33 Most Bizarre Oscars Moments of All Time: J.Law Stumbled, Franco Snoozed, Halle Berry Assaulted

We remember the moment Jack Palance dropped to the stage and started doing one-armed pushups as much as we remember cringing as John Travolta fumbled Idina Menzel's name. Oscars have been synonymous with iconic moments for as long as they've been around, and with the advent of television we got to see more and more of those moments live in our living rooms.

Movie fans in 1959 got to watch Jerry Lewis host a dance party because the show went short -- which is impossible to imagine in this era of playoff music and awards shows that finish the next day. 15 years later, it was a naked man streaking across the stage during the show. The Oscars are live and unpredictable, and sometimes they're downright hilarious.

We've gathered below 33 of the most memorable Oscar events from the past 90 years that had us either laughing, crying, cringing or clapping.

Will Rogers announced the Best Director category at the 6th Annual Academy Awards. Unfortunately, he inadvertently created one of the ceremony's earliest awkward moments when he said, "I've watched this young man for a long time. Saw him come up from the bottom, and I mean the bottom. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Come up and get it, Frank!" Frank Capra started making his way up to the stage only to find out the winner was Frank Lloyd for "Cavalcade." He later described the slow walk back to his seat as "the longest, saddest, most shattering walk in my life." He did win the next year for "It Happened One Night."

It's probably a good thing Will Rogers didn't host again, as he did it again for Best Actress. There were three total nominees and he invited two of them up to the stage just to tell them they hadn't won and that Katherine Hepburn was the winner for "Morning Glory." A beloved comedian of his time, even the audience had a hard time getting on board this one as it just looked cruel to both May Robson and Diana Wynyard, who were thinking maybe they'd won in a tie.

Alice Brady had to miss the ceremony with a broken ankle, so when a man came up and accepted her Best Supporting Oscar for "Old Chicago" on her behalf, no one thought anything of it. The only problem was Brady hadn't sent him, and in fact, no one knew who he was. After stepping off the stage, the man and the Oscar disappeared, never to be seen again. Ultimately, the Academy had to send Brady a replacement statuette.

It's hard to imagine it today, but in 1959, the Oscars actually ran short by a staggering 20 minutes. With no programming readily available to drop in, host Jerry Lewis was tasked with vamping and filling all that extra time ... after the final awards had been handed out. We can only imagine what the audiences at home were thinking. It was over, what were they doing? Lewis chatted with the orchestra, did some of his schtick, teased the crowd and ultimately invited everyone on stage for an epic dance number until the credits finally rolled.

After five nominations and five losses throughout his career, Alfred Hitchcock finally won Oscar gold when he was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1967. After a rousing and lengthy speech introducing him and his works, Hitchcock took to the stage, leaned into the mic and said, "Thank you." While he did lean back in after the mic was shut off to try and add "very much indeed," his legacy in Oscars history was secured. Was he irritated at being snubbed for so long? Had nothing to say? We may never know, but we'll never forget.

The frontrunner for Best Actor for his work in "The Godfather," Marlon Brando did not attend the Oscars, sending Native American Sacheen Littlefeather. But rather than accept on his behalf, Littlefeather said, "He very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award. And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry." It was an unexpected and strong political statement that left everyone momentarily confused and baffled.

Streaking was having a bit of a cultural moment in the mid-1970s, so no one was really surprised or all that perturbed when professional provocateur Robert Opel managed to do it during the live Oscars ceremony, running across the stage behind co-host David Niven. Niven was about to introduce Elizabeth Taylor for the Best Picture presentation, but instead gave one of history's best impromptu clapbacks, saying, "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?"

Sylvester Stallone played a very convincing boxer in "Rocky," but he was still just a man acting. While presenting Best Supporting Actress, Muhammad Ali sneaked up behind him. Ali playfully accused Stallone of stealing his story for the film, and the two couldn't resist the urge to square off in sparring formation to lob a few jabs at one another before bringing it in for a hug.

When Debby Boone took to the stage to perform her Oscar-nominated song "You Light Up My Life," she was accompanied by eleven young girls from a nearby academy. As she sang, they performed accompanying sign language for the hearing impaired. It was a culturally sensitive moment, except that it totally wasn't. It turns out that the girls weren't deaf nor did they know sign language particularly well, and in fact weren't even signing the same things, so rather than honor the deaf in a forward-thinking manner, the Oscars just insulted them.

