CHICAGO, Feb. 19 (UPI) — The statuette to be presented to this year’s best actor Oscar winner is to go on display in Chicago, ahead of next month’s Academy Awards ceremony.
The trophy will be part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Meet the Oscars, Chicago” event, presented by Kodak, at The Shops at North Bridge on Michigan Avenue.
The admission-free exhibition will open Feb. 25 and run through March 7.
“Meet the Oscars, Chicago” also will give movie fans the opportunity to have their picture taken holding an actual Oscar statuette.
“Kodak is proud to partner with the Academy and to help bring the excitement of the Oscars directly to the movie-loving audience,” Kim Snyder, president and general manager of Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging Group Division, said in a statement Thursday. “This partnership is a natural fit for Kodak and a great way to celebrate Kodak’s and the Academy’s shared history in filmmaking.”
The exhibition is to include the statuette actress Bette Davis won for her role in “Jezebel” in 1939. Also on display will be Oscars in various stages of completion, as manufactured by Chicago’s own R.S. Owens & Co.
On March 5 the statuette designated for this year’s best actor Oscar winner will make its way back to Hollywood where it will be reunited with the rest of the Oscars to be presented March 7.
The nominees in the best actor category are Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart,” George Clooney for “Up in the Air,” Colin Firth for “A Single Man,” Morgan Freeman for “Invictus” and Jeremy Renner for “The Hurt Locker.”