Bets are being laid and predictions made as to who will gratefully clutch an Oscar to their chest and who will remain sitting in the audience, mentally tearing up their thank you speech.

SOURCES FOR THIS DATA

• Internet Movie Database (IMDB) and www.oscars.org
• We also trawled photo archives and other online sources
• Genre, age and nationality: IMBD and actors' websites
• Height: Mainly IMDB, and average from NHS information Service study - 5ft 8 (men) and 5ft 4 (women)
• Eye and hair colour: IMDB, actors' websites, image research and archive footage
• But hair colour is the hardest characteristic to verify, given how easily this can be changed

But can a study of best actor and actress winners over the past 81 years cast light on how a nominee's age, appearance and genre of film might affect their chances We trawled the internet for past winners' vital statistics.

The average age of Best Actor winners is 44, almost 10 years older than the average for female winners at 36 years of age. The gender gap widens when you look at the proportion of winners aged over 40 - 63% for men, whereas only 26% of winning women in the leading role category have passed the big four-zero.

Of this year's nominees, three of the five actresses in the running are over 40 - Sandra Bullock (45), Meryl Streep (60) and Dame Helen Mirren (65).

Carey Mulligan in many ways fits the profile for the average winner of the Best Actress award in that she is young, light haired and nominated for a romantic role in An Education. But she is British, and the Academy tends to vote for Americans.

However, once US actors and actresses are taken out of the equation, British thespians fare better than all other nationalities combined, with 20% of male winners and 18% of female winners hailing from the UK.

Perhaps this may clear the way for New Yorker Gabourey Sidibe, nominated at 26 for her role in Precious. But she is African-American, and only one non-white woman has picked up the Best Actress gong in the award's history - Halle Berry, for the equally gritty Monster's Ball. For male winners, 93% have been white.

While the Academy tends to favour younger women, for men the same does not hold true. Younger actors are under-represented, with Adrien Brody being the only leading male winner aged under 30 - he was 29 when he picked up his Oscar for The Pianist. But 27 women have picked up the Best Actress gong while in their 20s - that's 33% of the female winning contingent.

Of this year's male nominees, the youngest is Jeremy Renner at 39, followed by George Clooney, 48, and Colin Firth, 49. Jeff Bridges is 60 and Morgan Freeman is 72. If he wins for his role as Nelson Mandela in Invictus, this will provide a fillip for not only the proportion of non-white winners, but for the grey-haired as well.

While 11% of men have accepted an Oscar as silver foxes, only 4% of winning women have stood on the podium with silvery locks.

As for the type of film which dominates, one genre tops the list for both sexes - 49% of female winners and 28% of male winners starred in romance films. Women who act in thrillers are generally well received by the Academy's voters, as are men who take the lead in war films.

But who knows which way the Academy will jump this time around Picking winners is an inexact science. Any wager laid on likely winners is entirely at your own risk.

Compiled by Elena Egawhary.

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