What’s up in Los Angeles


WHEN THE 89TH Academy Awards take place on February 26, we’ll all be watching closely to see who wears what, who gets snubbed and who gets to take home the golden guy himself. And how about that guy, Oscar? Even if you’ve memorized all 2,947 award winners, dating back to 1929, the iconic statuette may still be something of a mystery. Here are some lesser- known facts about that coveted gilded trophy.


Originally, the awards were cast in bronze and plated in 24-karat gold. That stopped during WWII, when metal shortages forced a switch to awards made of plaster and gold paint. After the war, the Academy invited winners to trade those in for metal statuettes.


There is no particular Mr. Oscar behind the namesake. The award took on the nickname when the Academy’s librarian saw the first statuette in 1929 and remarked that it looked like her uncle Oscar.


You’re not likely to find an official


Oscar statuette on eBay. Ever since 1950, winners


have had to sign an agreement requiring that they offer the Academy first dibs—for $1— if they decide to sell.


Golden boy


Get to know the most coveted little man in Hollywood. By Brittany Martin


Pre-1950 Oscars


have famously been bought secondhand by Michael


Jackson, David


In 2016, NYC-based Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry took over production


from Chicago-based R.S. Owens, which


had made the statues since 1982. Polich Tallix has restored subtle features to make the new


statues resemble the early awards more closely.


Time Out Los Angeles January–March 2017 2


Copperfield and even Steven Spielberg, who bought Bette Davis’s 1938 Best Actress award in 2001, just so he could return it to the Academy’s archives.


If you plan to win this year, be prepared to carry eight-and- a-half pounds of metal to the after-parties. (Worth it!)


PHOTOGRAPHS: CENTER: PETER BROOKER/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK; BOTTOM LEFT; CENTER RIGHT; BOTTOM CENTER: COURTESY A.M.P. A.S/CORITH MOUS


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76