Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
The Roosevelt only played host to one Academy Awards: the very first one, in 1929.
Ambassador Hotel
The Ambassador is best known as the place where Robert Kennedy was shot, but it was the site of six Oscar shows between 1930 and 1943.
Biltmore Hotel
The Biltmore in downtown Los Angeles was the setting for eight ceremonies between 1931 and 1942.
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre
The Chinese took over for a more subdued Oscars during World War II, handling three shows beginning in 1944.
Shrine Auditorium
The biggest of the Oscar venues, at 6,000 seats, the Shrine was the site of two shows in the ’40s and then eight more between 1988 and 2001; it’s where David Letterman bombed.
Academy Awards Theater
When the studios withdrew their financial support, the Oscars had to downsize to the 985-seat theater in its Melrose Ave. headquarters for one year, 1949.
Pantages Theatre
Back in the money, the Oscars moved to Hollywood’s spacious Pantages for the entire decade of the ’50s.
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
From 1961 to 1968, the Academy went to the beach, and to the 3,000-seat Santa Monica Civic.
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Much fancier digs beckoned in 1968 when the Oscars went back downtown to the newly constructed Chandler, home to the L.A. Philharmonic and site of 19 consecutive shows, and 25 in all.
Kodak/Dolby Theatre
In 2002, the Oscars moved into a venue built just for them: the Kodak Theatre, which has since been renamed the Dolby.
