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Journalism of Courage
As Hollywood prepares for one of its most anticipated award nights, the red carpet is all set to be rolled out at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. In its 97th edition, the Academy Awards will celebrate the best in cinema in 23 categories in a star-studded evening on March 2 (March 3 IST).
Hosted by legendary comedian Conan O’Brien, the night will see performances by the likes of American rapper-singer Queen Latifah, British singer-songwriter Raye, and South Korean girl group Blackpink’s Lisa. Stars of the movie Wicked − that boasts 10 nominations − Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will also be performing live on the Oscars stage.
Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, there are several explanations as to how the nickname Oscars originated.
The most popular is attributed to Margaret Herrick, a librarian at the Academy from 1936 to 1943, who also later served as its executive director. It is believed that when she first saw the award trophy on an executive’s desk, she noted how it reminded her of her Uncle Oscar. A newspaper columnist present on the spot mentioned this in an article, and the name stuck.
According to another account, actress Bette Davis came up with the name when she won the award for Best Actress for Dangerous in 1936, and remarked how the back of the Oscar reminded her of her husband as he left the shower. Her husband was musician Harmon Oscar Nelson.
Yet another claimant of the nickname is Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky, who used the term “Oscar” in his column with reference to Katharine Hepburn’s Best Actress win for Morning Glory in 1934. In his 1975 memoir, Don’t Get Me Wrong − I Love Hollywood, Skolsky wrote that the name appeared when he felt frustrated with the official term “statuette”. He used it in a mocking tribute to vaudeville shows he had seen, where comedians having fun with the conductor of the orchestra would say, “Will you have a cigar, Oscar?”
Standing 13 1/2 inch tall and weighing 8.5 pounds, each Oscar trophy reportedly costs over $400 to produce, but the official regulation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences states that the winners or anyone else cannot sell it in the market. The official website notes: “Award winners shall not sell or otherwise dispose of the Oscar statuette, nor permit it to be sold or disposed of by operation of law, without first offering to sell it to the Academy for the sum of $1.00. This provision shall apply also to the heirs and assigns of Academy Award winners who may acquire a statuette by gift or bequest.”
Finding a loophole in the rule that was only introduced in 1951, an auction of 15 Oscar statuettes handed before the said date was held in 2012. It garnered total sales of more than $3 million. The highlights included Herman Mankiewicz’s 1941 Best Screenplay statuette for Citizen Kane, which went for $588,455.
American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson also reportedly bought the Oscar for Best Picture awarded to Gone With the Wind in 1940 at a 1999 Sotheby’s auction for $1.54 million.
Winning an Oscar might be one of the highlights of a career, but in an intimate dinner with this year’s Oscars nominees last week, Janet Yang, President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, asked the winners to conclude their acceptance speech in 45 seconds. According to a news report on AFP, Yang asked the winners to keep it: “heartfelt, humorous if you’d like, poignant, inspirational, but brief.”
The longest speech the Oscar stage has seen till date was by actor Greer Garson, when she was accepting the award for Best Actress in 1943 for Mrs Miniver. She reportedly spoke for over five minutes, during which she also spoke about the subjective nature of awards ceremonies.
The shortest has been a mere “Thank you”, stated by Patty Duke, when she won the statuette for Best Supporting Actress for The Miracle Worker in 1963. Those close to it include veteran filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, who while accepting the Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award in 1968, stated: “Thank you, very much indeed.”
While the names of the award winners were once shared under strict embargo to the press before the ceremony, this tradition saw a change after 1940 when The Los Angeles Times leaked the winners list before the announcements were officially made. Thereafter, the names of the winners are strictly sealed in an “envelope” as a security measure.
The accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is responsible for tabulating the ballots and handing the presenters envelopes with the names of the winners.
Designed by Los Angeles-based designer Marc Friedland since 2011, three envelopes are reportedly produced for each category. Describing the envelope, the website marcfriedland.com reveals: “The outside of the award envelope features a subtle watermarked pattern and an Art Deco-inspired satin gold foil frame and debossed cavity. An ecru inset panel bears the name of each award category in a rich charcoal ink. Inside the envelope, a heavy-weight ecru card features deco gold foil accents with a gold leaf-embossed Oscar® statuette along with the phrase, “And the Oscar ® goes to…” The winner’s name is printed in charcoal ink and mounted onto a matching, hand-wrapped red lacquer frame. The back of the card indicates the specific award category, and is visible to viewers.”
