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This is Unsung History, the podcast where we discuss people and events in American history that haven't always received a lot of attention. I'm your host, Kelly Therese Pollack. I'll start each episode with a brief introduction to the topic and then talk to someone who knows a lot more than I do. Be sure to subscribe to Unsung History on your favorite podcasting app so you never miss an episode. And please tell your friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, maybe even strangers to listen to. On May 4, 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was incorporated as a non profit organization in California. Actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Was its first president. Fairbanks wife, actress mary pickford, was one of only three women to make up the group of 36 founding members. The other two were writers Bess Meredith and Jeannie McPherson. At its inception, the academy had five producers, actors, directors, writers and technicians. Among the Academy's stated goals was to recognize excellence in the field. They wrote in a founding pamphlet that the Academy quote, will encourage the improvement and advancement of the arts and sciences of the profession by the interchange of constructive ideas and by awards of merit for distinctive achievements, unquote. To accomplish this goal, the Academy began an annual awards presentation. The first Academy Awards honoring achievements in film for the 1927-1928 period was held at a private dinner for around 270 people in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel on Thursday, May 16, 1929. Unlike today's suspense filled moments as the presenter opens the sealed envelope at the first ceremony, the winners were announced to the media for publication in Advance. Throughout the 1930s, newspapers received the winners in advance, but were instructed to wait until 11pm the night of the ceremony to publish. In 1940, though, the Los Angeles Times revealed the winners before the ceremony even began. In 1934, Bette Davis starred in an RKO film of human bondage. Life magazine later described Davis acting turn as probably the best performance ever recorded on the screen by a U.S. actress, unquote. But she was not nominated for an Academy Award, leading to rumors that the producers had interfered with the vote. Davis had been on loan to RKO from Warner, which wasn't thrilled to have its star shine for another studio. Whether or not there had been any interference, the uproar led to the Academy bringing in Price waterhouse, now called PwC, to count the votes each year. After the 1940 LA Times leak, the presenters were handed sealed envelopes with the winners listed within. From that first award ceremony, winners of major awards have received a statuette of a knight standing on a reel of film holding a crusader's sword. The statuette was designed by art director Cedric Gibbons, who would himself go on to win the Academy Award for best art design 11 times. Los Angeles sculptor George Stanley brought Gibbons vision into three dimensions. Officially, that statuette is named the Academy Award of Merit, though today most people call it the Oscar. The nickname wasn't formally adopted by the Academy until 1939, but it was in use by the mid-1930s. Legend has it that Academy librarian Margaret Herrick, who would later become the executive director, upon seeing the statuette for the first time, quipped the it looked like her uncle. Oscar Today, the Oscar statuette is 13 and a half inches tall and weighs 8 and a half pounds. The hefty weight comes from the metal. It's solid bronze with 24 karat gold plating. During World War II, metal shortages meant that for three years the Oscars were made of painted plaster. After the war, winners were allowed to come back and trade in their plaster Oscar for a Metal 1. In 1953, the 25th Academy Awards was televised with Bob Hope as presenter. Previously, the awards show had been broadcast over radio, and there was some resistance among people in the film industry to broadcasting on TV for fear that it would legitimize the small screen. As Bob Hope joked during the ceremony, quote TV, that's where movies go when they die. Unquote. Reviewers at the New York Times and Billboard found the telecast boring, with Billboard complaining about the long stretch of ennui inducing programming, but audiences tuned in. Trend X estimated the award show to have had 50 million viewers. The Academy may have been hesitant to televise their ceremony, but television has accepted it with the annual Academy Awards Telecast winning over 60 Emmys, especially in technical and creative arts categories. Today, the Academy Awards has 24 competitive categories. At the first ceremony in 1929, there were 12 competitive actor, actress, Art Direction Cinematography Directing of a comedy picture Directing of a dramatic picture Engineering, Effects Outstanding Picture Unique and artistic Picture Writing, Adaptation, Writing Original story and writing Title writing It was the only time that title card writing was recognized since the silent era was on its way out. Joseph Farnham won the award, though not for a specific film, in the acting categories. At that first award show, the the winners could be recognized for more than one film during the stated time period. For instance, the best actress winner, Jeanette Gaynor won for three performances in 1927 and 1928 7th Heaven Street angel and Sunrise. At the 9th Academy Awards, presented in 1937, the categories of actor in a supporting role and Actress in a supporting role were introduced. It's up to the voters to determine whether a role is lead or supporting. At the 17th Academy Awards, actor Barry Fitzgerald was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same role. Father Fitzgibbon. He won for Supporting actor. And after that, the Academy changed the rules to prevent such a situation from occurring again. At the 12th Academy Awards presented in 1940, Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. It was the first win by an African American, and McDaniel was relegated to a segregated table at the ceremony. Sidney Poitiers won the first lead acting role by an African American for his portrayal of Homer Smith in Lilies of the field in 1964. It wouldn't be until 2002 at the 74th Academy Awards that a black woman would win a Best Actress award when Halle Berry won for her role as Letitia Musgrove in Monster's ball. At the 98th Academy Awards in 2026, a new category will be introduced for the first time in 25 years, that of achievement in casting. The most recent category, introduced before that, was best animated feature in 2001. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Monica Sandler, a film and media historian at Ball State University, whose forthcoming book is the Oscar Creative Labor, Cultural Production and the Awards System in Media Industry.
