[Ads-l] Antedating of "Oscar" (Discovered by Brazilian Film Scholar)

[Shapiro, Fred]

Oscar (OED 1934)

1933 Los Angeles Evening Post-Record 5 Dec/ 4/2 (Newspapers.com)

What's happened to the annual Academy banquet?  As a rule, the banquet and the awarding of "Oscar," the bronze statuette given for best performances, is all over long before this.

NOTE:  I believe that this citation tends to nullify the theory that Sidney Skolsky coined "Oscar."  Skolsky in 1934 referred to "Oscar" as an already existing term in the film industry, and now we have proof of its use in 1933.  The citation was discovered by a Brazilian film scholar, Dr. Waldemar Dalenogare Neto.  It was brought to my attention by Barry Popik, who has previously performed important research on "Oscar."

Fred Shapiro

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