Sorry, Daddy: Toddler daughter of King's Speech producer drops and dents his Oscar

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Oops: 15-month-old Lara Egan drops the heavy Oscar statue as she plays with it at an after-ceremony party


A right royal disaster struck the King's Speech post Oscars party when a 15-month-old girl dropped the coveted award - leading to a trip to Oscar A&E.

The crew were still ecstatically celebrating the morning after the ceremony, where the British film about stuttering George VI collected four wins, including the coveted Best Picture category.

But when the golden statuette was handed to little Lara Egan, daughter of co-producer Simon Egan, to pose for a photo with the trophy, her tiny hands lost grip of the award, and the Oscar for 2011's best film crashed to the concrete floor.


Academy accident: Mark Logan, grandson of Lionel Logue, photographs the damage to the gold plating of the award at his rented home in Los Angeles


The poolside party stopped dead in total silence as the impact of the award caused a loud bang at the Hollywood Hills home, rented by Simon Egan and Kings Speech producer Gareth Unwin.

The 13.5-inch tall statue had several dents and the gold plating on its chest had come free - terrifying her dad who had proudly held the award in his hand only hours earlier.


I'd like to thank my parents: The toddler clutches the trophy as she begins playing with it during the party


Lara's dad Simon, 44, said: 'Like everyone else I was celebrating off in one corner of the garden with some friends when I saw my daughter looking very cute with the Oscar having her picture taken.

'And then I saw that horrific moment where the statue just fell and it didn't fall on the grass - it fell on the concrete.

'The horror was evident on everyone's face as they all went, "oh s***".


Where's the stunt double? But the award slipped out of her hand and headed towards the concrete floor


Curtain call: The Oscar crashes to the ground with a loud bang that silenced the party The King's Speech crew


'We rushed over to look at the damage and saw a bashed head and gold plating fallen off the chest, a damaged shoulder and a dented stand.

'My first thought was "oh god, what is that going to look like on the mantelpiece!"
'It is a thing of beauty and my daughter had destroyed it, albeit unwittingly. We were all terrified.'

Little Lara had been handed the award by Mark Logan, the grandson of Lionel Logue, George VI's inspirational speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush in the King's Speech.

And after she had dropped the award Mark quickly took a snap of himself and the ruined Oscar award in the mirror - showing his horror at what had happened.

Fearing the worst, producers Gareth, 39 and dad Simon, 44, immediately contacted the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles who hand out Oscars, to see if anything could be done.

And luckily they discovered that the Academy anticipate that Oscars will be damaged in revelry after the ceremony.


Method acting: An exhausted Lara grabs hold of the Best Picture Oscar as she sleeps in Los Angeles


Winners: The trophies had been passed around the crew before little Lara got her hands on it


The red-faced pair booked themselves in for an appointment at the Academy offices in Beverley Hills at 10.30am that Thursday to hand in their damaged award.

Simon said: 'I hoped that if we got on to the Academy straight away they might be able to help us.

'I was scared the night before to even walk across the road with it, but they were like "come in, it is fine, make an appointment and we will have it fixed".


Back to normal: A special 'Oscars A&E' repaired the damage to the prestigious award. Lara and father Simon pose with the fixed trophy


'So we travelled to the Oscar A&E to get it fixed. And to Simon and Gareth's great relief, within minutes they were given a brand new, sparkling Oscar.

Simon said: 'They gave us a brand spanking new Oscar within minutes after a lady wearing gloves took our damaged one away.

'In a funny way I was surprised not to see other sheepish people in their with their damaged Oscars sitting there nursing tears.

'I was stunned by the speed at which The Academy responded. I had no idea that they had an "Oscar Hospital" on standby.

'Apparently this has happened before and thankfully I get to carry home the little golden fella in an un-dented state.'

The Kings Speech was the big winner at the 2011 Oscar ceremony, picking up awards for Best Picture, Best Director for Tom Hooper, Best Actor or Colin Firth and Best Original Screenplay for David Seidler.

Little Lara has already been forgiven by the crew for damaging their Oscar.
Gareth said: 'You can't stay cross with someone as cute as Lara!'

Now safely back with the Kings Speech team, little Lara isn't going to be allowed to play with the statue without grass or pillows nearby.

Simon said: 'She has broken mobiles and laptops before, so I guess she is now moving on to breaking objects of increasing value!


source: dailymail

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