50 new Oscar® statuettes, two Academy Awards® belonging to filmmaking legends and one Oscar for the public to hold will be on display at “Meet the Oscars, New York” at Times Square Studios in New York City from Feb 15 through Feb 23. The free exhibition will be open daily from noon to 7 pm.
The Oscar won by Gary Cooper for his performance as the title character in “Sergeant York” (1941) will be on display alongside Thelma Schoonmaker’s Academy Award® for Film Editing for “The Departed” (2006). Cooper and Schoonmaker each have earned three Oscars in their career. One of Cooper’s awards was a 1960 Honorary Award “for his many memorable screen performances and the international recognition he, as an individual, has gained for the motion picture industry.” All of Schoonmaker’s Oscars have come for editing Best Picture contenders directed by her frequent collaborator, Martin Scorsese.

The 50 new statuettes featured in the exhibition will be presented to winners at a future Academy Awards ceremony. (The statuettes on display in “Meet the Oscars, Los Angeles” from Feb 1 through 23 will be presented at the 80th Academy Awards ceremony on Feb 24.)

Each Oscar weighs 8½ pounds and stands 13½ inches tall. Handmade annually by R.S. Owens & Company in Chicago, the statuettes are made of britannia, a metal alloy, and are plated in copper, nickel, silver and 24-karat gold.

The 80th Annual Academy Awards will take place at the Kodak Theatre on Feb 24 (Feb 25 morning, Singapore time) in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for excellence in motion pictures. The awards were first presented in 1928 and the awards celebrates its 80th anniversary this year.

For more information about the Academy Awards, visit www.oscar.com.