Why are Academy Awards called Oscar?
A. How the statuette got the nickname Oscar isn’t clear. A popular story has been that an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, Margaret Herrick, thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so. A reporter standing conveniently nearby is alleged to have overheard her and helped brand the golden guy. 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.
How the award got it’s nickname “Oscar” isn’t very clear. A popular story has been that Academy librarian and eventual executive director Margaret Herrick said that it resembled her Uncle Oscar. A reporter allegedly overheard her and helped brand the golden statuette. 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.