It became one of the most iconic moments in entertainment history, and then one of the most misquoted lines in history. After winning the Oscar for "Places in the Heart," Sally Field never said, "You like me, you really like me!" What she said was, "I can't deny the fact that you like me; right now, you like me." It was an off-the-cuff response from a panic-stricken star that became a part of our lexicon, even if she never actually said it.

Cher made it a two-fer with outrageous Oscars costuming, which was rather par for the course for the star through most of her career. While the Oscars usually demand a more demure dress style, Cher turned heads in 1986 with her "mohawk" design, and then upped the ante with a nearly-nude dress in '88, both by designer Bob Mackie, The second one may have proven more famous, as she took home the Oscar for her work in "Moonstruck," meaning she got to go up and give a speech in it.

For one shining year, the Oscars decided to go without a host, and after this opening number, they never did it again. Rob Lowe's ill-conceived song and dance number with a young unknown star portraying Snow White was so bad you can't even easily find video of it on the Internet. Oscar was sued by Disney for using their copyrighted character -- and probably because of how embarrassingly awful it was -- and Oscar actually apologized to them and the viewing audience for airing it at all.

Jack Palance was 73-years old when he won Oscar gold for his Supporting Actor role in "City Slickers." One of the film's most memorable sequences showed him doing one-armed push ups, so the actor decided to demonstrate that he could still do them ... right then and there. He dropped to the ground, and into Oscar history, with his demonstration, which was met with riotous laughter and applause.

Tom Hanks was on a tear in the early 1990s, winning back-to-back Oscars for his work in "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump." But it was during his speech for the former that he accidentally outed his high school drama teacher, calling him one of the "finest gay Americans...that I had the good fortune to be associated with." The snafu lead to the 1997 film "In & Out."

All of the nominees faces were live on the screen in 1995 when the Best Supporting Actor winner was announced, which means that viewers could see Martin Landau's excitement when he won for his work on "Ed Wood." They also got to see Samuel L. Jackson, who was up for "Pulp Fiction," clearly saying the word "shit!" Considering the movie he was up for, it seems like a perfectly appropriate response.

Roberto Benigni had a very good year in 1999, taking home a surprise win for Best Actor for his foreign-language film "Life Is Beautiful," as well as Best Foreign-Language Film. But he will forever be remembered for how joyfully he appreciated every moment of the experience, literally jumping onto the backs of the seats when he heard his name called and hopping across those seatbacks toward the stage.

In the late 1990s, Jennifer Lopez managed to make a green Versace dress iconic for how it fit and how much it revealed. So it's not a huge surprise that hers was one of the looks "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone decided to mock during a red carpet appearance in 2000. The other look lampooned was Gwyneth Paltrow. The guys were hilarious, but later admitted they were "tripping on acid" during the whole thing.

There was a time when Hollywood was still somewhat mysterious, and one of its more mysterious and unique individuals was a young Angelina Jolie. She certainly turned heads in 2000 when she said she was "so in love with my brother right now" after winning Best Supporting Actress for "Girl, Interrupted." A shot of the two kissing only confused people more, but Jolie quickly pointed out that people were misinterpreting their sibling affection.

Always a fashion oddity, Bjork took the world by storm when she wore her infamous "swan dress" to the 2001 Oscars ceremony. She even laid an egg on the carpet, leaving it behind her as she walked the red carpet. No one quite knew what to do with the dress, with a swan's neck wrapped around hers and its head clearly visible, but in the years since it has been spoofed countless times.

Sure, Adrien Brody was excited to win Best Actor for "The Pianist," but that didn't mean he was within his rights to attack the previous year's Best Actress winner with an unexpected and lengthy kiss. ""I bet they didn't tell you that was in the gift bag," he told Halle Berry after planting one on her. Apparently, it was a gift bag she couldn't deny, either. Berry took the moment in stride, but in this #MeToo era, it's easy to see that this was crossing a line.

Michael Moore catapulted into the public eye in a big way with his Best Documentary Oscar win for "Bowling for Columbine," but it was his speech where he derided and attacked the president, that his polarizing public persona was cemented. The orchestra tried to play him off as many in this still-post-9/11 crowd booed him, but Moore kept shouting, "Shame on you, Mr. Bush!"

