The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was formed in May 1927. Leading figures in the US industry established a non-profit making organisation to improve the artistic quality of motion pictures.
One of the members, an art director named Cedric Gibbons, sketched the design for a golden statuette on the table cloth at a banquet. His design became the model for the Academy's trophies, the first being presented on May 16,1929.
At first the trophy was simply known as 'The Statuette'. In 1931, Margaret Herrick, the Academy's librarian claimed that the statuette looked like her Uncle Oscar. Her remark was repeated around the industry and the name stuck.
Further research revealed that the naming of Oscar had also been attributed to Bette Davis and Sidney Skolsky while HL Mencken ties the story to the Academy but with a different angle. Miss Margaret Herrick later became Executive Director of the Academy and so her version has clearly become the favoured story.
Other sources have suggested two other facts about the Oscar. Firstly, handle any Academy award presented during the second world war with care - it was made of plaster.
Secondly, it is stated that the Academy will buy back unwanted Oscars at the rate of ten dollars each! Business does not appear to be brisk.