Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Why are the Academy Awards also called the Oscars?




Officially named the Academy Award of Merit, the statuette is better known by its nickname, Oscar. While the origins of the nickname aren’t clear, a popular story has it that upon seeing the trophy for the first time, Academy librarian Margaret Herrick remarked that it resembled her Uncle Oscar.
             The Academy didn’t adopt the nickname officially until 1939, but it was widely known enough by 1934 that Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used it in a piece referring to Katharine Hepburn’s first Best Actress win.

Source: http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/about/awards/oscar.html