HOLLYWOOD, March 2, (AFP): The golden guy known to the world as the Oscar, the real star of Sunday’s Academy Awards, has become a Hollywood icon over the past 82 years, but the origin of his name has been lost in time.
The venerable statuette, officially named the Academy Award of Merit, is the child of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which was created in 1927 as a small industry body to promote films.
Initially made up of 36 members with actor Douglas Fairbanks as its first president, the newly founded body created the golden trophy to honor performances by the industry’s leading actors, actresses and directors.
An art director from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, Cedric Gibbons, was selected to design the statuette — the figure of a knight standing on a reel of film, his hands gripping a sword.
From these humble beginnings was born an award that would become a global symbol of excellence.
The first Academy Awards were held on May 16, 1929 at Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel. They consisted of a simple dinner banquet attended by around 270 guests. Fairbanks handed out the 15 statuettes in just 15 minutes.
Ironically, the birthplace of the Oscars is just a short stroll from the Kodak Theatre, where more than 3,300 stars and Hollywood power brokers will gather for Sunday’s 82nd annual awards ceremony.
Around 50 Oscars will be handed out during the glittering three-hour show, which over the years has expanded into a global spectacle with a red-carpet arrivals line that has become the world’s most glamorous fashion show.
Since the first awards ceremony, around 2,500 of the trophies have been handed out in an awards ceremony that has become bigger, glitzier and more glamorous over the years, with the exception of wartime shows.
The early editions of the statues were bronze, but during the World War II metals shortage, the trophies were made of plaster. Those were later redeemed for the now gold-plated ones.
Origin
The trophy, standing 34 centimeters (13.5 inches) tall and weighing 3.85 kilos (8.5 pounds), wasn’t always called an Oscar, but his form has not changed since his birth, except when his pedestal was raised 1945.
But the origin of the statuette’s nickname is unclear.
One legend has it that Academy librarian and eventual executive director Margaret Herrick thought it resembled her uncle Oscar and said so. Her staff began referring to it as Oscar.
Oscar-winner Bette Davis claimed she thought of the name because the nude statuette had a rear end that reminded her of the derriere of her husband Harmon Oscar Nelson.
Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used the name in a 1934 column in referring to Katharine Hepburn’s first best actress win, but the Academy itself did not use the nickname officially until 1939.
Carried initially by radio, the Academy Awards were first televised in 1953 in black and white, making the jump to color in 1966.
In the early days, there was little suspense, as the results had been given to newspapers in advance for publication after the ceremony.
The invitation-only awards ceremony, which is now watched by up to one billion television viewers in more than 150 countries, has never been cancelled, though on rare occasion, the show was postponed.
Ceremonies were delayed in 1938 because of heavy flooding in Los Angeles, in 1968 after the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, and in 1981 after the attempt on the life of one-time actor and then-president Ronald Reagan.
But just four days after the US-led war in Iraq erupted in 2003, the 75th anniversary edition of the show went ahead as scheduled, with only one nod to the circumstances — a smaller, more somber red carpet show.

Unknowns
Complete unknowns and seasoned professionals enjoying their first nomination will rub shoulders as the Oscars red carpet welcomes an unusually large number of first-time nominees.
No fewer than 14 actors, actresses and directors out of a total of 25 nominees will for the first time be bidding for one of the coveted statuettes when the 82nd Academy Awards are handed out Sunday at the Kodak Theater.
The roll call of talent includes Gabourey Sidibe, Sandra Bullock, Colin Firth, Jeremy Renner, Mo’Nique, Stanley Tucci as well as “The Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow and Lee Daniels.
Sasha Stone, who runs the Awardsdaily.com website, said the bevy of new faces would be welcomed by Oscars organizers as they sought to attract viewers and generate interest in the event.
“I think lately, the Oscar race has been more about newcomers than about repeat nominees and winners,” Stone told AFP.
“I think it might have to do with a desire to have new blood in the Academy, being sort of tired with the same old things.
“A newcomer offers a fresh face, and it revives the category and the potential win is more exciting for someone that you have never seen before.”
The 14 newcomers are roughly split between unknowns just starting out on movie careers and veterans who for one reason or another have been routinely ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gabby Sidibe, nominated for her portrayal of an obese, illiterate, sexually abused teenager in the independent drama “Precious,” could be one of the most inexperienced Oscar winners in history if she claims the best actress prize.
Sidibe would be the first performer to win an Oscar for her debut film role since deaf actress Marlee Matlin triumphed in 1987 for her performance in “Children of a Lesser God.”
Sidibe faces stiff competition however from Sandra Bullock, one of Hollywood’s best known actresses who is regarded as the favorite for her performance in “The Blind Side.”
Bullock has built support because of the perception that she is a long-time veteran deserving of reward, Stone said. “She’s been around so long, she hasn’t got any recognition. So now people feel good about voting for her, because they feel she has paid her due,” she told AFP.
Bullock, 45, admitted she was as surprised as anyone to receive a nomination despite a stellar year that saw her carry two films to a combined box office of more than $700 million.
“Does anybody expect a nomination? I certainly didn’t,” she told reporters at a luncheon for nominees last month. “I’m really amazed and thankful to be here because I’d like to work hard for another 10 or 15 years.”