Question: Who is the Texas farmer thought to be the namesake of a major motion picture award?
Answer: Oscar Pierce. The origin of the name for the statuettes given to Academy Award winners is disputed. However, the most widely accepted story is that Margaret Herrick, the Academy’s first librarian, remarked that a prototype of the statuette “reminds me of my Uncle Oscar.” Herrick was referring to her mother’s first cousin, Oscar Pierce, who cultivated fruit and wheat in Texas.
