I’d like to thank the Academy for the Oscar.
Yes, the awards might have been a mere afterthought in Louis B. Mayer’s dreams for “the Academy" — part PR ploy to persuade the public that Hollywood was not a den of sin and scandal, part consolidation of power by a group of producers bucking unionization efforts. Yes, no one knows exactly who is responsible for the name “Oscar" (though Academy librarian Margaret Herrick is said to have nicknamed the statue after her uncle).
