The 63rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 25, 1991, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards (commonly referred to as the Oscars) were presented in 22 categories. The ceremony, which was televised in the United States on ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Jeff Margolis. Actor Billy Crystal hosted for the second consecutive year. Three weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on March 2, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Geena Davis.
Dances With Wolves won seven awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Dick Tracy with three awards, Ghost with two awards, and American Dream, Creature Comforts, Cyrano de Bergerac, Days of Waiting, Goodfellas, The Hunt for Red October, Journey of Hope, The Lunch Date, Misery, Reversal of Fortune, and Total Recall with one. The telecast garnered nearly 43 million viewers in the United States.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 63rd Academy Awards were announced on February 13, 1991, at 5:38 a.m. PST (13:38 UTC) at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Karl Malden, president of the academy, and actor Denzel Washington. Dances With Wolves led the nominations with twelve total; Dick Tracy and The Godfather Part III tied for second with seven each.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 25, 1991. Kevin Costner became the fifth person to earn the Best Director Award for his directorial debut and to earn nominations for Best Actor and Best Director for the same film. Best Supporting Actress winner Whoopi Goldberg was the second African American woman to win an award. Hattie McDaniel previously won in the same category for Gone With the Wind.
Awards
Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface. {| class=wikitable | valign="top" width="50%" |
Dances With Wolves – Jim Wilson and Kevin Costner, producers Awakenings – Walter Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, producers Ghost – Lisa Weinstein, producer The Godfather Part III – Francis Ford Coppola, producer Goodfellas – Irwin Winkler, producer | valign="top" width="50%" |
Kevin Costner – Dances With Wolves Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Part III Martin Scorsese – Goodfellas Stephen Frears – The Grifters Barbet Schroeder – Reversal of Fortune |- | valign="top" |
Jeremy Irons – Reversal of Fortune as Claus von Bülow Kevin Costner – Dances With Wolves as Lieutenant John J. Dunbar/Dances With Wolves Robert De Niro – Awakenings as Leonard Lowe Gérard Depardieu – Cyrano de Bergerac as Cyrano de Bergerac Richard Harris – The Field as "Bull" McCabe | valign="top" |
Kathy Bates – Misery as Annie Wilkes Anjelica Huston – The Grifters as Lilly Dillon Julia Roberts – Pretty Woman as Vivian Ward Meryl Streep – Postcards from the Edge as Suzanne Vale Joanne Woodward – Mr. & Mrs. Bridge as India Bridge |- | valign="top" |
Joe Pesci – Goodfellas as Tommy DeVito Bruce Davison – Longtime Companion as David Andy García – The Godfather Part III as Vincent Corleone Graham Greene – Dances With Wolves as Kicking Bird Al Pacino – Dick Tracy as Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice | valign="top" |
Whoopi Goldberg – Ghost as Oda Mae Brown Annette Bening – The Grifters as Myra Langtry Lorraine Bracco – Goodfellas as Karen Friedman Hill Diane Ladd – Wild at Heart as Marietta Fortune Mary McDonnell – Dances With Wolves as Stands with a Fist/Christine Gunther |- | valign="top" |
Ghost – Bruce Joel Rubin Alice – Woody Allen Avalon – Barry Levinson Green Card – Peter Weir Metropolitan – Whit Stillman | valign="top" |
Dances With Wolves – Michael Blake based on his novel Awakenings – Steven Zaillian from the book by Oliver Sacks Goodfellas – Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese from Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi The Grifters – Donald E. Westlake based on the book by Jim Thompson Reversal of Fortune – Nicholas Kazan based on the book by Alan M. Dershowitz |- | valign="top" |
Journey of Hope (Switzerland) in German – Xavier Koller Cyrano de Bergerac (France) in French – Jean-Paul Rappeneau Ju Dou (China) in Mandarin Chinese – Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang The Nasty Girl (Germany) in German – Michael Verhoeven Open Doors (Italy) in Italian – Gianni Amelio | valign="top" |
American Dream – Barbara Kopple and Arthur Cohn Berkeley in the Sixties – Mark Kitchell Building Bombs – Mark Mori and Susan J. Robinson Forever Activists: Stories from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade – Judith Montell Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey – Robert Hillmann and Eugene Corr |- | valign="top" |
Days of Waiting – Steven Okazaki Burning Down Tomorrow – Kit Thomas Chimps: So Like Us – Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon Journey into Life: The World of the Unborn – Derek Bromhall Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember – Freida Lee Mock and Terry Sanders | valign="top" |
The Lunch Date – Adam Davidson 12:01 PM – Hillary Ripps and Jonathan Heap Bronx Cheers – Raymond De Felitta and Matthew Gross Dear Rosie – Peter Cattaneo and Barnaby Thompson Senzeni Na? (What Have We Done?) – Bernard Joffa and Anthony E. Nicholas |- | valign="top" |
Creature Comforts – Nick Park A Grand Day Out – Nick Park Grasshoppers (Cavallette) – Bruno Bozzetto | valign="top" |
Dances With Wolves – John Barry Avalon – Randy Newman Ghost – Maurice Jarre Havana – Dave Grusin Home Alone – John Williams |- | valign="top" |
"Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)" from Dick Tracy – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim "Blaze of Glory" from Young Guns II – Music and Lyrics by Jon Bon Jovi "I'm Checkin' Out" from Postcards from the Edge – Music and Lyrics by Shel Silverstein "Promise Me You'll Remember" from The Godfather Part III – Music by Carmine Coppola; Lyrics by John Bettis "Somewhere in My Memory" from Home Alone – Music by John Williams; Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse | valign="top" |
Dances With Wolves – Jeffrey Perkins, Bill W. Benton, Gregory H. Watkins, and Russell Williams II Days of Thunder – Charles M. Wilborn, Donald O. Mitchell, Rick Kline, and Kevin O'Connell Dick Tracy – Thomas Causey, Chris Jenkins, David E. Campbell, and Doug Hemphill The Hunt for Red October – Richard Bryce Goodman, Richard Overton, Kevin F. Cleary, and Don Bassman Total Recall – Nelson Stoll, Michael J. Kohut, Carlos Delarios, and Aaron Rochin |- | valign="top" |
The Hunt for Red October – Cecelia Hall and George Watters II Flatliners – Charles L. Campbell and Richard C. Franklin Total Recall – Stephen Hunter Flick | valign="top" |
Dick Tracy – Art Direction: Richard Sylbert; Set Decoration: Rick Simpson Cyrano de Bergerac – Art Direction: Ezio Frigerio; Set Decoration: Jacques Rouxel Dances With Wolves – Art Direction: Jeffrey Beecroft; Set Decoration: Lisa Dean The Godfather Part III – Art Direction: Dean Tavoularis; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis Hamlet – Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo |- | valign="top" |
Dances With Wolves – Dean Semler Avalon – Allen Daviau Dick Tracy – Vittorio Storaro The Godfather Part III – Gordon Willis Henry & June – Philippe Rousselot | valign="top" |
Dick Tracy – John Caglione Jr. and Doug Drexler Cyrano de Bergerac – Michèle Burke and Jean-Pierre Eychenne Edward Scissorhands – Ve Neill and Stan Winston |- | valign="top" |
Cyrano de Bergerac – Franca Squarciapino Avalon – Gloria Gresham Dances With Wolves – Elsa Zamparelli Dick Tracy – Milena Canonero Hamlet – Maurizio Millenotti | Dances With Wolves'' – Neil Travis Ghost – Walter Murch The Godfather Part III – Barry Malkin, Lisa Fruchtman, and Walter Murch Goodfellas – Thelma Schoonmaker The Hunt for Red October – Dennis Virkler and John Wright
Special Achievement Award (Visual Effects) Total Recall – Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern and Alex Funke.
Honorary Awards To Sophia Loren, one of the genuine treasures of world cinema who, in a career rich with memorable performances, has added permanent luster to our art form. To Myrna Loy, in recognition of her extraordinary qualities both on screen and off, with appreciation for a lifetime's worth of indelible performances.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck.
Multiple nominations and awards
The following 15 films had multiple nominations: Nominations Film 12 Dances With Wolves 7 Dick Tracy The Godfather Part III 6 Goodfellas 5 Cyrano de Bergerac Ghost 4 Avalon The Grifters 3 Awakenings The Hunt for Red October Reversal of Fortune 2 Hamlet Home Alone Postcards from the Edge Total Recall
The following three films received multiple awards.
Awards Film 7 Dances With Wolves 3 Dick Tracy 2 Ghost
Presenters and performers The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.
Presenters Name(s) Role Announcer for the 63rd annual Academy Awards (AMPAS President) Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony Presenter of the opening number Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress Presenter of the award for Best Sound Presenter of the film Ghost on the Best Picture segment Presenter of the award for Best Makeup Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor Martin Short Presenters of the awards for Best Live Action Short Film (Dave Spafford) Presenter of the award for Best Animated Short Film Presenter of the Honorary Academy Award to Myrna Loy Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Somewhere in My Memory" Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design Presenter of the segment of the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement and the Gordon E. Sawyer Award Presenter of the film Goodfellas on the Best Picture segment Presenter of the award for Best Visual Effects Presenter of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Awards to David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck Kim Basinger Introducers of the special dance number to the tune of the Best Original Score nominees and presenters of the award for Best Original Score Kevin Kline Presenters of the award for Best Film EditingSusan Sarandon Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction Presenter of the "My First Movie" montage Ron Silver Presenters of the awards for Best Documentary Short Subject and Best Documentary Feature Presenter of the film Dances With Wolves on the Best Picture segment Whoopi Goldberg Presenters of the awards for Best Sound Effects Editing Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Blaze of Glory" Presenter of the award for Best Cinematography Presenter of the award for Best Foreign Language Film Anthony Hopkins Presenters of the awards for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Presenter of the film Awakenings on the Best Picture segment Presenter of the Honorary Academy Award to Sophia Loren Ann-MargretGregory Hines Presenters of the award for Best Original Song Presenter of the award for Best Actress Presenter of the award for Best Actor Presenter of the film The Godfather Part III on the Best Picture segment Presenter of the award for Best Director Presenter of the award for Best Picture
Performers