Reason why the Academy Awards is called the Oscars as mystery surrounds event
Topics: Celebrity, Oscars, TV And Film, US News
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: DEAN TREML/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, Oscars, TV And Film, US News
Why is it that, when celebrities are bestowed with an Academy Award, they claim they've 'won an Oscar'?
Such has been the case for absolutely decades. But, we don't call a Golden Globe an 'Alan', or a Grammy a 'Keith'. So, what is it about this particular film and television ceremony that warrants it a name and a nickname?
In his 2022 book The Academy and the Award, even longtime former Academy executive director Bruce Davis claimed he had no idea where the term 'Oscars' came from.
So, let's trace it back as far as we can...
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In 1929, Cedric Gibbons - then MGM art director - drew up an initial man-shaped, super-toned, knight figure when commissioned for the first ever huge-name ceremony that year.
By that point, however, the awards weren't known as the Oscars, and were only known as the Academy Awards.
It turns out, that the ceremony was only given its 'Oscar' trademark in 1979.
In the years surrounding that date, several theories emerged on why it had seemingly suddenly earned its nickname.
Theory no. 1 on where the Oscars' title came from was put forward by showbiz veteran and much-loved movie star Bette Davis.
In her 1962 autobiography The Lonely Life, she claimed she'd once recognised the backside of another of her 'Hollywood males' whilst accepting an Academy Award in 1936 for her role in Dangerous.
She revealed the bottom in question belonged to her then-husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson Jr.
The All About Eve actress - who died in 1989, aged 81 - penned in the work at the time: "I stared at the little gold-plated man in the palm of my hand. In a kind of madness, his backview was the spit of my husband's.
"Oscar it has been ever since."
Eventually, researchers found that the term 'Oscars' had been used in newspapers prior to Bette's ascension to the stage, somewhat ruling out her connection to the title.
Theory no. 2 saw Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky allege that he'd named the accolade on a deadline.
In his 1975 memoir Don't Get Me Wrong − I Love Hollywood, he claimed he'd used the term in his column once to discuss Katharine Hepburn's Morning Glory win, after running out of time to write the full title of the prestigious trophy.
Skolsky added at the time that 'Oscar' was used as the go-to name for the butt of all jokes.
In the work, he also ridiculed all other claims that the award had been named another way.
Lastly, a third theory from around the same time claims that Oscars librarian Margaret Herrick joked once that the gold award resembled her own Uncle Oscar, leading other to refer to it as so.
So, there you have it. Sounds as though as might never know the award's real origin.