Chris Rock’s Oscars host hiatus is 11 years. Is that a record?

With Wednesday’s announcement that Chris Rock would be returning to host the Academy Awards ceremony in February, the comedian became the host with the longest hiatus between Oscar gigs, with 11 years having passed since his first stint fronting the show.

Over the years, many Oscar hosts have taken brief breaks from headlining: After hosting from 1979-82, Johnny Carson took a year off before returning in 1984. In the ‘90s, recurring host Whoopi Goldberg would often alternate years that she hosted the ceremony, with luminaries such as David Letterman and Billy Crystal covering the job in between.

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In truth, only four hosts rival Rock for gaps between Oscar emcee appearances -- and it’s quite a list of luminaries.

Steve Martin, 7 years

(KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / AP)

Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press

When Steve Martin last hosted the event solo, the year was 2003. George W. Bush was still in his first term as president and “Chicago” edged out films such as “The Pianist” and “The Hours” for best picture. It was seven years before the comedian would return, this time with actor Alec Baldwin as cohost. Barack Obama was president, the academy had switched to 10 best picture nominees, and “The Hurt Locker” bested “Avatar” for the top prize.

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Ellen DeGeneres, 7 years

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Similarly, when Ellen DeGeneres returned to host the Oscars in 2014, she too had been gone from the role for seven years. The selfie heard round the world -- including such stars as Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Brad Pitt, and retweeted well over 3 million times -- would have seemed strange and inexplicable in 2007, when DeGeneres previously hosted and Martin Scorsese finally won best director for his work on “The Departed.”

Billy Crystal, 8 years

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

When Billy Crystal made his much vaunted return to the Oscars stage in 2012, it had been eight years since his last appearance as host. Crystal had previously been the perennial Academy Awards host of the modern era, much like Bob Hope before him, hosting eight times. Making the lost time more pointed was the fact that when Crystal hosted in 2004, the big winner was “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” one of the most decorated films of all time. When he returned in 2012, the best picture Oscar went to “The Artist,” a small black-and-white silent film, which won out over a field of nine nominees.

Bob Hope, 10 years

(AP)

Associated Press

But before Rock, it was Oscar legend Bob Hope who had the longest amount of time pass between hosting duties, heading up the 40th Academy Awards ceremony in 1968 and not hosting again until the 50th Oscars ceremony in 1978. It was the 19th time Hope had helmed the awards -- and it would be his last. The big winners on Hope’s last night of hosting included “Annie Hall,” which took best picture, and a little film called “Star Wars,” which took home six awards.

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