The Saturday briefing

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

- by CAROLINE FORD

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Why are the US Academy Awards known as the Oscars?

Kevin P O'Connor, West Bromwich, West Mids

One of the most recognised trophies in the world, the Academy Order of Merit has been presented to thousands of film makers since the initial awards banquet in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in May, 1929. Made from gold-plated bronze and standing 13.5 inches tall, the trophy is of a knight holding a crusader’s sword, standing on a film reel. It was designed by MGM’s art director Cedric Gibbons in 1928 and sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley.

However the origins of “Oscar” as a nickname for the statuette are disputed. One story has it that upon seeing the trophy for the first time, Academy librarian (and eventual executive director) Margaret Herrick remarked that it resembled her Uncle Oscar.

While this is the most popular story and the one credited by the Academy, Herrick’s account changed slightly in later years, with her admitting she never had an uncle called Oscar but would joke about a fictional Uncle Oscar.