The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Friday that Hugh Jackman will be the host of the 81st annual Oscars on Feb. 22 at the Kodak Theatre .
at the Kodak Theatre
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Friday that Hugh Jackman will be the host of the 81st annual Oscars on Feb. 22 <m> at the Kodak Theatre </m> .
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Friday that Hugh Jackman will be the host of the 81st annual Oscars on Feb. 22 <m> at the Kodak Theatre </m> .
The lanky Australian , who was recently named People magazine 's Sexiest Man Alive , is best known for playing Wolverine in the `` X-Men '' franchise , including the upcoming `` X-Men Origins : Wolverine , '' and for his romantic adventure roles in the current period drama `` Australia '' and as a vampire hunter in `` Van Helsing . ''
Not exactly the wild and crazy comedy type that has been hosting the Oscars for the last 20 years , a list that includes names such as Billy Crystal , David Letterman , Steve Martin , Whoopi Goldberg , Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres .
In addition to looking great in a tux , the 40-year-old Jackman has TV hosting experience .
He emceed both the 2004 and 2005 Tony Awards , and won an Emmy Award for his first go at hosting that award show .
`` He is so sparkling and personable , and he delivers , `` said academy President Sid Ganis .
`` I saw him recently at a Motion Picture Home event on the Sony lot .
He is charming and pleasant .
The other thing is:
He loves [ being the host ] .
He loves the patter .
He likes to wink his eye at an audience and have fun . ''
While it 's been more than two decades since a non-comedian was one of the Academy Award hosts , the Jackman announcement is hardly unprecedented .
Numerous actors , directors and even producers have served as master of ceremonies .
Douglas Fairbanks , Laurence Olivier , James Stewart , Ingrid Bergman , Jane Fonda , Alan Alda , Claudette Colbert , Fredric March , Agnes Moorhead , Thelma Ritter , Fred Astaire and Charlton Heston have all played host on Oscar night .
`` We 're sort of going back to the pre-Bob Hope days a little bit , '' said Oscar producer Laurence Mark , explaining that the decision to return to an actor as host was influenced by a desire to change what he called the `` late-night talk-show '' feel of past programs .
`` We wanted to take the show to another form , '' Mark said .
`` Hugh seemed to be the perfect person .
The lovely thing about the show is it is a TV show set in a theater about the movies , so the fact that he is a movie star ... he 's also an extraordinary stage presence and he does actually have an Emmy Award for hosting the Tonys .
He fits all three bills . ''
`` Thirty years ago when I was in Sydney watching Johnny Carson host the Oscars with my family , I never imagined that I 'd one day have the chance to be up on that stage myself , '' Jackman said in a statement .
The academy is hoping that Jackman 's international appeal will help bring more viewers to the annual event that is telecast on ABC .
Ratings for the Oscar telecast have declined sharply in recent years , especially among young-adult audiences .
The 2008 telecast delivered 32 million total viewers , a 24 % drop compared with the previous year 's ceremony , according to figures from Nielsen Media Research .
The most-watched Academy Awards in recent years was in 1998 , when `` Titanic '' won best picture .
A total of 55.3 million people tuned in to watch who took home the golden statuettes .
`` We hope [ Jackman 's ] appeal is going to broaden us out , '' Ganis said .
`` We all know the ratings are down , but we are going to have something pretty special . ''