Did Bette Davis Name the Oscars?
Allan Ellenberger discusses the origin of the Academy Award’s nickname "Oscar":
"Two-time Oscar winner … Bette Davis believed that she created the term Oscar to describe the golden trophy.
"’I am convinced that I was the first to give the statuette its name when I received one for my performance in Dangerous, made in 1935,’ Davis said in 1955.
"’I was married at that time to Harmon O. Nelson, Jr [who's pictured in Allan's piece]. For a long time I did not know what his middle name was. I found out one day that it was Oscar, and it seemed a very suitable nickname for the Academy statuette.’
Davis, knowing there were other petitioners to the name, hinted that she would be willing to resort to fisticuffs to support her contention.
"’Of course, that’s all so very long ago – who knows? But I’d suggest that if the other claimants become very insistent we settle the whole thing with a duel.’"
***
Among the "other claimants" were John Barrymore, Walt Disney, and columnist Sidney Skolsky.
According to Allan, Skolsky "may have the best claim for originating the name," adding that "many references credit Skolsky for using the term ‘Oscar’ in a 1934 column in reference to Katharine Hepburn’s Best Actress award for Morning Glory (1933, [right, with Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]). Still another names Skolsky as the anonymous reporter who supposedly overheard [Academy executive secretary] Margaret Herrick christen the statue in 1931; but since Skolsky had not arrived in Hollywood until 1932, that part is unlikely."
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