The first question is easy: Before the Billy Crystal Dynasty, there was someone who hosted the Awards for many many years. Who was it?
Second question: Has it ever happened that in one year, a single person has won an Oscar for two different categories for the same picture? How about 2 different movies? That is, has a person, for instance won for best screenplay and best actor for one movie? Or best director and best supporting actress for two different movies? Could such a nomination ever happen?
The big ‘dynasty’ host was Bob Hope. While I know at least a few people have been nominated for Best Actor and Director, I couldn’t tell you for sure who won both, if anyone.
The answer to your second question is yes. For example, Mel Gibson won the Best Director and Best Picture (as producer) awards for Braveheart. I suspect there are more examples, although Harold Russell’s case is probably unique. He won an Academy Award as best supporting actor in The Best Years Of Our Lives as well as an honorary award “for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance” in that movie.
Well, Walt Disney routinely was nominated for Oscars in multiple categories as producer, most notably in 1953, when he won for Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Cartoon Short Subject, and Two-reel Short Subject.
Marvin Hamlisch won three Oscars for two different films in 1973: Original Score and Original Song for The Way We Were* and Adapted Score for The Sting.
Ten actors have been nominated for two acting awards in the same year: Fay Bainter, Theresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald (both for the same performance – the rules were later changed to prevent this), Jessica Lange, Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Emma Thompson, Julianne Moore, and Jamie Foxx. A few won one award, but no one has won both.
Billy Wilder won Oscars for best director and best picture (producer) for The Apartment. So did Tony Richardson (Tom Jones), Robert Wise (The Sound of Music, Fred Zinneman (A Man for All Seasons), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather II), Richard Attenborough (Gandhi), Sydney Pollock (Out of Africa), Kevin Costner (Dancing With Wolves), Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby), Stephen Speilberg (Schindler’s List), Gibson, James Cameron (Titanic), Ron Howard A Beautiful Mind), and Peter Jackon (The Return of the King),
I was about to jump in and say, after Bob Hope, Johnny Carson took over the reins. But then I saw he only hosted for four consecutive years, and a total of five times.(link) Damn! I guess he did such a classy job that Billy Crystal seems like a cheap substitute. I’m astounded to see that Crystal has hosted more times than Carson!
In addition, his wife Fran Walsh won 2 Oscars as co-writer and co-producer. That’s five awards for a husband-wife team on the same movie, which must be a record!
Oddly enough, Barry Fitzgerald was nominated as Best Actor AND as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “Going My Way.” So, he COULD have won both awards for the same performance!
As it turned out, he won Best Supporting Actor, while his co-star, BIng Crosby, won Best Actor.
Shortly after that, the rules were changed to keep that from happening again.
Warren Beatty has twice been nominated for 4 Oscars in a year for the same film - Actor, Director, Screenplay and as producder, Best Picture. The films were Heaven Can Wait and Reds
And, a few years ago, Kate Winslet and Gloria Stewart were both nominated (in two different categories) for playing the same character: Rose DeWitt in Titanic.
IIRC, that was the first time in history that that had occurred.