11:18AM, Feb 25, 2009
He's only 13 and a half inches tall and weighs 8 and a half pounds, but this little fella can propel mere actors into the realms of superstar and add millions to a movie's box office.
Everyone who has ever dreamed of making it in Hollywood wants to own one.
It is of course the most famous 24-carat plated gold man, the Oscar statuette.
Having a real Oscar on your mantelpiece is a sign that you've finally made it. And not just amongst film fans either; the Oscar is universally recognisable, bringing kudos to whoever wins.
Little Oscar was conceived in 1927, when the Academy was first formed and they wanted an award to encourage excellence in film production.
Bizarrely, given how famous the Oscars are all over the world, no one really quite knows how they got their nickname.
Academy's Executive Secretary Margaret Herrick stated in 1931 that it reminded her of her Uncle Oscar and so lays claim to the naming movie's most valuable award.
But, Bette Davis claims she coined the name after her husband, but the nickname was in wide circulation at least two years before she won her first statuette.
Finally, even Davis agreed her account wasn't entirely accurate. But the real version remains a mystery...
Since 1982 Chicago-based company RS Owens has had the awesome responsibility of producing the handmade awards.
"When we first get the Oscar order, the mould is pulled from the shelves where it is held in seclusion by itself," says RS Owens' sales manager, Tim Brown.
"The mould is then prepped and put to a certain temperature so that the britanium, which is the alloy we use, will flow through the mould freely and make a solid casting.
"We then send it to the polishing department, it's both polished and buffed, and then it goes to plating. The gold is the final plating process. It's 24-carat gold."
"We do about 50 statues a year as the Academy states that they really do not know how many are actually going to be given out. So we do an overrun so they are not left holding the bag, so to speak."
The statuettes are then sent to Los Angeles in time for the ceremony - but at that point in the process in 2000, disaster struck. Fifty-five Oscars vanished, putting organisers in a panic.
Red-faced officials put up a $50,000 reward for their safe return, as the world wondered if the biggest showbiz night of the year would be without its main attraction.
"I was very embarrassed that that happened," says former Academy President Robert Rehme. "We had shipped the Oscars that way from the foundry, via this express company, for years."
"Clearly the shipping company was more than a little lax in their procedures," adds Bruce Davis, the Academy's executive director.
"They got it in to their enclosed compound and then allowed employees to walk off with the merchandise." Ever since, the Academy keeps a stash of extras on hand just in case.
To date 2,725 Oscars have been presented, adorning mantle-pieces and trophy cabinets the world over. Emma Thompson, who won one for Howard's End in 1992, keeps her feet on the ground by keeping her Oscar statuette in her loo!
But wherever they're kept they remain the ultimate industry accolade.
