Oscar Night: 75 Years of Hollywood Parties

by David Friend, Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair

From the first Academy Awards black-tie dinner dance in 1929 to the glittering Vanity Fair gala in 2004, from the 1940s gatherings at the most fashionable nightspots in Los Angeles–Ciro’s, Mocambo, Romanoff’s, Chasen’s–to the star-studded parties thrown by legendary agent Swifty Lazar from the 1960s to the 1990s, here is a photo history of all those events, presented by Graydon Carter and David Friend. More than five hundred archival and personal black-and-white and color photographs–many never seen before–have been collected in Oscar Night . There is an afterword by Dominick Dunne and a look at every detail, from menus to matchbooks to seating charts.

You’ll see intimate and unposed photographs of such classic icons as Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, Gloria Swanson, David O. Selznick, and Alfred Hitchcock, among many others, at the formal dinners of the 1930s through the 1950s. Here also are amazing photographs of another generation of icons at the exclusive Governors Jack Nicholson, John Travolta, and John Belushi, Dennis Hopper with Michelle Phillips, and a very young Ali MacGraw dancing with Robert Evans. And here is a mix of New York and Hollywood at Swifty’s parties, with pictures of Bianca Jagger, Sam Shepard, Michael Caine, David Geffen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Ahmet Erteguns. Here, too, is the Hollywood that gathers today at the Vanity Fair Oscar Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, Oprah Winfrey, Nicole Kidman, Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, Sofia Coppola, Sigourney Weaver, Fran Lebowitz, Sean Combs, and Renée Zellweger.

Irresistibly sumptuous–and juicy– Oscar Night is a book full of elegance and egos, of glamorous pictures that you will want to look at again and again.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2004

About the author

David Friend is an editor, author, and award-winning documentary producer with a career spanning journalism, photography, and film. Since 1998, he has been the editor of creative development at Vanity Fair, following his tenure as Life magazine’s director of photography. His work has shaped major journalistic projects, including the 2005 Vanity Fair story that revealed FBI insider Mark Felt as “Deep Throat,” the confidential Watergate source. He also played a key role in expanding Vanity Fair into books, e-books, television, and digital media, launching VanityFair.com.
As an author, Friend has explored cultural and historical themes in books such as Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11 (2006), The Naughty Nineties (2017), and two volumes on human existence, The Meaning of Life and More Reflections on the Meaning of Life. In the realm of documentary film, he is an Emmy- and Peabody-winning producer, with projects including Lakota Nation vs. United States (2023), MLK/FBI (2021), and the widely broadcast CBS prime-time special 9/11.
Beyond journalism and film, Friend has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and the Middle East, coedited 13 Vanity Fair books, and curated photography exhibitions on three continents. His poetry has been published in The New Yorker, further highlighting the breadth of his creative work.

Reviews

[Holly Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A coffee table book! Being a book lover I love to collect beautiful coffee table books to display in my home. People just can't resist grabbing them and flipping through, looking at all the pictures and commenting.

Anyone in Hollywood will tell you that the Vanity Fair Oscar Party is the place to see and be seen. The invitations are highly coveted. After all, the biggest stars in Hollywood are all over this party!

This book shows the last 75 years of the party in pictures. The photos are supplemented with cute stories about the people in the photos.

Anyone who enjoys fashion would love this book. The photos are extremely high quality, and it is amazing to see stars of years past in such clear detail. The way the fashion alone evolves is worth a look at this book.

Get a couple coffee table books for yourself. I promise you that you and your guests will gain hours of entertainment from them.

[Amy Grossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had some AMAZING photographs - it's a book with nothing but pictures from Oscar nights from the begining of the 20th century til today. I absolutely enjoyed seeing all the old classic stars that have long since passed away. It shows them in all their glory - not posing for a camera, but in a relaxed setting (if you could call the Oscar parties that!). I loved it until it got to modern day actors. Not my cup of tea!

[Mr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This caught my eye at the library ... Some raw photos of celebs at before and after parties on Oscar night and great commentary, covering 1927-turn of the century. Very interesting coffee table book perfect for any Oscar Night fan. I enjoyed it.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic "coffee table" style book of Oscar photographs from the very first one in the 20's. Includes hosting hotel details, menus, seating charts, etc. I did find the earlier star photographs to be more glamourous - sorry Jack Nicholson, but Cary Grant circa 1934 and 1956 shines brighter for me.

[Evil Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? I worked on it.