Awards

1989 Oscars 61st Academy Awards

Posted by Joe Hummel IIIPosted 36 years ago March 29, 1989

1989 Oscars 61st Academy Awards

Winners Announced: Wednesday, March 29, 1989
Held at: Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Host: no one
Eligibility Year: 1988

Table of Contents

Trivia

No Host, No Problem: This was one of the rare occasions where the Oscars had no host. Instead, the ceremony opened with an infamous musical number featuring Rob Lowe and Snow White.
Rain Man Rains Supreme: Rain Man dominated the awards, scooping up Best Picture, Best Director for Barry Levinson, and Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman.
Wacky Wednesday: Unlike the traditional Sunday ceremony, the 61st Oscars took place on a Wednesday, breaking with tradition.
Firsts for Animation: Disney’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit won three technical Oscars and also received a Special Achievement Award, marking an impressive year for animation.
Best Actress Upset: Jodie Foster won Best Actress for her role in The Accused, surprising many who had thought that Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons was a shoo-in.
Historic Cinematography: Peter Biziou won Best Cinematography for Mississippi Burning, a film focusing on racial tensions in the American South.
Musical Notes: Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run” from Working Girl won Best Original Song, making it the first and only Oscar-winning song to also win a Grammy and a Golden Globe for Best Song.
Documentary Excellence: The French documentary Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie won Best Documentary Feature, spotlighting the life of the infamous Nazi war criminal.
This broadcast is noted for being the final public appearance of actress Lucille Ball, who died a few weeks later.

1989 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Picture:
Rain Man – Mark Johnson, producer (WINNER)
The Accidental Tourist – Lawrence Kasdan, Charles Okun and Michael Grillo, producers
Dangerous Liaisons – Norma Heyman and Hank Moonjean, producers
Mississippi Burning – Frederick Zollo and Robert F. Colesberry, producers
Working Girl – Douglas Wick, producer

Best Director:
Barry Levinson – Rain Man (WINNER)
Charles Crichton – A Fish Called Wanda
Martin Scorsese – The Last Temptation of Christ
Alan Parker – Mississippi Burning
Mike Nichols – Working Girl

Best Actor:
Dustin Hoffman – Rain Man as Raymond Babbit (WINNER)
Gene Hackman – Mississippi Burning as Agent Rupert Anderson
Tom Hanks – Big as Josh Baskin
Edward James Olmos – Stand and Deliver as Jaime Escalante
Max von Sydow – Pelle the Conqueror as Lassefar

Best Actress:
Jodie Foster – The Accused as Sarah Tobias (WINNER)
Glenn Close – Dangerous Liaisons as Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil
Melanie Griffith – Working Girl as Tess McGill
Meryl Streep – A Cry in the Dark as Lindy Chamberlain
Sigourney Weaver – Gorillas in the Mist as Dian Fossey

Best Supporting Actor:
Kevin Kline – A Fish Called Wanda as Otto West (WINNER)
Alec Guinness – Little Dorrit as William Dorrit
Martin Landau-Tucker: The Man and His Dream as Abe Karatz
River Phoenix – Running on Empty as Danny Pope
Dean Stockwell – Married to the Mob as Tony “The Tiger” Russo

Best Supporting Actress:
Geena Davis – The Accidental Tourist as Muriel Pritchett (WINNER)
Joan Cusack – Working Girl as Cyn
Frances McDormand – Mississippi Burning as Mrs. Pell
Michelle Pfeiffer – Dangerous Liaisons as Madame Marie de Tourvel
Sigourney Weaver – Working Girl as Katharine Parker

Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen:
Rain Man – Screenplay by Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow; Story by Barry Morrow (WINNER)
Big – Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg
Bull Durham – Ron Shelton
A Fish Called Wanda – Screenplay by John Cleese; Story by John Cleese and Charles Crichton
Running on Empty – Naomi Foner

Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium:
Dangerous Liaisons – Christopher Hampton based on the play Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton and the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (WINNER)
The Accidental Tourist – Frank Galati and Lawrence Kasdan based on the novel by Anne Tyler
Gorillas in the Mist – Screenplay by Anna Hamilton Phelan; Story by Anna Hamilton Phelan and Tab Murphy based on articles by Harold T.P. Hayes and Alex Shoumatoff
Little Dorrit – Christine Edzard based on the novel by Charles Dickens
The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Jean-Claude Carrière and Philip Kaufman based on the novel by Milan Kundera

