1962 Oscars 34th Academy Awards

Posted by Joe Hummel IIIPosted 62 years ago April 9, 1962

1962 Oscars 34th Academy Awards

Winners Announced: April 9, 1962
Held at: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California
Host: Bob Hope
Eligibility Year: 1961

Cinematic Highlights and Achievements

West Side Story Sweeps: The musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet took home 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, and Best Supporting Actress for Rita Moreno.
First Black Actor to Win: Sidney Poitier made history by becoming the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field.
Gregory Peck’s Moral High Ground: Peck won Best Actor for his iconic role as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, which also won Best Adapted Screenplay.
Through a Glass Darkly Shines: Ingmar Bergman’s drama won Best Foreign Language Film.

Little-Known Trivia

Musical Firsts: Jerome Robbins became the first director to receive an Oscar specifically for directing a musical, sharing the honor with Robert Wise for West Side Story.
Youngest Supporting Actress: At 16, Patty Duke became the youngest actress to win in a supporting role for The Miracle Worker.
The First Televised Oscars: This was the first Oscars ceremony to be televised live via satellite.
Four-Hour Marathon: The ceremony lasted over four hours, one of the longest in the Academy’s history.
Sophia Loren became the first actress to win an acting Oscar for a non-English-speaking role.
West Side Story and Judgment at Nuremberg each earned 11 nominations. West Side Story won 10 Oscars. Judgment at Nuremberg won 2 Oscars.
Take our 1962 Quiz!

1962 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Motion Picture:
West Side Story – Robert Wise, producer (WINNER)
Fanny – Joshua Logan, producer
The Guns of Navarone – Carl Foreman, producer
The Hustler – Robert Rossen, producer
Judgment at Nuremberg – Stanley Kramer, producer

Best Director:
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins – West Side Story (WINNER)
Federico Fellini – La Dolce Vita
J. Lee Thompson – The Guns of Navarone
Robert Rossen – The Hustler
Stanley Kramer – Judgment at Nuremberg

Best Actor:
Maximilian Schell – Judgment at Nuremberg (WINNER)
Charles Boyer – Fanny
Paul Newman – The Hustler
Spencer Tracy – Judgment at Nuremberg
Stuart Whitman – The Mark

Best Actress:
Sophia Loren – Two Women (WINNER)
Audrey Hepburn – Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Piper Laurie – The Hustler
Geraldine Page – Summer and Smoke
Natalie Wood – Splendor in the Grass

Best Supporting Actor:
George Chakiris – West Side Story (WINNER)
Montgomery Clift – Judgment at Nuremberg
Peter Falk – Pocketful of Miracles
Jackie Gleason – The Hustler
George C. Scott – The Hustler

Best Supporting Actress:
Rita Moreno – West Side Story (WINNER)
Fay Bainter – The Children’s Hour
Judy Garland – Judgment at Nuremberg
Lotte Lenya – The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Una Merkel – Summer and Smoke

Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen:
Splendor in the Grass – William Inge (WINNER)
Ballad of a Soldier – Valentin Ezhov and Grigori Chukhrai
La Dolce Vita – Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano and Brunello Rondi
General Della Rovere – Sergio Amidei, Diego Fabbri and Indro Montanelli
Lover Come Back – Stanley Shapiro and Paul Henning

Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium:
Judgment at Nuremberg – Abby Mann (WINNER)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – George Axelrod
The Guns of Navarone – Carl Foreman
The Hustler – Robert Rossen and Sidney Carroll
West Side Story – Ernest Lehman

Best Foreign Language Film:
Through a Glass Darkly (Sweden) (WINNER)
Harry and the Butler (Denmark)
Immortal Love (Japan)
The Important Man (Mexico)
Plácido (Spain)

Best Documentary Feature:
Sky Above and Mud Beneath (WINNER)
The Grand Olympics

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Project Hope (WINNER)
Breaking the Language Barrier
Cradle of Genius
Kahl
The Man in Gray

Best Live Action Short Subject:
Seawards the Great Ships (WINNER)
The Face of Jesus
Play Ball!
Rooftops of New York
Very Nice, Very Nice

Best Short Subject – Cartoons:
Surogat (WINNER)
Aquamania
Beep Prepared
Nelly’s Folly
The Pied Piper of Guadalupe

Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture:
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Henry Mancini (WINNER)
El Cid – Miklós Rózsa
Fanny – Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman
The Guns of Navarone – Dimitri Tiomkin
Summer and Smoke – Elmer Bernstein

Best Scoring of a Musical Picture:
West Side Story – Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal (WINNER)
Babes in Toyland – George Bruns
Flower Drum Song – Alfred Newman and Ken Darby
Khovanshchina – Dmitri Shostakovich
Paris Blues – Duke Ellington

Best Song:
“Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Music by Henry Mancini; Lyric by Johnny Mercer (WINNER)
“Bachelor in Paradise” from Bachelor in Paradise – Music by Henry Mancini; Lyric by Mack David
“Love Theme from El Cid (The Falcon and the Dove)” from El Cid – Music by Miklós Rózsa; Lyric by Paul Francis Webster
“Pocketful of Miracles” from Pocketful of Miracles – Music by Jimmy Van Heusen; Lyric by Sammy Cahn
“Town Without Pity” from Town Without Pity – Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyric by Ned Washington

Best Sound:
West Side Story – Gordon E. Sawyer and Fred Hynes (WINNERS)
The Children’s Hour – Gordon E. Sawyer
Flower Drum Song – Waldon O. Watson
The Guns of Navarone – John Cox
The Parent Trap – Robert O. Cook

Best Art Direction, Black-and-White:
The Hustler – Art Direction: Harry Horner; Set Decoration: Gene Callahan (WINNERS)
The Absent-Minded Professor – Art Direction: Carroll Clark; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri and Hal Gausman
The Children’s Hour – Art Direction: Fernando Carrere; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle
La Dolce Vita – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Piero Gherardi
Judgment at Nuremberg – Art Direction: Rudolph Sternad; Set Decoration: George Milo

Best Art Direction, Color:
West Side Story – Art Direction: Boris Leven; Set Decoration: Victor A. Gangelin (WINNER)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer
El Cid – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Veniero Colasanti and John Moore
Flower Drum Song – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen and Joseph C. Wright; Set Decoration: Howard Bristol
Summer and Smoke – Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Walter H. Tyler; Set Decoration: Samuel M. Comer and Arthur Krams

Best Cinematography, Black-and-White:
The Hustler – Eugen Schüfftan (WINNER)
The Absent-Minded Professor – Edward Colman
The Children’s Hour – Franz Planer
Judgment at Nuremberg – Ernest Laszlo
One, Two, Three – Daniel L. Fapp

Best Cinematography, Color:
West Side Story – Daniel L. Fapp (WINNER)
Fanny – Jack Cardiff
Flower Drum Song – Russell Metty
A Majority of One – Harry Stradling
One-Eyed Jacks – Charles Lang

Best Costume Design, Black-and-White:
La Dolce Vita – Piero Gherardi (WINNER)
The Children’s Hour – Dorothy Jeakins
Claudelle Inglish – Howard Shoup
Judgment at Nuremberg – Jean Louis
Yojimbo – Yoshiro Muraki

Best Costume Design, Color:
West Side Story – Irene Sharaff (WINNER)
Babes in Toyland – Bill Thomas
Back Street – Jean Louis
Flower Drum Song – Irene Sharaff
Pocketful of Miracles – Edith Head and Walter Plunkett

Best Film Editing:
West Side Story – Thomas Stanford (WINNER)
Fanny – William H. Reynolds
The Guns of Navarone – Alan Osbiston
Judgment at Nuremberg – Frederic Knudtson
The Parent Trap – Philip W. Anderson

Best Special Effects:
The Guns of Navarone – Visual Effects by Bill Warrington; Audible Effects by Vivian C. Greenham (WINNER)
The Absent-Minded Professor – Visual Effects by Robert A. Mattey and Eustace Lycett

Academy Honorary Awards:
William L. Hendricks “for his outstanding patriotic service in the conception, writing and production of the Marine Corps film, A Force in Readiness, which has brought honor to the Academy and the motion picture industry.

Fred L. Metzler “for his dedication and outstanding service to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”

Jerome Robbins “for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.”

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award:
Stanley Kramer

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award:
George Seaton

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