10 Interesting Facts About Oscar Awards

Oscars, one of the most prestigious awards shows and it will honour the best of cinema. The 94th Academy Awards were held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and were hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes. The ceremony was presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films released between March 1 and December 31, 2021. Here are some interesting facts about the Oscars.

The origin of the name Oscar is uncertain. Many stories are there and one story says that the executive director of the Academy, Margaret Herrick, remarked that the statuette resembled her Uncle Oscar. It is said that name was officially adopted by the Academy only in 1939 and this comment was spread through Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky who was there at that time. Skolsky used it in a piece referring to Katharine Hepburn’s first Best Actress win in 1934.

The Oscar statuette weighs about 8.5 pounds and stands 13.5 inches in height and is made of gold-plated britannium.

Between 1942 and the end of World War II, the statuettes were made of plaster to conserve metal.

Edgar Bergen in 1938 was presented with the Oscar statuette and it was the only one ever made of wood for his ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy.

For a movie to be in Oscar Nominations, it must be 40 minutes long; on 35mm or 70mm film, or 24-frame or 48-frame progressive scan Digital Cinema format at a minimum resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels.

Till the year 1989, the winners were declared with the phrase, 'And the winner is...' 

In 1989 at the 61st Academy Awards, this phrase was replaced by 'And the Oscar goes to...'

For the first time on March 19, 1953, the Academy Awards ceremony was telecast across the United States and Canada.

The speeches longer than 45 seconds will be cut off by the orchestra.

Greer Garson gave the longest acceptance speech at the Academy Awards ceremony.

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