53rd Academy Awards

53rd Academy Awards
53rd Academy Awards
Date	March 31, 1981
Site	Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles
Hosted by	Johnny Carson
Produced by	Norman Jewison
Directed by	Marty Pasetta
Highlights
Best Picture	Ordinary People
Most awards	Ordinary People (4)
Most nominations	The Elephant Man and Raging Bull (8)
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Duration	3 hours, 13 minutes
	← 52nd; Academy Awards; 54th →;

The 53rd Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1980, were presented March 31, 1981, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The ceremonies, which were presided over by Johnny Carson, were originally scheduled for the previous day but were postponed due to the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

David Lynch's The Elephant Man and Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull, with eight nominations each, had the most nominations of this year's films. Their nominations included Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director. Michael Apted's Coal Miner's Daughter received seven nominations while Ordinary People and Tess received six.

The year's winner of acting categories also marked as the closest span ever between the four winners, all of whom were under 40 when they won the award. Robert De Niro was 37 when awarded Best Actor, Sissy Spacek was 31 when awarded Best Actress, Timothy Hutton was 20 when awarded Best Supporting Actor, and Mary Steenburgen was 28 when awarded Best Supporting Actress. In addition, Hutton was the youngest ever Best Supporting Actor winner. His award was one of four that Ordinary People won, more than any other movie; the movie also won Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Redford and Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for Alvin Sargent.

The lack of recognition for Christopher Tucker's make-up work on The Elephant Man prompted the creation of the Academy Award for Best Makeup the following year.

Best Supporting Actress nominee Eva Le Gallienne was born in 1899, which made her the last acting nominee to be born in the nineteenth century. As of 2017^[update], this is the earliest Oscars for which all five directing nominees are still living.

Awards

Photo of Sissy Spacek receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 1, 2011. — Sissy Spacek, Best Actress winner

Photo of Timothy Hutton at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. — Timothy Hutton, Best Supporting Actor winner

Photo of Mary Steenbergen receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 16, 2009. — Mary Steenburgen, Best Supporting Actress winner

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).^[1]

Best Picture	Best Director
Ordinary People – Ronald L. Schwary, producer‡ Coal Miner's Daughter – Bernard Schwartz, producer The Elephant Man – Jonathan Sanger, producer Raging Bull – Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler, producers Tess – Claude Berri, producer; Timothy Burrill, co-producer	Robert Redford – Ordinary People‡ David Lynch – The Elephant Man Martin Scorsese – Raging Bull Richard Rush – The Stunt Man Roman Polanski – Tess
Best Actor	Best Actress
*Robert De Niro – Raging Bull* as Jake LaMotta*‡ Robert Duvall – The Great Santini* as Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meechum John Hurt – The Elephant Man as Joseph Merrick Jack Lemmon – Tribute as Scottie Templeton Peter O'Toole – The Stunt Man as Eli Cross	*Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner's Daughter* as Loretta Lynn*‡ Ellen Burstyn – Resurrection* as Edna Mae McCauley Goldie Hawn – Private Benjamin as Judy Benjamin Mary Tyler Moore – Ordinary People as Beth Jarrett Gena Rowlands – Gloria as Gloria Swenson
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
*Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People* as Conrad Jarrett*‡ Judd Hirsch – Ordinary People* as Dr. Tyrone C. Berger Michael O'Keefe – The Great Santini as Ben Joe Pesci – Raging Bull as Joey LaMotta Jason Robards – Melvin and Howard as Howard Hughes	*Mary Steenburgen – Melvin and Howard* as Lynda West Dummar*‡ Eileen Brennan – Private Benjamin* as Doreen Lewis Eva Le Gallienne – Resurrection as Pearl Cathy Moriarty – Raging Bull as Vikki Thailer Lamotta Diana Scarwid – Inside Moves as Louise
Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen	Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
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	Ordinary People – Alvin Sargent based on the novel by Judith Guest‡ Breaker Morant – Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens and Bruce Beresford based on the play by Kenneth G. Ross Coal Miner's Daughter – Thomas Rickman based on the autobiography by Loretta Lynn with George Vecsey The Elephant Man – Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren and David Lynch based on the books The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences by Sir Frederick Treves and The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity by Ashley Montagu The Stunt Man – Screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus; Adaptation by Richard Rush based on the novel by Paul Brodeur
Best Foreign Language Film	Best Documentary Feature
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)‡ Confidence (Hungary) Kagemusha (Japan) The Last Metro (France) The Nest (Spain)	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 Subject	Best Dramatic Live Action Short Film
Karl Hess: Toward Liberty – Roland Hallé and Peter 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	The Dollar Bottom – Lloyd Phillips‡ Fall Line – Bob Carmichael and Greg Lowe A Jury of Her Peers – Sally Heckel
Best Animated Short Film	Best Original Score
The Fly – Ferenc Rofusz‡ All Nothing – Frédéric Back History of the World in Three Minutes Flat – Michael Mills	Fame – Michael Gore‡ Altered States – John Corigliano The Elephant Man – John Morris The Empire Strikes Back – John Williams Tess – Philippe Sarde
Best Original Song	Best Sound
*"Fame" from Fame* – Music by Michael Gore; Lyrics by Dean Pitchford*‡ "9 to 5" from 9 to 5* – Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton "On the Road Again" from Honeysuckle Rose – Music and Lyrics by Willie Nelson "Out Here on My Own" from Fame – Music by Michael Gore; Lyrics by Lesley Gore "People Alone" from The Competition – Music by Lalo Schifrin; Lyrics by Will Jennings	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 Jim Alexander Fame – Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Jay M. Harding and Chris Newman Raging Bull – Donald O. Mitchell, Bill Nicholson, David J. Kimball and Les Lazarowitz
Best Costume Design	Best Art Direction
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	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 Robert 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	Best Film Editing
Tess – Geoffrey Unsworth (posthumous award) and Ghislain Cloquet‡ The Blue Lagoon – Néstor Almendros Coal Miner's Daughter – Ralf D. Bode The Formula – James Crabe Raging Bull – Michael Chapman	Raging Bull – Thelma Schoonmaker‡ Coal Miner's Daughter – Arthur Schmidt The Competition – David Blewitt The Elephant Man – Anne V. Coates Fame – Gerry Hambling