Dresses and heels and elaborate stages and steps are not always friends, but it's how you bounce back from any mishaps that defines your grace and character. "Alias" star Jennifer Garner tripped and nearly wiped out on her way to the microphone to present Best Editing, but recovered and then quickly quipped, "Thank you. I do all my own stunts."

Ryan Seacrest was on his way to talk to Jennifer Garner and Laura Linney about "Juno" when Gary Busey spotted him in the crowd. "I've been looking for you for years!" Busey shouted, to which Seacrest responded, "Oh no." He then crashed the interview, awkwardly hugging and kissing Garner on the neck. Visibly shaken, Garner tried to play it off until Linney pulled her away and to safety.

While director Roger Ross was trying to accept his Best Documentary Oscar, former producer Elinor Burkett stormed the stage and took over, declaring, "The man never lets the woman talk. Isn't that just the classic thing?" But while Burkett originated the concept that became "Music by Prudence," she was removed from the production early on. As it grew more awkward, the orchestra swept in to sweep them both off the stage.

It was a bold move to appeal to younger audiences, and on paper James Franco and Anne Hathaway should have been fun co-hosts for the Oscars in 2011. But they weren't. It was an unmitigated disaster, with Franco sleeping his way through the night, while Hathaway gamely tried to make up for his lack of anything by going over the top with her enthusiasm. Every single moment they were on-screen was awkward.

Somehow, despite decades on the air, Melissa Leo earned both a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work on "The Fighter" as well as the dubious honor of being the first person to utter the word "f-ck" during the Oscars telecast (which was not censored when originally broadcast). Clearly nervous, she waved to the people in the balcony and said, "When I watched Kate two years ago, it looked so f-cking easy-- Oops!" The rest is Oscars history.

Sacha Baron Cohen hit the red carpet in character from his film "The Dictator," walking with an entourage of beautiful guards and carryign an urn he claimed was filled with the ashes of recently deceased North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. Then, as part of an elaborate bit Ryan Seacrest didnt' sign up for, he proceeded to dump the ashes all over the E! host, who had to graciously play it off because, you know, cameras and everything.

As host of the 2013 ceremony, Seth MacFarlane set the stage early with his opening song "We Saw Your Boobs," which saw him literally calling out actresses who had appeared nude on-screen, cutting to them live in the audience to see how they feel about their performances being reduced to a few moments of flesh a la Mr. Skin. It was an awkward opening number to be sure, but totally the sort of thing to be expected from the "Family Guy" creator.

In a voluminous gown, Jennifer Lawrence stumbled on her way up the steps to the stage after her Best Actress win for "Silver Linings Playbook." It may have been the moment that cemented her as the modern era's "It Girl," as well as her response. When she took to the mic with the audience on their feet, she said, "Thank you. You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell, and that's really embarrassing, but thank you."

Host Ellen DeGeneres decided she wanted to break the Internet, and so she staged an epic selfie image during the broadcast that featured Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Bradley Cooper, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'O, and Angelina Jolie. The ploy worked, as it quickly became the most retweeted image ... until it was beaten by a man looking for his nuggs in 2017.

John Travolta might have been struggling to read the teleprompter, but one thing was fairly certain, he had no idea who Idina Menzel was. And yet, the actor was tapped to introduce her performance at the 2014 Oscars, and so he did so to the best of his ability. To say he came close to pronouncing her name right would be an outright lie, as the best he could come up with was "Adele Dazeem." So at least he knows who Adele is. Maybe he thought it was her and he just never knew her last name.

Perhaps he should have left well enough alone. After flubbing her name in 2015, John Travolta took to the stage with Idina Menzel in what was supposed to be a fun little sketch where she got some revenge and he was able to show he could laugh about his mistake and there were no hard feelings. Instead, he fawned over her and grabbed her face a lot and made an awkward situation downright creepy and uncomfortable. Thankfully they didn't try again in 2016, as we can only imagine how wrong that would have gone.

It was a heartbreakingly uncomfortable moment Steve Harvey could certainly appreciate. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway presented the award for Best Picture, but they totally called out the wrong name. The creative folks behind "La La Land" were deep into their acceptance speeches when they had to reverse course and graciously accept and explain that "Moonlight" had actually won.