OSCAR-facts

A list by Gwendo

Get some interesting knowledge about the golden guy the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences hands out each year

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: OSCAR Academy facts

• The first Academy Awards were given out in May of 1929 to honor films made in 1927.
• In that first year, a mere twelve Awards were handed out, including "Most artistic or unique production." Now there are twenty-four, or double the orginal number of awards.
• Five people--all men--chose the first crop of winners. Now the Academy's more than 5000 invitation-only members do the picking.
• Throughout the 30's, juvenile actors were sometimes awarded miniture Oscar statues to recognize their archievements. Winners included: Shirley Temple.
• Beginning in 1938, there were separate Best Cinematography awards for black and white films and color films. This practice ended in 1957--by then color had become king.
• Oscar was designed by MGM's art director, Cedric Gibbons, in 1928. The design has remained unchanged, except for getting a higher pedistal in the 1940's.
• Oscars are made of britanium and gold-plated.
• Oscar is thirteen-and-a-half inches tall--in the morning.
• The first regular Oscar for Best Makeup was handed out in 1981--before that, special recognition awards were sometimes given.
• Three theories exists as to the origins of "Oscar," the Academy Award's most popular nickname since the mid-30's:
  1) Margaret Herrick, then the Academy librarian and later its executive director, named it after her uncle, Oscar Pierce. 2) Columnist Sidney Skolsky, in search of a fresh moniker, was inspired by the old vaudeville joke, "Will you have a cig