It all started over dinner. Of course it was a dinner conversation at the home of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer‘s chief, Louis B. Mayer. The follow-up organizational meeting took place at the Ambassador Hotel on Jan. 11, 1927. The proposal by the newly formed International Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (International was later dropped) was attended by industry giants like Mayer, Mary Pickford, Sid Grauman, Jesse Lasky, George Cohen, Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Cedric Gibbons and Irving Thalberg. By May of that year, the state granted the Academy non-profit status, and its first 230 members paid $100 each to join. The Academy is “dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures,” with more than 6,000 members today.

The first Academy Awards ceremony took place the evening of May 16, 1929 in the Blossom Room of The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The first year, the awards were given in 12 categories. Since then, the ceremonies have been held at various locations including the Ambassador Hotel, the Biltmore Hotel, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the Shrine Auditorium and the Kodak Theatre.

On Sunday, March 7 the 82nd Academy Awards will take place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.  An “Oscar” is the Academy Award given for artistic distinction in filmmaking. The nickname of the coveted Academy statuette can be traced back to the first decade of its existence. There are three people credited with the nickname — many feel the most plausible originator was the Academy Librarian, Margaret Herrick, who suggested it looked like her Uncle Oscar.

The “Oscar” is a part of Culver City history, not only because we are “The Heart of Screenland” but because the statuette was designed by famed local art director Cedric Gibbons, also a founder of the Academy. He was MGM’s art director in 1928 and his famous work has only been altered once — it was given a higher pedestal in the 1940s.  I should add that in the eighth decade of Oscar, a new mold was made to facilitate the sharp image originally sculpted by George Stanley.

In case you are having an “Oscar Party” trivia is always helpful!  The Oscar is made of gold plated Britannium, and “he” stands 13.5 inches tall. “Oscar” weighs in at 8.5 pounds. The statuettes have been numbered since 1949, beginning with No. 501. In 1934, a miniature statuette was awarded to 6-year-old Shirley Temple, who made nine feature films that year.

For more information, enjoy “80 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy,” and a great online resource is www.oscars.org.

Julie Lugo Cerra is the council-appointed city historian of Culver City and author of three books and hundreds of articles on local history.