The Oscar statue found in Frankfurt is just one of the missing ones

Film director Pavel Talankinin was missing The Oscar has been found. According to Lufthansa, the statue is safely held by its employees in Frankfurt.

The airline promised to return the item to its owner as soon as possible.

Talankin won an Oscar this spring for his feature-length documentary Alone Against Putin (Mr. Nobody Against Putin). He is the co-director and main character of the film.

Plunder traveled from New York JF Kennedy Airport to Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday. He had packed his Oscar in his carry-on luggage, but TSA officials refused to let him board the plane with it.

According to them, the statue weighing just under four kilograms was a security risk, as it could be used as a weapon.

Since Talankin had no checked baggage, the prize was packed in bubble wrap with the help of Lufthansa staff and sealed in a box for the flight.

Responsible producer of the documentary Robin Hessman commented on the incident bitterly.

“This would not have happened Leonardo DiCapriolle,” Hessman said.

The producer may be right, but quite a few stars have lost their awards. The following are the most famous cases.

1. Hattie McDaniel’s Lost Trophy

Hattie McDaniel made history in 1940 when she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the film Gone with the wind as the first African-American actor. At that time, statues were not distributed on the sidelines, but commemorative plaques. McDaniel bequeathed the award to Howard University in Washington, where it disappeared without a trace. Later the university got replacement award.

2. Judy Garland mystery statue

Judy Garland received the so-called “children’s Oscar” in 1940 for the film The Wizard of Oz.

In 1958, her then husband and manager Sid air reported Oscar missing and Garland was given a replacement award. In 2000, 31 years after Garland’s death, the missing original statue was found on an internet auction site. It was revealed that Luft sold it for a starting price of three million dollars.

The Academy blocked the deal in court, and the smaller-than-normal Oscar statue disappeared again.

In any case, the Academy has tried to curb the statue trade by various means. In 1951, the “one dollar rule” was introduced. Since then, each winner has signed a contract agreeing not to sell or pass on the prize without first offering it back to the Academy for one dollar. The rule also extends to heirs and other owners.

3. Olympia Dukakis’ stolen Oscar

Olympia Dukakis won the best supporting actress Oscar for the film Moonstruck in 1988. The statue was later stolen from his home, and the thief tried to sell it back for a ransom. Dukakis refused. Instead, he bought a replacement Oscar from the Academy for $78, as allowed by the rules. The original statue was lost forever.

“I’d say about 150 Oscar statues have been sold either publicly or semi-secretly over the years,” said the auctioneer Caroline Ashleigh in 2023 The Guardianissa.

4. 55 Oscar scandal

In March 2000, the biggest disappearance case in Oscar history was proven. Just before the gala, 55 Oscar statues disappeared during transport in California. The Academy promised a $50,000 reward for tips, and the FBI joined the investigation.

In the end, the statues were found next to the garbage can behind the laundry room. The culprits were two employees of the transport company who had opened the shipment and thought they had found gold. Three Oscars were permanently missing.

In reality, the statue is not solid gold, but cast from bronze and coated with 24 carat gold. The manufacturing cost of one Oscar statue is approximately less than one thousand euros.

5. Whoopi Goldberg’s Oscar got lost in the mail

Whoopi Goldberg sent her Best Supporting Actress Oscar (Ghost1991) to be purified. However, the package arrived at the company empty.

A few days later, the statue named found in the trash near California airport. It was returned back to Goldberg.

6. Matt Damon’s flood incident

Matt Damon won an Oscar for the screenplay Good Will Hunting in 1998. In 2007, he said that the statue had disappeared during the investigation of water damage. The sprinkler system in the New York apartment had gone off, things were moved, boxes were stored, and Oscar disappeared with them. Fortunately, Damon was left with several statues even after they disappeared.

7. Harvey Weinstein’s Lost Awards

The infamous Weinstein Company won back-to-back Best Picture Oscars The King’s Speech with the film 2011 and The Artist with the movie 2012. Vanity Fair reported in 2018 that both statues went missing from the company’s New York offices.

According to the magazine, a former film producer involved in sexual crime scandals Harvey Weinstein spent his last days at the company trying to delete documents.

8. Jared Leto’s Oscar drowned in change

Jared Leto won an Oscar for his role in the film Dallas Buyers Club in 2014. A few years later, the statue “magically” disappeared during a move.

The following year, Leto then published a joyful picture of the statue being found. Mysteriously, he still hasn’t said where it was for years.

9. The man grabbed the statue with the extension cord

Frances McDormand won the Best Actress Oscar in 2018 for the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. That same evening, during the official continuation of the Oscar gala, a man grabbed the statue and tried to leave the party with it in hand.

The escape route was prevented by a photographer working at the party, who stopped the man. Before his arrest, the man managed to make a Facebook update in which he kisses the statue.

10. Fire destroyed Colleen Atwood’s awards

Costume designer Colleen Atwood lost several of his awards In the wildfires of Los Angeles. His home was destroyed, and several Oscars were badly damaged or completely destroyed. The Academy then announced that it would replace the destroyed prizes.