the original oscar statue is based on the body of actor/model-
EMILIO FERNADEZ.
Born in Coahuila, Mexico in 1904, Fernandez grew up during the bloody Mexican Revolution. He dropped out of high school to become an officer for the Huertista rebels. In 1925, Fernandez was captured and sentenced to 20 years in prison. But he escaped soon after and crossed the border to Los Angeles, where he lived in exile for the next decade.
Fernandez fell into extra work in Hollywood, where he was first called “El Indio” by the silent film star Dolores Del Rio. The nickname wasn’t exactly a compliment, but Del Rio would eventually help Fernandez become the most famous man in Hollywood.
He served as the model for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences First Award of Merit statuette (later called the Academy Award). While in exile in Los Angeles after a failed military revolt back in his native Mexico, actress Dolores del Rio -- a native of Mexico -- thought his physique would be perfect for the Crusader Knight her husband, the art designer Cedric Gibbons, had sketched out as the basis of the award he had been tasked with creating. Del Rio introduced Fernández to Gibbons with the idea of him being the model for the Knight, whom Gibbons envisioned as being totally in the buff. Though reluctant at first, Fernández finally was convinced to pose naked to create what today it is known as the "Oscar".
ON MARCH~ 1ST~ 2014~ 8:28AM
