Home » Film & TV » Reviews of Classic Films » History of a Man Called Oscar

History of a Man Called Oscar

© Lea Frydman

The Academy Awards statuette was designed by MGM's chief art director Cedric Gibbons. It depicts a knight holding a crusader's sword, standing on a reel of film with five spokes, signifying the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, Technicians.

Frederic Hope, Gibbons' assistant, created the original Belgian black marble base while artist George Stanley sculpted the design and the California Bronze Foundry hand cast the first statuette in bronze plated with 24-karat gold.
Oscar's height: 13 1/2 inches
Oscar's weight: 8 1/2 pounds


Number of Oscars presented at the AA to winners: 2,365
Number of eligible categories in 1927
Number of eligible categories in 2001
Number of Oscars manufactured each year: 50-60
How many Oscars have been refused: 3

Born in 1928, years would pass before the Academy Award of Merit was officially named "Oscar."

Industry insiders and members of the press called the award "the Academy statuette," "the golden trophy" or "the statue of merit." The entertainment trade paper, Weekly Variety, even attempted to popularise "the iron man." The term never stuck.

A popular story has been that an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, Margaret Herrick, thought the statuette resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so, and that as a result the Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar.

No hard evidence exists to support that tale, but 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.

Indulge In More Oscar Trivia

It was only one year ago... but do you remember what won the Best Picture or who won Best Actor?

To keep you up to speed and one step ahead of your family and friends who will join you on the couch for the 4 hour marathon, I offer you a recapp:1999 72nd Academy Awards

BEST PICTURE
AMERICAN BEAUTY - Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks

BEST ACTOR
Kevin Spacey - AMERICAN BEAUTY

BEST ACTRESS
Hilary Swank - BOYS DON'T CRY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Caine - THE CIDER HOUSE RULES

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angelina Jolie - GIRL, INTERRUPTED

BEST DIRECTOR
Sam Mendes - AMERICAN BEAUTY

BEST FOREIGN FILM
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER - Spain

Part of this article was formally published at Oscar.com. I thank the webmaster for allowing me to re-work the original text.

The copyright of the article History of a Man Called Oscar in Reviews of Classic Films is owned by . Permission to republish History of a Man Called Oscar in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.