The 84th Academy Awards will be televised on Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 7 EST (4 PST) and will be hosted this year by the inimitable Billy Crystal. It will be the ninth time that he will be hosting the Oscars! Bookmark this blog page and tune in to watch it all LIVE ONLINE!
The 2012 Academy Awards is noted for some very special milestones! Not only do we recognize the achievements of an illustrious echelon of actors and actresses - as well as directors, writers, editors, musicians, costume design and many other categories. This year is special indeed because we honour Woody Allen, who at 76, is the sixth oldest nominee for Best Director; and Christopher Plummer, who is the fourth oldest nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 82! Meryl Streep has earned a 17th nomination, the most that any actor or actress has ever received, breaking the record set by Katharine Hepburn in 1981 with 12 nominations, and tieing with Jack Nicholson in 2002. And Max von Sydow, who at 82, has become the second oldest nominee for Best Supporting Actor!
All of Hollywood (and fans around the world) are waiting with bated breath to find out who will win the coveted Oscars this year! But with all the razzle dazzle surrounding the world's biggest show, we have never given a second thought to the most important thing - Oscar itself!! Did you know that the famous statuette was actually modeled after a real person?
One of the original Academy members, MGM art director Cedric Gibbons supervised the design of "Oscar". At first the design was printed on a scroll, but lacked that certain "je ne sais quoi". What was needed was a live model to pose for the design, and Gibbons wife, Dolores del Rio introduced him to Emilio "El Indio" Fernandez, a Mexican film director and actor. After some time they finally persuaded him to pose in the nude, and thus was created what we know today as "The Oscar". (However, certain obvious features had to be left out of the final statuette - for the sake of propriety!)
For those who want to know, the Oscar is NOT solid gold, but its value is obviously immense prestige for the artists who win it! These coveted awards are gold-plated britannium on a black metal base, measures 13.5 inches high (or 34 cm), and weighs 8.5 lb (or 3.85 kg). The design is distinctly Art Deco and depicts a knight holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film. The five spokes of the reel represent the original branches of the Academy: actors, writers, directors, producers, and technicians.
Which brings us to the next question - why is the statuette named OSCAR? The late and great Bette Davis once attested that she named the award after her husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson. But then Walt Disney claimed bragging rights for having chosen the name. And the secretary to Louis B. Mayer, a Norwegian-American also claimed to have chosen the name because, as she put it, she noticed that the statuette looked a lot like King Oscar III. We shall never know for sure!
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| Emilio "El Indio" Fernández |
One of the original Academy members, MGM art director Cedric Gibbons supervised the design of "Oscar". At first the design was printed on a scroll, but lacked that certain "je ne sais quoi". What was needed was a live model to pose for the design, and Gibbons wife, Dolores del Rio introduced him to Emilio "El Indio" Fernandez, a Mexican film director and actor. After some time they finally persuaded him to pose in the nude, and thus was created what we know today as "The Oscar". (However, certain obvious features had to be left out of the final statuette - for the sake of propriety!)
For those who want to know, the Oscar is NOT solid gold, but its value is obviously immense prestige for the artists who win it! These coveted awards are gold-plated britannium on a black metal base, measures 13.5 inches high (or 34 cm), and weighs 8.5 lb (or 3.85 kg). The design is distinctly Art Deco and depicts a knight holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film. The five spokes of the reel represent the original branches of the Academy: actors, writers, directors, producers, and technicians.
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| The late Bette Davis - Great Star of the Silver Screen |
So without further ado, the following is a Complete Index of the nominees in each category. Just click on the links that interest you so that you can watch video clips of each of nominee. (It was impossible to combine all the videos in one blog post - so each category is posted as a separate blog post.) And don't forget to share this blog post with your friends. Just click on the links to Facebook and Twitter links, in the column at the right, or at the end of this post! Enjoy the videos and have fun watching the Oscars!!
COMPLETE INDEX OF 2012 NOMINEES - PER CATEGORY
Just click on your choice to watch the video trailers.
