The 2022 Academy Awards saw a return to their usual modern home of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre – but that’s far from the only place the Oscars have been held. Over the event’s 94-year history, some of America’s most famous theaters and hotels have hosted the ultimate movie ceremony. The event began in 1929 at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood – ironically just over the street from the current venue. From 1930 to 1943, six Oscars ceremonies were held at the Ambassador Hotel across town. Another glamorous hotel, The Biltmore, staged eight ceremonies from 1931 to 1942. The 1944 ceremony was the first time the Oscars were held in a movie theater and the venue that year was Grauman’s Chinese Theater, which also hosted in 1945 and 1946. The Shrine Auditorium took over in 1947 and 1948 and that downtown Los Angeles venue would end up hosting many times decades later. The Marquis Theater got its one and only turn in 1949. Then in 1950 the Oscars kicked off an 11-year run at The Pantages Theater. In 1953 came the first bi-coastal ceremony with the event split between the Pantages in Hollywood and the NBC International Theater in New York. From 1954 to 1957 the New York portion came from the NBC Century Theater. Los Angeles alone has staged every ceremony since and the honor fell to the Santa Monica Civic from 1961 to 1968. Then an even more regular home was found as the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion hosted every year from 1969 to 1987 and then it alternated with the Shrine Auditorium from 1988-2001. The Dolby Theatre, previously known as The Kodak, was specially built with the Oscars in mind and has served as permanent home every year since 2001, with the exception of Covid year, 2021, when Union Station was used as the venue.
