A Brief History of the Oscar
 Shortly after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was organized in 1927, a dinner was held in the Crystal Ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles to discuss methods of honoring outstanding achievements, thus encouraging higher levels of quality in all facets of motion picture production.
A major item of the business discussed was the creation of a trophy to symbolize the recognition of film achievement. MGM art director Cedric Gibbons designed the statuette and Los Angeles sculptor George Stanley was selected to bring to three-dimensional form the figure of a knight standing on a reel of film, hands gripping a sword. The Academy's world-renowned statuette was born.
Since the initial awards banquet on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's Blossom Room, 2,530 statuettes have been presented. Each January, additional new golden statuettes are cast, molded, polished and buffed by R. S. Owens and Company, the Chicago awards specialty company retained by the Academy since 1983 to make the award. Since 2000, when the shipment of Oscars on its way from the Owens plant in Chicago was stolen from the shipper's dock in Bell, California, the Academy always keeps a show's-worth of statuettes on hand.
Initially Oscar was gold-plated bronze, for awhile plaster, and today gold-plated britannium, a pewter-like alloy. He stands 131/2 inches tall and weighs a robust 81/2 pounds. He hasn't been altered since his molten birth, except when the pedestal was made higher in 1945. Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the statuette is better known by a nickname, Oscar, the origins of which aren't clear. A popular story has been that an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, Margaret Herrick, thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so; and that the Academy
staff began referring to it as Oscar. In any case, by the sixth Awards Presentation in 1934, Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used the name in his column in reference to Katharine Hepburn's first Best Actress win. The Academy itself didn't use the nickname officially until 1939.
Achievements in up to 24 regular categories will be honored on March 5, 2006, at the 78th Academy Awards Presentation at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland®. However, the Academy won't know how many statuettes it will actually hand out until the envelopes are opened on Oscar Night. Although the number of categories and special awards is known prior to the ceremony, the possibility of ties and of multiple recipients sharing the prize in some categories makes the exact number of Oscar statuettes to be awarded unpredictable. As in previous years, any surplus awards will be housed in the Academy's vault until next year's event.
"Each Oscar statuette is individually hand-crafted," says Scott Seigel, president of R. S. Owens. "This statuette is only a tiny portion of our overall business, but it makes us known all around the world. No other award is as universally recognized as the Oscar and we treat it with the extra special tender loving care that it deserves. We are extremely proud that the Academy has entrusted its manufacture to us."
The 15 statuettes presented at the initial ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze. Within a few years the bronze was abandoned in favor of the britanium, which made it easier to give the statuettes their smooth finish. Due to the metals shortage during World War II, Oscars were made of painted plaster for three years. Following the war, all of the awarded plaster figures were redeemed for gold-plated metal ones.
Except in years when the Academy has created a publicity event out of the delivery of the Oscars from Chicago to Los Angeles, they normally have been sent overland by common carrier. However, in 2000, only a few weeks before the presentation date, that year's shipment of Oscars was stolen from the overland carrier's loading dock. They were recovered a week later, but not before some nerve-wracking days had passed. Since then, the Academy has had the statuettes delivered by United Air Lines' and R.S. Owens representative Noreen Prohaska has enjoyed being Oscar's escort for the past 3 years. She has experienced first hand the excitement an Oscar can generate as she has walked the statuette through the plane for all to see, touch and feel. "I am very honored and proud to be Oscar's escort," she said. "We travel well together!"
The Oscar statuette is arguably the most recognized award in the world. Its success as a symbol of achievement in filmmaking would doubtless amaze those who attended that dinner 78 years ago, as well as its designer, Cedric Gibbons.
It stands today, as it has since 1929, without peer, on the mantels of the greatest filmmakers in history.
"Oscar®," "Oscars®," "Academy Awards®," "Academy Award®," "A.M.P.A.S. ®" and "Oscar Night®" are the trademarks, and the ©Oscar® statuette is the registered design mark and copyrighted property, of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. |
The Academy Awards®