Academy Honorary Award

Henry Fonda

Special Achievement Award

The Empire Strikes Back (Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson) for Visual Effects

Presenters and performers

The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.

Presenters

Name	Role
Hank Simms	Announcer for the 53rd annual Academy Awards
Ronald Reagan (pre-recorded)	Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony
Jack Lemmon Mary Tyler Moore	Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin Margot Kidder	Presenters of the Short Films Awards
Lily Tomlin	Presenter of the Medal of Commendation
Richard Chamberlain Lesley-Anne Down	Presenters of the Documentary Awards
Peter O'Toole Sissy Spacek	Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction
Nastassja Kinski Sigourney Weaver	Presenters of the award for Best Costume Design
Jack Valenti	Presenter of the award for Best Visual Effects
Bernadette Peters Billy Dee Williams	Presenters of the award for Best Sound
Brooke Shields Franco Zeffirelli	Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Nicholas Brothers	Presenters of the award for Best Original Score
Richard Pryor Jane Seymour	Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing
Diana Ross Donald Sutherland	Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actress
Angie Dickinson Luciano Pavarotti	Presenters of the award for Best Original Song
Peter Ustinov	Presenters of the Writing Awards
Robert Redford	Presenter of the Honorary Award to Henry Fonda
Blythe Danner Steve Martin	Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography
George Cukor King Vidor	Presenters of the award for Best Director
Sally Field	Presenter of the award for Best Actor
Dustin Hoffman	Presenter of the award for Best Actress
Lillian Gish	Presenter of the award for Best Picture

Performers

Name	Role	Performed
Henry Mancini	Musical arranger and Conductor	Orchestral
Lucie Arnaz	Performer	"Hooray for Hollywood"
Willie Nelson	Performer	"On the Road Again" from Honeysuckle Rose
Irene Cara	Performer	"Fame" and "Out Here On My Own" from Fame
Dolly Parton	Performer	"9 to 5" from Nine to Five
Dionne Warwick	Performer	"People Alone" from The Competition
Academy Awards Orchestra	Performers	"Hooray for Hollywood (reprise)" (orchestral) during the closing credits

Multiple nominations and awards

These films had multiple nominations:

8 nominations: The Elephant Man and Raging Bull
7 nominations: Coal Miner's Daughter
6 nominations: Fame, Ordinary People and Tess
3 nominations: The Empire Strikes Back, Melvin and Howard, Private Benjamin and The Stunt Man
2 nominations: Altered States, The Competition, The Great Santini, Kagemusha and Resurrection

The following films received multiple awards.

4 wins: Ordinary People
3 wins: Tess
2 wins: Fame, Melvin and Howard and Raging Bull

References

^ "The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2011-10-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

"The Official Academy Awards Database". awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[Oscars1981-1] "The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2011-10-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[1]