Foundation of the Golden Globe Awards, regarded as one of the major award events of the film awards season in the US, was laid down by the Hollywood Foreign Correspondent Association (HFCA), the precursor of Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Inception of the Golden Globes occurred nearly eight decades ago when a consortium of Los Angeles based journalists, reporting on the US entertainment industry for publications mainly in non-US media markets, led by correspondent of the British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper Daily Mail established the HFCA in 1943 and endeavored in bestowing accolades to recognize achievements in the field of motion pictures.
The first Golden Globe Awards ceremony was presented by the HFCA on January 20, 1944, to recognize and honor distinguished achievements in the cinema industry for the year 1943. The ceremony was held in a more informal way at the 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles, California, where awards were presented in six categories, namely Best Picture, Best Director-Motion Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.
Hungarian actor Paul Lukas became first recipient of the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, for portraying the starring role of a German-born anti-fascist, Kurt Muller, in the American drama film Watch on the Rhine. The titular role of Bernadette Soubirous in the American biographical drama film The Song of Bernadette won American actress Jennifer Jones the Best Actress in a Leading Role award while noted American actor and film director Henry King won the Best Director-Motion Picture award for the film which also earned the Best Picture award. The first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor went to noted Armenian-American character actor Akim Tamiroff for his performance in the American epic war film For Whom the Bell Tolls. The film also marked US film debut of Greek film and stage actress Katina Paxinou whose portrayal of the role of Pilar, wife of Pablo essayed by Tamiroff, won her the first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture. Scrolls were presented to the winners as awards to honor their outstanding achievements. All the six recipients of the 1st Golden Globe Awards garnered nominations at the 16th Academy Awards that was held one and a half months later on March 2, 1944, at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Among them Paul Lukas won Academy Award for Best Actor, Jennifer Jones won Academy Award for Best Actress and Katina Paxinou bagged the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
The following year members of the HFCA planned to present the winners with a statuette portraying a golden globe, with a strip of motion picture film wrapped around it, mounted on a pedestal. The 2nd Golden Globe Awards, which marks as the first gala social event of the Golden Globes, was held at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on April 16, 1945. In the ensuing years several other award categories were created in film achievements. The 13th Golden Globe Awards held on February 23, 1956, also marked initiation of presenting accolades for television achievement as well. Since the first awards ceremony, the Golden Globes has come a long way to establish itself as a significant awards event in Hollywood that is telecast in over 165 countries across the globe. It is a much awaited lavish star-studded awards ceremony that draws millions of viewers and usually ranks annually as the third most-viewed awards ceremony after the prestigious Academy Awards and Grammy Awards.