1st Youth in Film Awards

1st Youth in Film Awards
Awarded forAchievement in 19781979 season
DateOctober 1979
SiteSheraton Universal Hotel
Universal City, California
Hosted byGary Coleman
Official websiteYoungArtistAwards.org

The 1st Youth in Film Awards ceremony (now known as the Young Artist Awards), presented by the Youth in Film Association, honored outstanding youth performers in the fields of film, television and music for the 1978–1979 season, and took place in October 1979 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, California.[1][2][3][4][5]

Established in 1978 by long-standing Hollywood Foreign Press Association member, Maureen Dragone, the Youth in Film Association was the first organization to establish an awards ceremony specifically set to recognize and award the contributions of performers under the age of 21 in the fields of film, television, theater and music.[1][6][7]

Although the Youth in Film Awards were conceived as a way to primarily recognize youth performers under the age of 18, the eldest winner in a competitive category at the 1st annual ceremony was Dennis Christopher who was 23 years old on the night he won as Best Juvenile Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance in Breaking Away.[3]

  1. ^ a b Crouse, Richard (2005). Reel Winners (illustrated ed.). Dundurn Press Ltd. pp. 42–43. ISBN 978-1-55002-574-3.
  2. ^ Riggs, Thomas (2007). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Gale / Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0-7876-9047-2.
  3. ^ a b "1st Annual Youth In Film Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  4. ^ "Former child stars Jackie Coogan and Jane Withers got together for the first "Youth in Film Awards"". Associated Press. 1979-10-16. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  5. ^ "Coleman, Jackson and King Garner Youth Awards". Jet Magazine. Johnson Publishing Company. 1979-11-08. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  6. ^ "Young Artist Awards – President's Message". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  7. ^ "HFPA Golden Globes – Young Artist Foundation". GoldenGlobes.org. Archived from the original on 2011-03-17. Retrieved 2011-03-31.