Oscar Watch

1997 awards' first statues are cast

By VARIETY STAFF

Fifty of the industry's most coveted statuettes were born Thursday in Chicago, when R.S. Owens and Co. -- which has been manufacturing the individual Oscar awards since 1983 -- casts, spins, polishes, buffs and electroplates this year's crop of trophies from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Each statuette is hand-crafted from the alloy britannium, and then plated in cop-per, nickel, silver and, finally, 24-karat gold. The Oscars will come into the world at a strapping 8 1/2 pounds, standing 13 1/2 inches tall.

The Academy has presented 2,242 Oscars throughout the history of the awards program, but it is not clear how the statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, received its folksy nickname.

The Academy awards will be presented Mar. 23, in a ceremony to be broadcast live by ABC, starting at 6 p.m. (PST).