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You are here: Home / Language / How Did the “Oscars” Get its Name and How Did the Academy Award Statuettes Originate?

How Did the “Oscars” Get its Name and How Did the Academy Award Statuettes Originate?

May 24, 2020 by Karen Hill

Since 1928, the Academy Awards have been issued by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for excellence in filmmaking.

The statuettes were nicknamed “Oscar” in 1931 by Margaret Herrick, a secretary at the academy who, upon seeing one for the first time, exclaimed, “Why it looks just like my uncle Oscar.”

Her uncle was Oscar Pierce, a wheat farmer.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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