AWARDING OSCAR

by Pam North

You either love them or you hate them, but chances are you watch them -
the Oscars.  It's the annual glittering spectacle we all love to hate.

The 76th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony, held last Sunday, presented
many of the distinctive gold statuettes to talented celebrities and
film industry individuals, among whom were Charlize Theron (Best
Actress), Sean Penn (Best Actor), Renee Zellweger (Best Supporting
Actress), and Tim Robbins (Best Supporting Actor).  Lord of the Oscars
this year was "Lord of the Rings," which won for Best Picture and an
assortment of about ten other categories.

Those gold statuettes go way back.  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences was organized in 1927, and shortly thereafter a dinner
was held in the Crystal Ballroom of downtown Los Angeles' Biltmore
Hotel to discuss methods of honoring outstanding achievements, with
the goal of encouraging higher levels of quality in all facets of
motion picture production.  A major focus was the idea to create a
trophy that would symbolize the recognition of film achievement.  A
unique statuette was designed by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons - the
figure of a knight, hands gripping a sword, standing on a reel of
film.  Los Angeles sculptor George Stanley was commissioned to make it
a reality, and the Academy's world-renowned statuette was born.

The fifteen statuettes presented at the initial ceremonies in 1929
(attendance was 250 and tickets cost $10) were solid bronze, plated in
gold.  Within a few years, the bronze was abandoned in favor of a
metal alloy called britannium, which had properties that made it
easier to give the figures their smooth gold finish.  The metals
shortage during the World War II years resulted in the statuettes
being made of plaster in that period, but following the war, all of
the awarded plaster figures were redeemed for gold-plated metal ones.

Oscar's height is 13 1/2 inches tall, and his weight is a hefty 8 1/2
pounds.  His design hasn't been altered since his original creation,
except for the extension of the height of the pedestal in 1945.  From
1928 to 1945, the base was Belgian black marble; from 1945 to the
present, the base has been metal.  Officially named the Academy Award
of Merit, the statuette is better known by a nickname, Oscar, the
origin of which is derived from a popular story that an Academy
librarian and eventual director, Margaret Herrick, remarked that she
thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar, and the Academy supposedly began
referring to it internally as Oscar.  In 1934, at the time of the
sixth Awards presentation, 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 publicly
until 1939.

How many statuettes will actually be handed out at the annual Awards
ceremony is a big question for the Academy until the envelopes are
opened on Oscar Night.  Although the number of categories and special
awards is known prior to the ceremony, the possibility of multiple
recipients sharing the prize in some categories makes the exact number
of Oscar statuettes awarded unpredictable.  Extras are on hand for the
occasion, and surplus awards are then stored in the Academy's vault
until the next year's event.

It takes three to four weeks to cast approximately 50 statuettes; each
is done to exacting standards and handled with white gloves.  Prior to
1949, the statuettes were not numbered, but since that year, starting
with the somewhat arbitrary number 501, each Oscar statuette has worn
his serial number inscribed behind his heels.

Honorary awards have assumed other forms, - scrolls, medals or other
designs chosen by the Board of Governors.  The Honorary Juvenile Award
(no longer presented) was a miniature statuette.  A wooden Oscar
statuette with a movable jaw was presented at the 10th Annual Awards
to Edgar Bergen for his creation of Charlie McCarthy, and Walt Disney
received an Oscar and seven miniature statuettes in 1938 when he was
honored for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Oscar is Hollywood's golden boy, coveted by members of the film
industry as the ultimate tribute to talent.  We, the movie audience,
despite our annual protests about the length of the ceremonies, the
often-lame acceptance speeches, and the ostentation, always seem to
find ourselves glued to the television to discover who will have the
honor of taking those shiny statuettes home.