The shortest ever Oscar winners speech lasted just seconds and only had two words

Celebrities don't seem to have found a good happy medium when it comes to giving speeches at award shows.

The talkative winners are either droning on for far longer than needed while thanking their mum, nan and neighbour for all their support, while the bashful stars can barely get two words out before running off stage.

So there's two types of people in attendance when the Oscars comes to town - people like Greer Garson, who's speech for Best Actress in 1943 lasted around six minutes, or those like Patty Duke.

Take a look at this:

The late and great actress, from New York, managed to earn a spot in the history books with the shortest ever Academy Awards speech thanks to the demure way she handled her win back in 1963.

Instead of pouring her heart out on stage like most people do, the Valley of the Dolls star kept it super short and sweet - but somehow still managed to completely steal the show.

At the tender age of 16, she became the youngest person to ever received an Oscar in a competitive category at the time, thanks to her first major role in The Miracle Worker, which catapulted her to stardom.

She had starred alongside Anne Bancroft in the Broadway version of the biopic for a few years earlier, before the pair were asked to bring their talents to cinematic audiences by joining the cast for the film in 1962.

Career-defining role

Bettmann/Getty images

Duke took on the role of a young Helen Keller - the author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer who was left blind and deaf after suffering a severe illness when she was a baby.

She grows up to be frustrated by her inability to communicate with the rest of the world and often has violent outbursts, forcing her parents to turn to the Perkins School for the Blind for help.

They send former student Anne Sullivan (Bancroft) to tutor Keller, who ends up dragging the youngster out of the her world of darkness and silence - it really is super heartwarming stuff.

The rest of the world clearly thought so too, as when it came round to awards season in 1963, Duke - who is said to have rehearsed for the role of Keller with a blindfold for roughly a year - was the frontrunner.

Entertainment legend Frank Sinatra was hosting the Oscars for the first time and had handed the reigns over to actor George Chakiris to introduce the nominees for Best Supporting Actress.

Short and sweet

Getty/Bettmann / Contributor

Duke was up against Hollywood royalty such as Mary Badham, Shirley Knight, Angela Lansbury and Thelma Ritter, but she managed to scoop the coveted statuette.

All eyes were on her as she bounded out of her seat and towards the stage, while the audience then waited with bated breath to hear what the young actress' acceptance speech would consist of.

Looking a little bit overwhelmed and seemingly trying to fight back her emotions, she was seen sweetly clutching her award towards her chest in shock while lapping up the audiences applause.

She then simply said: "Thank you."

Duke then made a sharp exit off stage, despite the fact her 'speech' only lasted seconds and was just two words long.

However, people reckon the star - who sadly passed away in March 2016 at the age of 69 - absolutely smashed it.

'She said a million things'

YouTube/Oscars

One social media user said: "Now there's someone who knows how to accept an award!"

Another wrote: "She said a million things with just those two words."

A third commented: "Her tears, the most sincere 'thank you' that I've ever heard and the way she's holding that Oscar close.

"Speaks volumes of sweet sorrow about her childhood."

Someone else added: "More emotion in her two words than some of the unnecessarily long speeches celebrities give today."

And a fifth chimed in: "Her facial expressions said it all. Best sincere and grateful thank you ever. She was so emotional that she could not express it in words."

After her win, Duke said it 'seemed like a dream', telling The Times: "I’m still not sure if it happened. When they announced it, I just sat there. I couldn’t move."

Topics: Oscars, Celebrity, US News, News, TV and Film

Olivia Burke

Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.

@livburke_