53rd Academy Awards Ceremony
(1981)
203 minutes
Drama / Family / News
Tuesday, March 31, 1981 at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
Hosted by Johnny Carson
BEST PICTURE
Ordinary People
Coal Miner's Daughter
The Elephant Man
Raging Bull
Tess
BEST DIRECTOR
Robert Redford – Ordinary People
David Lynch – The Elephant Man
Martin Scorsese – Raging Bull
Richard Rush – The Stunt Man
Roman Polanski – Tess
BEST ACTOR
Robert De Niro – Raging Bull
Robert Duvall – The Great Santini
John Hurt – The Elephant Man
Jack Lemmon – Tribute
Peter O'Toole – The Stunt Man
BEST ACTRESS
Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner's Daughter
Ellen Burstyn – Resurrection
Goldie Hawn – Private Benjamin
Mary Tyler Moore – Ordinary People
Gena Rowlands – Gloria
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People
Judd Hirsch – Ordinary People
Jason Robards - Melvin and Howard
Michael O'Keefe – The Great Santini
Joe Pesci – Raging Bull
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Mary Steenburgen – Melvin and Howard
Eileen Brennan – Private Benjamin
Eva Le Gallienne – Resurrection
Cathy Moriarty – Raging Bull
Diana Scarwid – Inside Moves
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Melvin and Howard – Bo Goldman
Brubaker – Screenplay by W. D. Richter; Story by W. D. Richter and Arthur Ross
Fame – Christopher Gore
Mon Oncle D'Amerique – Jean Gruault
Private Benjamin – Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer and Harvey Miller
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Ordinary People – Alvin Sargent
Breaker Morant – Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens and Bruce Beresford
Coal Miner's Daughter – Tom Rickman
The Elephant Man – Christopher DeVore, Eric Bergren and David Lynch
The Stunt Man – Screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus; Adaptation by Richard Rush
BEST FILM EDITING
Raging Bull – Thelma Schoonmaker
Coal Miner's Daughter – Arthur Schmidt
The Competition – David Blewitt
The Elephant Man – Anne V. Coates
Fame – Gerry Hambling
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China – Murray Lerner
Agee – Ross Spears
The Day After Trinity – Jon H. Else
Front Line – David Bradbury
The Yellow Star – The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-45 – Bengt von zur Muehlen and Arthur Cohn
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Karl Hess: Toward Liberty – Roland Hallé and Peter W. Ladue
Don't Mess with Bill – John Watson and Pen Densham
The Eruption of Mount St. Helens – George Casey
It's the Same World – Dick Young
Luther Metke at 94 – Richard Hawkins and Jorge Preloran
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
The Dollar Bottom – Lloyd Phillips
Fall Line – Bob Carmichael and Greg Lowe
A Jury of Her Peers – Sally Heckel
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
The Fly – Ferenc Rofusz
All Nothing – Frédéric Back
History of the World in Three Minutes Flat – Michael Mills
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Fame – Michael Gore
Altered States – John Corigliano
The Elephant Man – John Morris
The Empire Strikes Back – John Williams
Tess – Philippe Sarde
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Fame" from Fame – Music by Michael Gore, Lyric by Dean Pitchford
"9 to 5" from 9 to 5 – Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton
"On the Road Again" from Honeysuckle Rose – Music and Lyric by Willie Nelson
"Out Here on My Own" from Fame – Music by Michael Gore; Lyric by Lesley Gore
"People Alone" from The Competition – Music by Lalo Schifrin; Lyric by Wilbur Jennings
BEST ART DIRECTION
Tess – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Pierre Guffroy and Jack Stephens
Coal Miner's Daughter – Art Direction: John W. Corso; Set Decoration: John M. Dwyer
The Elephant Man – Art Direction: Stuart Craig and Bob Cartwright; Set Decoration: Hugh Scaife
The Empire Strikes Back – Art Direction: Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley, Harry Lange and Alan Tomkins; Set Decoration: Michael Ford
Kagemusha – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Yoshirō Muraki
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tess – Geoffrey Unsworth and Ghislain Cloquet
The Blue Lagoon – Nestor Almendros
Coal Miner's Daughter – Ralf D. Bode
The Formula – James Crabe
Raging Bull – Michael Chapman
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Tess – Anthony Powell
The Elephant Man – Patricia Norris
My Brilliant Career – Anna Senior
Somewhere in Time – Jean-Pierre Dorleac
When Time Ran Out – Paul Zastupnevich
BEST SOUND
The Empire Strikes Back – Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker and Peter Sutton
Altered States – Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Michael Minkler and Willie D. Burton
Coal Miner's Daughter – Richard Portman, Roger Heman and James R. Alexander
Fame – Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Jay M. Harding and Christopher Newman
Raging Bull – Donald O. Mitchell , Bill Nicholson, David J. Kimball and Les Lazarowitz
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
Confidence (Hungary)
Kagemusha (Japan)
The Last Metro (France)
The Nest (Spain)
ACADEMY HONORARY AWARD
Henry Fonda
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Empire Strikes Back (Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson)
PRESENTERS
Alan Arkin and Margot Kidder (Short Subjects Awards)
George Cukor and King Vidor (Best Director)
Blythe Danner and Steve Martin (Best Cinematography)
Angie Dickinson and Luciano Pavarotti (Best Original Song)
Sally Field (Best Actor)
Lillian Gish (Best Picture)
Dustin Hoffman (Best Actress)
Nastassja Kinski and Sigourney Weaver (Best Costume Design)
Jack Lemmon and Mary Tyler Moore (Best Supporting Actor)
The Nicholas Brothers (Best Original Score)
Peter O'Toole and Sissy Spacek (Best Art Direction)
Bernadette Peters and Billy Dee Williams (Best Sound)
Richard Pryor and Jane Seymour (Best Film Editing)
Robert Redford (Honorary Award to Henry Fonda)
Diana Ross and Donald Sutherland (Best Supporting Actress)
Brooke Shields and Franco Zeffirelli (Best Foreign Language Film)
Peter Ustinov (Writing Awards)
Jack Valenti (Best Visual Effects)
Lily Tomlin (Medal of Commendation)
Lesley-Anne Down and Richard Chamberlain (Documentary Awards)
PERFORMERS
Lucie Arnaz ("Hooray for Hollywood")
Irene Cara ("Fame" and "Out Here On My Own" from Fame)
Willie Nelson ("On the Road Again" from Honeysuckle Rose)
Dolly Parton ("9 to 5" from Nine to Five )
Dionne Warwick ("People Alone" from The Competition)
