By: debbie lynn elias
You think you know everything about Oscar? Well think again, because Oscar wasn’t always Oscar.
Initially started in 1928 as the Academy Award of Merit, the Oscar is a actually a brave knight holding a crusader’s sword standing atop a reel of film with five spokes which each spoke representing the original branches of the Academy – Actors, Directors, Writers, Producers and technicians. The little golden guy now weighs in at a whopping 8.5 pounds and stands 13.5 inches tall.
Designed by MGM’s chief art director Cedric Gibbons, his assistant, Frederic Hope, created the original Belgian black marble base and artist George Stanley was the sculptor. The California Bronze Foundry hand cast the first statuette in bronze plated with 24-karat gold. In 1945 the base changed from marble to metal and in 1949, little Oscar began to be numbered, starting with Number 501.
And just how did Oscar get his name? Long believed to be a myth, Academy librarian Margaret Herrick said the statute resembled her Uncle Oscar. However, in 1934, columnist Sidney Skolsky used the story when talking about Katharine Hepburn’s first Best Actress win. The Academy ultimately adopted the now beloved nickname in 1939.
Hurray for Hollywood!
