The 53rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1980 and took place on March 31, 1981, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, beginning at 7:00 p.m. PST / 10:00 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled to take place originally on the previous day but was postponed due to the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 20 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Norman Jewison and directed by Marty Pasetta. Comedian and talk show host Johnny Carson hosted the show for the third consecutive time. Two weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on March 15, the Academy Scientific and Technical Awards were presented by hosts Ed Asner and Fay Kanin.

Ordinary People won four awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Tess with three awards, The Empire Strikes Back, Fame, Melvin and Howard, and Raging Bull with two, and Coal Miner's Daughter, The Dollar Bottom, The Fly, From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China, Karl Hess: Toward Liberty, and Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears with one. The telecast garnered 39.9 million viewers in the United States.

Winners and nominees The nominees for the 53rd Academy Awards were announced on February 17, 1981, by Academy president Fay Kanin and actor William Devane. The Elephant Man and Raging Bull tied for the most nominations with eight each. The winners were announced at the awards ceremony on March 31. Best Director winner Robert Redford became the third individual to win this category for his directing debut and the first actor to achieve this feat. At age 20, Best Supporting Actor winner Timothy Hutton was the youngest male acting winner in Oscar history. Fame became the first film to earn two nominations for Best Original Song.

Awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger ().

+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 | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Robert Redford – Ordinary People David Lynch – The Elephant Man Martin Scorsese – Raging Bull Richard Rush – The Stunt Man Roman Polanski – TessRobert 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 CrossSissy 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 SwensonTimothy 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 HughesMary 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 LouiseMelvin and Howard – Bo Goldman Brubaker – Screenplay by W. D. Richter; Story by W. D. Richter and Arthur A. Ross Fame – Christopher Gore Mon Oncle D'Amerique – Jean Gruault Private Benjamin – Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer and Harvey MillerOrdinary 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 BrodeurMoscow Does Not Believe in Tears (Soviet Union) in Russian – directed by Vladimir Menshov Confidence (Hungary) in Hungarian – directed by István Szabó Kagemusha (Japan) in Japanese – directed by Akira Kurosawa The Last Metro (France) in French – directed by François Truffaut The Nest (Spain) in Spanish – directed by Jaime de ArmiñánFrom 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 CohnKarl 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 PreloranThe Dollar Bottom – Lloyd Phillips Fall Line – Bob Carmichael and Greg Lowe A Jury of Her Peers – Sally HeckelThe Fly – Ferenc Rofusz All Nothing – Frédéric Back History of the World in Three Minutes Flat – Michael MillsFame – Michael Gore Altered States – John Corigliano The Elephant Man – John Morris The Empire Strikes Back – John Williams Tess – Philippe Sarde"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 JenningsThe 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 LazarowitzTess – 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 MurakiTess – Geoffrey Unsworth and Ghislain Cloquet The Blue Lagoon – Néstor Almendros Coal Miner's Daughter – Ralf D. Bode The Formula – James Crabe Raging Bull – Michael ChapmanTess – Anthony Powell The Elephant Man – Patricia Norris My Brilliant Career – Anna Senior Somewhere in Time – Jean-Pierre Dorleac When Time Ran Out – Paul ZastupnevichRaging Bull – Thelma Schoonmaker Coal Miner's Daughter – Arthur Schmidt The Competition – David Blewitt The Elephant Man – Anne V. Coates Fame – Gerry Hambling

Special Achievement Award (Visual Effects) The Empire Strikes Back – Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson.

Honorary Award To Henry Fonda, the consummate actor, in recognition of his brilliant accomplishments and enduring contribution to the art of motion pictures.

Multiple nominations and awards

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

+ Films with multiple wins Wins Film 4 Ordinary People 3 Tess 2 Fame Melvin and Howard Raging Bull

Presenters and performers The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers:

Presenters + Name(s) Role Announcer of the 53rd Academy Awards (pre-recorded) Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony Mary Tyler Moore Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actor Margot Kidder Presenters of the awards for Best Animated Short Film and Best Live Action Short Film Lesley-Anne Down Presenters of the Documentary Short Subject and Best Documentary Feature Sissy Spacek Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction Sigourney Weaver Presenters of the award for Best Costume Design Presenter of the award for Best Visual Effects Billy Dee Williams Presenters of the award for Best Sound Franco Zeffirelli Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film Harold Nicholas Presenters of the award for Best Original Score Jane Seymour Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing Donald Sutherland Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actress Luciano Pavarotti Presenters of the award for Best Original Song Presenters of the awards for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Presenter of the Honorary Award to Henry Fonda Steve Martin Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography King Vidor Presenters of the award for Best Director Presenter of the award for Best Actor Presenter of the award for Best Actress Presenter of the award for Best Picture

Performers + Name Role Performed Musical arrangerConductor Orchestral Performer Performer from Honeysuckle Rose Performer and "Out Here On My Own" from Fame Performer from Nine to Five Performer from The Competition Performers (reprise)" (orchestral) during the closing credits

Ceremony information

In December 1980, the Academy hired film producer Norman Jewison to produce the telecast for the first time. "I am delighted that the Academy will have the benefit of Norman Jewison's insight and creativity," said AMPAS President Fay Kanin in a press release announcing the selection. "He has always been able to bring a fresh approach into his work." That same month, it was announced that comedian and The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson would preside over emceeing duties for the 1981 ceremony. Jewison explained the decision to hire Carson, saying that the host was "an entertainment institution whose spontaneous wit and charm would add a great deal to the quality of the show."

Originally, the gala was scheduled to take place on March 30. However, due to the attempted assassination on US president Ronald Reagan which occurred earlier that day, Kanin, Jewison, and executives from broadcaster ABC announced that the festivities would be postponed to the following day. It marked the first time since the 40th ceremony held in 1968 that the ceremony was postponed from its original date. Furthermore, producers debated whether or not to televise a pre-recorded speech from Reagan, who was a former actor, saluting the nominees and the Academy. The segment, which was filmed nearly four weeks prior to the show, was eventually broadcast, with host Carson giving a preface explaining the decision to postpone the event.

The Fly acceptance speech