Who is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, America's real Wonderwoman and the inspiration behind the Oscar nominated documentary RBG?

When I head across the pond later this week for our Oscars coverage, I will be making sure I get five minutes to trawl the souvenir shops on Hollywood Boulevard.

Not for a pretend Oscars statuette - I have plenty of them.

No, I’m looking for a superhero action doll. Not of a Marvel character. But of a real, formidable, brilliant Wonderwoman, called Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

She's 85 and the merchandise based on her is outselling the Pope’s at some trade shows, according to vendors.

A small figure of her Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Credit: AP

The Oscar nominated documentary based on her career gives ample reason for the awe and adoration that has come her away.

RBG by filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, follows Ruth Bader Ginsburg's hard fought rise from Harvard law student - at a time when few women made it through the door to study alongside the men - to a sitting Supreme Court Justice, appointed in 1993 by the then President Bill Clinton.

And on that journey, which continues today, she has tirelessly fought for equal rights - she changed everything for women in the US, we hear time and again in the documentary.

Bill Clinton applauds as Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg prepares to speak in the Rose Garden of the White House, June 15, 1993 after the president announced he would nominate Ginsburg to the Supreme Court. Credit: AP

Never afraid to stick to her guns, when she was often out-gunned in male dominated courtrooms, the diminutive New Yorker is seen in archive footage taking her place alongside her male colleagues in the highest court in the US, representing minorities and dazzling with her intellect.

And yet RBG is also a tender love story perhaps at its most touching when she is shown alongside her adoring husband Martin.

He died in 2010, having supported his brilliant wife from her early days in law, through to her ascent to the Supreme Court. Their story is deeply moving.

It is delightful the 85 year old has become something of an icon for millennials.

Known for her dissents in the Supreme Court, i.e. her disagreements with majority decisions, she has been dubbed the Notorious R.B.G, after the rapper Biggie Smalls, also known as Notorious B.I.G.

Supporters of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg march in during the Women's March Alliance in January 2019. Credit: AP

Ms Ginsburg clearly enjoys her new status amongst a new generation, particularly young women who rightly understand her tireless fighting for the rights of women, changed the law to allow them to expect equal treatment in society.

I don’t know if Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who’s recovering from illness, will be at the Oscars, walking the red carpet, and waiting to see if RBG wins for Best Documentary.

But if she’s there, make no mistake, there won’t be a bigger, more rapturous reception for any A list star that night.

I think I’ll get myself a Notorious R.B.G t-shirt too.