In 1977, the actor Beatrice Straight made history at the 49th Academy Awards, setting an Oscars record  that remains unbroken to this day.

The American won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, for her flawless performance in Sidney Lumet’s  satirical black comedy Network.

Straight scooped her award despite only appearing on screen for five minutes and 40 seconds: the shortest Oscar-winning performance ever.

Her memorable turn in Network, a film that won four Oscars, saw her beat Jodie Foster, Jane Alexander, Piper Laurie and Lee Grant to the statuette.

Presented her Oscar by Sylvester Stallone and Muhammad Ali, Straight gave an acceptance speech that was half the length of her Network role.

Since Straight made history as the Oscar winner with the lowest screen time, several actors have come close  to her long-standing record. 

Dame Judi Dench picked up the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love, having featured for eight minutes of the movie.

Anne Hathaway, Penélope Cruz and Kim Basinger were all Best Supporting Actress winners after 15-minute  turns in their respective films.

And people often forget that Anthony Hopkins’ Best Actor-winning role  in 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs  was actually fairly fleeting.

Hopkins only appears in the film for a total of 16 minutes - but he delivered such an iconic performance that it  went down in Hollywood history.