Brief History of The First Oscars

11.03.2022

Shortly after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was incorporated in

1927, a dinner was held in the Crystal Ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles to discuss the goals of the new organization. One of those goals was devising a method to honor outstanding achievements, thus encouraging higher levels of quality in all facets of motion.

The first Academy Awards ceremony, commonly known as the Oscars, was held on May 16, 1929. Some 270 guests, including prominent film stars, directors and influential producers, gathered in a hotel on Hollywood Boulevard for the ceremony and accompanying banquet dinner. The prize ceremony lasted around 15 minutes. Then, the attendees turned their attention to dinner and small talk.

The entire membership of the academy had nominated candidates in all categories. Five boards of judges (one from each of the academy’s original branches—actors, writers, directors, producers, and technicians) then determined the 10 candidates with the most votes in each category and narrowed those 10 down to 3 recommendations. A central board of judges, which consisted of one member from each branch, selected the final winners.

The statuette stands 131/2 inches tall and weighs a robust 81/2 pounds. The design of

the statuette has never changed from its original conception, but the size of the base varied until the present standard was adopted in 1945. Officially named the Academy Award® of Merit, the statuette is better known by its nickname, Oscar, the origins of which aren’t clear. A popular story has been that Academy librarian and eventual executive director Margaret Herrick thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so, and that the Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar. In any case, by the sixth Awards presentation in 1934, 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 officially until 1939.