OSCARS

Mary Pickford still making Oscar headlines

L.A. judge takes Oscar statuettes case under submission.

From the Associated Press

April 22, 2008

A judge has taken under submission a case involving two Oscars presented to famed actress Mary Pickford and a third given to her former husband, Charles "Buddy" Rogers.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles C. Lee said Tuesday he expected to have a final ruling by the end of the week.

Lee issued a tentative ruling Monday in favor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which sued heirs of Rogers' second wife, Beverly, in August to prevent public sale of the statuettes.

The Academy claims it gets first chance to buy the Oscars under its bylaws.

An attorney for the Academy argued the case should go to trial, scheduled for Sept. 8.

An attorney for Beverly Rogers' children urged the judge to dismiss the case.

Pickford won the Oscar for best actress in 1930 for "Coquette" and was given an honorary Oscar in 1975.