1976 Oscars 48th Academy Awards

1976 Oscars 48th Academy Awards

  • Winners Announced: March 29, 1976
  • Held at: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
  • Hosts: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, George Segal, Goldie Hawn, Gene Kelly
  • Eligibility Year: 1975

Trivia and Details

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest had a legendary night, sweeping the “Big Five” Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director for Milos Forman, Best Actor for Jack Nicholson, Best Actress for Louise Fletcher, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
  • The late Robert Shaw, known for his role in Jaws, co-hosted the ceremony but didn’t win an Oscar for his iconic performance. Talk about irony!
  • George Burns, at 80 years old, won Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Sunshine Boys, making him one of the oldest winners in this category.
  • Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, got recognized for its score but was noticeably absent from the Best Director and Best Picture nominations. However, it won three Oscars: Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound.
  • The Best Animated Short Film award went to Great, a biographical film about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Quite an eclectic pick for an animation!
  • Dog Day Afternoon was a strong contender with six nominations but managed to snag only one Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
  • Chris Sarandon, nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Dog Day Afternoon, became one of the first actors to receive an Oscar nomination for portraying a transgender character.

1976 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Picture:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz, producers (WINNER)
Barry Lyndon – Stanley Kubrick, producer
Dog Day Afternoon – Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand, producers
Jaws – Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown, producers
Nashville – Robert Altman, producer
Best Director:
Miloš Forman – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (WINNER)
Federico Fellini – Amarcord
Stanley Kubrick – Barry Lyndon
Sidney Lumet – Dog Day Afternoon
Robert Altman – Nashville
Best Actor:
Jack Nicholson – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as Randle Patrick McMurphy (WINNER)
Walter Matthau – The Sunshine Boys as Willy Clark
Al Pacino – Dog Day Afternoon as Sonny Wortzik
Maximilian Schell – The Man in the Glass Booth as Arthur Goldman
James Whitmore – Give ’em Hell, Harry! as Harry S. Truman
Best Actress:
Louise Fletcher – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as Nurse Mildred Ratched (WINNER)
Isabelle Adjani – The Story of Adele H. as Adèle Hugo / Adèle Lewry
Ann-Margret – Tommy as Nora Walker
Glenda Jackson – Hedda as Hedda Gabler
Carol Kane – Hester Street as Gitl
Best Supporting Actor:
George Burns – The Sunshine Boys as Al Lewis (WINNER)
Brad Dourif – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as Billy Bibbit
Burgess Meredith – The Day of the Locust as Harry Greener
Chris Sarandon – Dog Day Afternoon as Leon
Jack Warden – Shampoo as Lester Karpf
Best Supporting Actress:
Lee Grant – Shampoo as Felicia Karpf (WINNER)
Ronee Blakley – Nashville as Barbara Jean
Sylvia Miles – Farewell, My Lovely as Jessie Halstead Florian
Lily Tomlin – Nashville as Linnea Reese
Brenda Vaccaro – Jacqueline Susann’s Once Is Not Enough as Linda Riggs
Best Original Screenplay:
Dog Day Afternoon – Frank Pierson (WINNER)
Amarcord – Federico Fellini and Tonino Guerra
And Now My Love – Claude Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven
Lies My Father Told Me – Ted Allan
Shampoo – Warren Beatty and Robert Towne
Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben based on the novel by Ken Kesey (WINNER)
Barry Lyndon – Stanley Kubrick based on The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. by William Makepeace Thackeray
The Man Who Would Be King – John Huston and Gladys Hill based on the story by Rudyard Kipling
Profumo di donna – Ruggero Maccari and Dino Risi based on the novel Il buio e il mare by Giovanni Arpino
