61st Academy Awards
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| 61st Academy Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | March 27, 1989 | |||
| Site | Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles, California |
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| Host | None | |||
| Producer | Allan Carr | |||
| Director | Jeff Margolis | |||
| Highlights | ||||
| Best Picture | Rain Man | |||
| Duration | 3 hours, 19 minutes | |||
| Viewership | 42.77 million | |||
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The 61st Academy Awards were presented March 27, 1989 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. For this show, there was no "official" host as the show opened with a stage-show featuring Merv Griffin, Snow White and Rob Lowe. Another change was that the producers attempted to change the traditional line "And the winner is..." to "And the Oscar goes to...". This broadcast is also noted for being the final public appearance of actress Lucille Ball who died less than one month later.
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[edit] Production background
The producers of the ceremony attempted to change established Oscar traditions for this year's show. One noticeable difference was that instead of an award presenter saying, "and the winner is.." they'd say, "and the Oscar goes to...". Many however, continued announcing winners with the traditional line. In addition, there was no official host for the ceremony this year. The show's opening number consisted of an elaborate stage-show featuring Merv Griffin, Snow White (portrayed by actress Eileen Bowman) and Rob Lowe - the latter two singing an unpopular rendition of the song "Proud Mary".[1]
The Walt Disney Company considered suing for defamation of character for use of the likeness of Snow White, but later dropped the suit. This debacle, in addition to the changes made by the producers, led to the television broadcast receiving a disastrous reception. Consequently, producer Allan Carr would not return to produce the ceremony again, and future ceremonies would not open with a lavish "Broadway-style" opening number for the next 13 years.
[edit] Results
[edit] Out of competition
- Special Achievement Academy Award – To Richard Williams for the animation direction of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
- Honorary Academy Award – To the National Film Board of Canada in recognition of its 50th anniversary and its dedicated commitment to originate artistic, creative and technological activity and excellence in every area of film making.
- Honorary Academy Award – To Eastman Kodak Company in recognition of the company's fundamental contributions to the art of motion pictures during the first century of film history.
[edit] Additional notes
This was the last public appearance for Lucille Ball, who died less than one month later. Ball presented an Oscar along with her long-time friend Bob Hope.
Right before Cher was to present the award for Best Picture, she had an anxiety attack. Jack Nicholson was brought backstage to help calm her down and almost had to present the award with her.
The Best Actor Winner Dustin Hoffman, upon realizing that he'd forgotten to thank Tom Cruise and the director Barry Levinson in his acceptance speech, asked Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn (who were presenting next) to please thank them for him before presenting their award, which Mr. Russell did. Then, when Hoffman and Cruise took the stage later in the show to present the Best Actress award, Hoffman said "In my nervousness, I left out the director's name, and I left out Tom's name. Tom, thank you very much. I love you very much."
[edit] References
- "The Official Academy Awards Database". awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearchInput.jsp.
[edit] External links
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