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Oscar   Statuette (Trophy) Facts

A Knight Called Oscar

The most recognized trophy in the world, the Oscar statuette has stood on the mantels of the greatest filmmakers in history since 1929.

Since the initial awards banquet on May  16, 1929, in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s Blossom Room, 2,809 statuettes have been presented. Each January, additional new golden statuettes are manufacture retained by the Academy since 1982.

Oscar stands 13½ (34 cm) inches tall and weighs in at a robust 8½(3.85 kg) pounds. The film reel features five spokes, signifying the five original branches of the Academy: actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers. Although the statuette remains true to its original design A knight holding a crusader’s sword, standing on a reel of film. The designer  is Cedric Gibbons with chief art director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the statuette is better known by its nickname, Oscar. While the origins of the moniker aren’t clear, a popular story has it that upon seeing the trophy for the first time, Academy librarian (and eventual executive director) Margaret Herrick remarked that it resembled her Uncle Oscar. The Academy didn’t adopt the nickname officially until 1939, but it was widely known enough by 1934 that Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used it in a piece referring to Katharine Hepburn’s first Best Actress win. Manufacturer by R. S. Owens & Company in Chicago and it will take 3–4 weeks for make 50 statuettes the best-known one is the Academy Award of Merit more popularly known as the Oscar statuette.

The statuettes presented at the initial ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze. Within a few years, the bronze was abandoned in favor of Britannia metal on a black metal base a pewter-like alloy that is then plated in copper, nickel silver, and finally, 24-karat gold. Due to a metal shortage during World War II, Oscars  were made of painted plaster for three years. Following the war, the Academy invited recipients to redeem the plaster figures for gold-plated metal ones and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style.

More than 80 years after that auspicious gathering in Hollywood, Oscar’s success as a symbol of filmmaking achievement would probably amaze those who attended the dinner, as it would its designer, Cedric Gibbons.


references: www.wikipediaacademyaward.com

          www.telegraph.co.uk 

          www.hollywoodmegastore.com