The statuette was designed by the then artistic director of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Cedric Gibbons. The original model was sculpted by George Stanley, a Los Angeles artist.
It is the oldest and most prestigious film award in the world, which was awarded for the first time on May 16, 1929; the second most prestigious award is one ot the Venice Film Festival, first assigned in 1932.
The statuette’s official name is Academy Award of Merit but we all know it as Oscar.
It is said that Margaret Herrick who worked at the academy, looking at the statue, exclaimed: “It looks just like my uncle Oscar!” And from then on it was renamed.
The first statuette was awarded on May 16, 1929 in the Blossom Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles and is very close to the Dolby Theater which has hosted the ceremony since 2002.
Until 1947 all the films in competition were American, since 1948 foreign films have been awarded and the first to win the statuette was an Italian film “Sciuscià”, by Vittorio De Sica.
