American Cinema: OSCARS... WHAT ABOUT THEIR HISTORY?

The history of the Oscars begins on May 16, 1929. It was officially known as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards. The award ceremony was originally an attempt to help Hollywood improve its tawdry image, but it has grown to become the highest critical honor for cinematic professionals, in addition to one of the biggest public events on the Hollywood calendar.

The First Oscar Ceremony:
The first Oscar award ceremony was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in 1929. The first Academy president was the actor Douglas Fairbanks, who found himself very busy over the course of the ceremony, as he was handing out the statuettes by himself.

In contrast to the secrecy surrounding contemporary Oscar ceremonies, the first ceremony held no suspense, as the winners had been announced three months earlier. The statuettes were handed out quickly because most of the nominees and winners didn't go to the event.

Emil Jennings

The first of the 15 total statuettes handed out was received by the German actor Emil Jennings. He had plans to leave the country before the ceremony, and that is why he received his award early. This makes him the first person to ever receive an Oscar.

Janet Gaynor became the first woman winner of the Academy Award for best actress for her performance in three films: 7th Heaven, Sunrise: A song of two Humans and Street Angel. This was the only occasion on which an actress has won one Oscar for multiple film roles.

Janet Gaynor

Evolution of the Oscars:

The first Oscar award ceremony was the only one not to be broadcast publically. By the second year, the ceremony was being broadcast on radio. In 1953, the ceremony was broadcast on TV for the first time. In 1969 the broadcast went worldwide.

From 1929 to 1940, newspapers received the list of Oscar winners before the ceremony. This arrangement was done so the papers could publish the list in the evening edition, right after the award ceremony finished.

The arrangement work well enough until 1940, when the Los Angeles Times published the winners early-before the actual ceremony. The Academy implemented a sealed-envelope method the following year, an approach that has worked so well that has been used ever since.

Evolution of the Oscar Statuette:

Margaret Herrick

The term "Oscar", came about by accident. It is used to refer to the little statuettes received by winners. It is believed that the academy librarian Margaret Herrick made an innocent comment that the little statue, which was named the Academy Award of Merit, looked like her uncle Oscar. The nickname stuck and it is now the general term most people use to refer to both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science Awards and the actual awards ceremony.

The actual Oscar award is 13 1/2 inches tall (34,3 cm). The very first Oscars were created from solid bronze. During the World War II, Oscars were made of plaster to help conserve resources. Nowadays, the statuette is gold plated and heavy, weighing in at about 8 pounds (3,6 kg).

The Oscar Academy:
The people who decide on the nominations and winners of the Oscars are known as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The original academy had only 36 members. Currently, the academy boasts around 6,000 members.
Academy membership is limited to film artists working in the production of theatrically-released motion pictures. The Academy’s membership process is by sponsorship, not application. Candidates must be sponsored by two Academy members from the branch to which the candidate seeks admission. In addition, Academy Award nominees are automatically considered for membership and do not require sponsors.
Membership review takes place once a year, in the spring.
The Academy has 17 branches, for the crafts ranging from Actors to Writers, and two categories, Members-at-Large and Associates to accommodate individuals who work in motion picture production but do not fit into one of the branches.