Oh, the glory of the Oscars! The pageantry, the talent, the emotion, the drama, the entertainment. What is a good Oscar show without some interpretive dance or a dreary "In Memoriam" montage thrown in to the mix? You can still have a great Oscar show without having to resort to Savion Glover tap dancing to the work of Jerry Goldsmith. The main attraction to any Oscar telecast is of course the acceptance speeches. The main reason we watch the Oscars (the Super Bowl of the cinephile) is to see who won, and what they say when given 45 seconds at the podium in front of billions watching. Some go up and prepare a brilliant and eloquently worded speech that pulls at the heartstrings, others are taken by surprise and just give a nervous, non-sensible tirade before the orchestra plays them off. Sometimes the Oscar podium becomes a way for a newly minted Oscar winner to spout off their political beliefs, but whatever the case may be the speeches are what make the Oscars quite profound from all the other awards shows. With the 85th Academy Awards, and a new breadth of speeches waiting in the wings mere hours away, we take a look at some of the awards show's most famous and most infamous speeches of all time.
10. Joe Pesci - Best Supporting Actor (Goodfellas)
Joe Pesci is a man of few words. He has always lived a very private life and has never been among the jet set in Hollywood. When he nabbed the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1991 for his sizzling work in Scorsese's Goodfellas, Pesci, the actor who exploded off the screen to the podium, summed up his speech in 3 quick seconds. Pesci, looking quite overwhelmed either by the honor, or Tom & Nicole staring at him from the front row, bowed his head took a breath and simply uttered: "Its my privilege, thank you." Pesci's speech is one of the shortest in Oscar history, second only to William Holden who's simple two word "Thank you." in 1954 tops that list. With the expectations that an actor would go up and gush and sway with emotion while receiving their Oscar, Pesci put the crowd, the audience and the Oscar producers on their ear with his concise and direct words.