Here's an idea for an Oscar-show musical number: All 3,000 people in the Dolby Theatre singing "Happy Birthday" to Best Actress nominee Emmanuelle Riva.
The French actress, who burst onto the scene with "Hiroshima Mon Amour" in 1959, has just received her first Oscar nomination for "Amour," 54 years after her debut. And Riva has extra reason to celebrate, because the 85th Academy Awards falls on her 86th birthday.
Riva was born on February 24, 1927, a month after Louis B. Mayer founded the Academy and two years before Oscars were first handed out. Her nomination at the age of 85 years and 321 days makes her the oldest Best Actress nominee ever, and a win on her birthday would beat Jessica Tandy's record as the oldest winner by about five-and-a-half years.
Also read: Oscar Nominations: The Complete List
But Riva isn't the only record-setter this awards season. A few weeks ago, TheWrap wrote about possible records that could be set by acting nominees or winners at this year's Oscars, and some of those have come to pass:
Quvenzhane Wallis, from "Beasts of the Southern Wild," is the youngest Best Actress nominee ever. She's nine now, and was only six when she made the film.
Denzel Washington is now the most-nominated African-American actor ever, with his sixth nomination (for "Flight") breaking the tie he held with Morgan Freeman,
Jennifer Lawrence's nomination for "Silver Linings Playbook" makes her the youngest person to be nominated for Best Actress twice, and the second-youngest to be nominated for two acting awards of any kind. (Sal Mineo beat her to his second nomination by a few months.)
And you can't put this one in the bank just yet, but Daniel Day-Lewis will become the first three-time Best Actor winner if he wins for "Lincoln." And really, who among us doesn't think that he will?