Best Foreign Language Film:
Pelle the Conqueror (Denmark) in Danish – Bille August (WINNER)
Hanussen (Hungary) in Hungarian – István Szabó
The Music Teacher (Belgium) in French – Gérard Corbiau
Salaam Bombay! (India) Hindi – Mira Nair
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Spain) in Spanish – Pedro Almodóvar

Best Documentary Feature:
Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie – Marcel Ophuls (WINNER)
The Cry of Reason: Beyers Naude – An Afrikaner Speaks Out – Robert Bilheimer and Ronald Mix
Let’s Get Lost – Bruce Weber and Nan Bush
Promises to Keep – Ginny Durrin
Who Killed Vincent Chin? – Renee Tajima and Christine Choy

Best Documentary Short Subject:
You Don’t Have to Die – William Guttentag and Malcolm Clarke (WINNER)
The Children’s Storefront – Karen Goodman
Family Gathering – Lise Yasui and Ann Tegnell
Gang Cops – Thomas B. Fleming and Daniel J. Marks
Portrait of Imogen – Nancy Hale and Meg Partridge

Best Live Action Short Film:
The Appointments of Dennis Jennings – Dean Parisot and Steven Wright (WINNER)
Cadillac Dreams – Matia Karrell and Abbee Goldstein
Gullah Tales – George deGolian and Gary Moss

Best Animated Short Film:
Tin Toy – John Lasseter and William Reeves (WINNER)
The Cat Came Back – Cordell Barker
Technological Threat – Bill Kroyer and Brian Jennings

Best Original Score:
The Milagro Beanfield War – Dave Grusin (WINNER)
The Accidental Tourist – John Williams
Dangerous Liaisons – George Fenton
Gorillas in the Mist – Maurice Jarre
Rain Man – Hans Zimmer

Best Original Song:
“Let the River Run” from Working Girl – Music and Lyrics by Carly Simon (WINNER)
“Calling You” from Bagdad Cafe – Music and Lyrics by Bob Telson
“Two Hearts” from Buster – Music by Lamont Dozier; Lyrics by Phil Collins

Best Sound:
Bird – Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore, and Willie D. Burton (WINNER)
Die Hard – Don Bassman, Kevin F. Cleary, Richard Overton, and Al Overton Jr.
Gorillas in the Mist – Andy Nelson, Brian Saunders, and Peter Handford
Mississippi Burning – Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Rick Kline, and Danny Michael
Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Robert Knudson, John Boyd, Don Digirolamo, and Tony Dawe

Best Sound Effects Editing:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Charles L. Campbell and Louis Edemann (WINNER)
Die Hard – Stephen Hunter Flick and Richard Shorr
Willow – Ben Burtt and Richard Hymns

Best Art Direction:
Dangerous Liaisons – Art Direction: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Gérard James (WINNER)
Beaches – Art Direction: Albert Brenner; Set Decoration: Garrett Lewis
Rain Man – Art Direction: Ida Random; Set Decoration: Linda DeScenna
Tucker: The Man and His Dream – Art Direction: Dean Tavoularis; Set Decoration: Armin Ganz
Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Art Direction: Elliot Scott; Set Decoration: Peter Howitt

Best Makeup:
Beetlejuice – Ve Neill, Steve La Porte, and Robert Short (WINNER)
Coming to America – Rick Baker
Scrooged – Tom Burman and Bari Dreiband-Burman

Best Costume Design:
Dangerous Liaisons – James Acheson (WINNER)
Coming to America – Deborah Nadoolman Landis
A Handful of Dust – Jane Robinson
Sunset – Patricia Norris
Tucker: The Man and His Dream – Milena Canonero

Best Cinematography:
Mississippi Burning – Peter Biziou (WINNER)
Rain Man – John Seale
Tequila Sunrise – Conrad Hall
The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Sven Nykvist
Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Dean Cundey

Best Film Editing:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Arthur Schmidt (WINNER)
Die Hard – Frank J. Urioste and John F. Link
Gorillas in the Mist – Stuart Baird
Mississippi Burning – Gerry Hambling
Rain Man – Stu Linder

Best Visual Effects:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Ed Jones, and George Gibbs (WINNER)
Die Hard – Richard Edlund, Al DiSarro, Brent Boates, and Thaine Morris
Willow – Dennis Muren, Michael J. McAlister, Phil Tippett, and Chris Evans

Academy Honorary Awards::
National Film Board of Canada
Eastman Kodak Company

Special Achievement Award:
Richard Williams “For the animation direction of Who Framed Roger Rabbit”.