The Sunshine Boys – Neil Simon based on his play
Best Documentary Feature:
The Man Who Skied Down Everest – F. R. Crawley, James Hager and Dale Hartleben (WINNER)
The California Reich – Keith Critchlow and Walter F. Parkes
Fighting for Our Lives – Glen Pearcy
The Incredible Machine – Irwin Rosten
The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir – Shirley MacLaine
Best Documentary Short Subject:
The End of the Game – Claire Wilbur and Robin Lehman (WINNER)
Arthur and Lillie
Millions of Years Ahead of Man
Probes in Space
Whistling Smith
Best Live Action Short Film:
Angel and Big Joe – Bert Salzman (WINNER)
Conquest of Light – Louis Marcus
Dawn Flight – Lawrence M. Lansburgh and Brian Lansburgh
A Day in the Life of Bonnie Consolo – Barry Spinello
Doubletalk – Alan Beattie
Best Animated Short Film:
Great – Bob Godfrey (WINNER)
Kick Me – Robert Swarthe
Monsieur Pointu – René Jodoin, Bernard Longpré and André Leduc
Sisyphus – Marcell Jankovics
Best Original Score:
Jaws – John Williams (WINNER)
Birds Do It, Bees Do It – Gerald Fried
Bite the Bullet – Alex North
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Jack Nitzsche
The Wind and the Lion – Jerry Goldsmith
Best Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation:
Barry Lyndon – Leonard Rosenman (WINNER)
Funny Lady – Peter Matz
Tommy – Pete Townshend
Best Original Song:
“I’m Easy” from Nashville – Music and Lyrics by Keith Carradine (WINNER)
“How Lucky Can You Get?” from Funny Lady – Music and Lyrics by Kander and Ebb
“Now That We’re In Love” from Whiffs – Music by George Barrie; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
“Richard’s Window” from The Other Side of the Mountain – Music by Charles Fox; Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
“Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)” from Mahogany – Music by Michael Masser; Lyrics by Gerry Goffin
Best Sound:
Jaws – John Carter, Roger Heman, Robert Hoyt and Earl Madery (WINNER)
Bite the Bullet – Les Fresholtz, Al Overton Jr., Arthur Piantadosi and Richard Tyler
Funny Lady – Don MacDougall, Richard Portman, Jack Solomon and Curly Thirlwell
The Hindenburg – John A. Bolger Jr., John L. Mack, Leonard Peterson and Don Sharpless
The Wind and the Lion – Roy Charman, William McCaughey, Aaron Rochin and Harry W. Tetrick
Best Foreign Language Film:
Dersu Uzala (Soviet Union) (WINNER)
Letters from Marusia (Mexico)
Profumo di donna (Italy)
The Promised Land (Poland)
Sandakan No. 8 (Japan)
Best Costume Design:
Barry Lyndon – Milena Canonero and Ulla-Britt Söderlund (WINNER)
The Four Musketeers – Yvonne Blake and Ron Talsky
Funny Lady – Ray Aghayan and Bob Mackie
The Magic Flute – Karin Erskine and Henny Noremark
The Man Who Would Be King – Edith Head
Best Art Direction:
Barry Lyndon – Art Direction: Ken Adam and Roy Walker; Set Decoration: Vernon Dixon (WINNER)
The Hindenburg – Art Direction: Edward Carfagno; Set Decoration: Frank R. McKelvy
The Man Who Would Be King – Art Direction: Alexandre Trauner and Tony Inglis; Set Decoration: Peter James
Shampoo – Art Direction: Richard Sylbert and W. Stewart Campbell; Set Decoration: George Gaines
The Sunshine Boys – Art Direction: Albert Brenner; Set Decoration: Marvin March
Best Cinematography:
Barry Lyndon – John Alcott (WINNER)
The Day of the Locust – Conrad Hall
Funny Lady – James Wong Howe
The Hindenburg – Robert Surtees
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Bill Butler and Haskell Wexler
Best Film Editing:
Jaws – Verna Fields (WINNER)
Dog Day Afternoon – Dede Allen
The Man Who Would Be King – Russell Lloyd
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Richard Chew, Sheldon Kahn and Lynzee Klingman
Three Days of the Condor – Don Guidice and Fredric Steinkamp
Academy Honorary Award:
Mary Pickford
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award:
Mervyn LeRoy
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award:
Jules C. Stein
Special Achievement Awards:
Albert Whitlock and Glen Robinson for visual effect work on The Hindenburg
Peter Berkos for sound effect work on The Hindenburg
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