It's the biggest movie night of the year, and again I am eagerly awaiting the ceremony. Unfortunately, I am not having a big party this year, with graduate school and working everyday it has been difficult to plan anything. However, I do remember fondly the parties from years ago. I hope you all enjoyed them as much as I did. Well, enjoy the night and have fun.
Oscar Statuette Facts
Height: 13½ inches
Weight: 8½ pounds
Number of Awards Presented: 2,701
First Recipient: Emil Jannings, named Best Actor for his performances in “The Last Command” and “The Way of All Flesh” in 1929
Design: A knight holding a crusader’s sword, standing on a reel of film. The film reel features five spokes, signifying the five original branches of the Academy (actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers).
Designer: Cedric Gibbons, chief art director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Sculptor: Los Angeles artist George Stanley
Manufacturer: R. S. Owens & Company in Chicago
Manufacturing Time: 3–4 weeks for 50 statuettes
Oscar’s Close Call:
For years, Oscars were typically shipped from their manufacturer in Chicago to the Academy’s Beverly Hills headquarters via overland carrier. However, in 2000, just a few weeks before the ceremony, that year’s shipment of 55 Oscars was stolen from the carrier’s loading dock. Ten nerve-wracking days later – and less than a week before the telecast – all but three of the missing statuettes were discovered in a dumpster in Los Angeles.
Since then, the statuettes have been delivered via a special United Airlines flight—and the Academy always keeps a ceremony’s-worth of statuettes on hand, just in case.
