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Did you know?

By Lydia Kulbida
January 27, 2012

Entertainment Weekly has some fascinating tidbits about this year's Academy Award nominees. (The Oscars will air on NEWS10 ABC at 7pm on Sunday, February 26^th.) A lot has been written about "The Artist" being the first silent film nominated for Best Picture since the first statue was awarded to "Wings" in 1929, but did you know:

Including this year's nod for The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep has been nominated a record 17 times over the course of her career, and has won two statues. The actress, however, hasn't won in 29 years, bagging her last Oscar in 1983 for Sophie's Choice. Glenn Close, up for Albert Nobbs this year, has been nominated six times and has picked up zero statues. Will either find luck this year? History says the odds aren't in their favor: The two actresses have competed against each other in the Best Actress category twice before (in 1988 and 1989) — and both have walked home empty-handed.

USA Today also has some fun trivia, including a writer going for a three-peat:

Aaron Sorkin, co-writer of Moneyball, is nominated for best adapted screenplay — the same category he won in 2011 with The Social Network. A victory this year would make him the third screenwriter to pull off this back-to-back feat, following Joseph Mankiewicz (A Letter to Three Wives in 1950 and All About Eve in 1951) and Robert Bolt (Doctor Zhivago in 1966 and A Man for All Seasons in 1967).

And while not pertinent to this year's nominees, the Useful Trivia website can help you beat your friends at Trivial Pursuit by practicing with questions like this:

Who hosted or co-hosted the Academy Awards 18 times during his career?

A: Billy Crystal

B: Bob Hope

C: Johnny Carson

D: Chris Rock