ledger’s family take to the stage to give the star a fitting send off.

3. Justice for Scorcese

The Moment: Marty finally bags Best Director after being overlooked for so long! It makes the years Spielberg waited feel like only a heart-beat. He finally bagged one at the 79^th Academy Awards. This moment was made all the more special by the fact the award was presented by three of Scorcese’s closest mates in Spielberg, George Lucas and Francin Ford Coppola.

2. Don’t You Forget About Me

The Moment: Branching out from the usual ‘In Memoriam’ moments, the 82^nd Academy Award included an emotional tribute to the late director John Hughes who died the previous year aged just 59. The audience wept buckets at this tribute hosted by a collection of stars who worked with Hughes including Matthew Broderick, Macauley Culkin and Molly Ringwald.

1. Triumphant Chaplin 

The Moment: Charlie Chaplin receives an Honorary Oscar at the 44^th Academy Awards after being in ‘self-imposed exile’ in Switzerland for 20 years. He received the longest ever standing ovation from the crowd (a whopping twelve minutes!) leaving Chaplin (and the viewers at home, or YouTube) in floods of tears.