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1959

Experience over nine decades of the Oscars from 1927 to 2024

The 31st Academy Awards | 1959
RKO Pantages Theatre
Monday, April 6, 1959
Honoring movies released in 1958
Highlights
Animated Short Subject
Knighty Knight Bugs

John W. Burton, presented by Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh

Costume Design
Gigi

Cecil Beaton

Best Actress
I Want To Live!

Susan Hayward

Memorable Moments
Vincente Minnelli
Image

Best Directing winner for Gigi, with presenter Millie Perkins

Maurice Chevalier
Image

Honorary Award recipient

Burl Ives
Image

Supporting Actor winner for The Big Country

WINNERS & NOMINEES
Actor
Winner
David Niven
Separate Tables
Nominees
Tony Curtis
The Defiant Ones
Nominees
Paul Newman
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Nominees
Sidney Poitier
The Defiant Ones
Nominees
Spencer Tracy
The Old Man and the Sea
Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner
Burl Ives
The Big Country
Nominees
Theodore Bikel
The Defiant Ones
Nominees
Lee J. Cobb
The Brothers Karamazov
Nominees
Arthur Kennedy
Some Came Running
Nominees
Gig Young
Teacher's Pet
Actress
Winner
Susan Hayward
I Want to Live!
Nominees
Deborah Kerr
Separate Tables
Nominees
Shirley MacLaine
Some Came Running
Nominees
Rosalind Russell
Auntie Mame
Nominees
Elizabeth Taylor
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner
Wendy Hiller
Separate Tables
Nominees
Peggy Cass
Auntie Mame
Nominees
Martha Hyer
Some Came Running
Nominees
Maureen Stapleton
Lonelyhearts
Nominees
Cara Williams
The Defiant Ones
Art Direction
Winner
Gigi
Art Direction: William A. Horning, Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Keogh Gleason
Nominees
Auntie Mame
Art Direction: Malcolm Bert; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins
Nominees
Bell, Book and Candle
Art Direction: Cary Odell; Set Decoration: Louis Diage
Nominees
A Certain Smile
Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler, John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox
Nominees
Vertigo
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Henry Bumstead; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Frank McKelvy
Cinematography (Black-and-White)
Winner
The Defiant Ones
Sam Leavitt
Nominees
Desire under the Elms
Daniel L. Fapp
Nominees
I Want to Live!
Lionel Lindon
Nominees
Separate Tables
Charles Lang, Jr.
Nominees
The Young Lions
Joe MacDonald
Cinematography (Color)
Winner
Gigi
Joseph Ruttenberg
Nominees
Auntie Mame
Harry Stradling, Sr.
Nominees
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
William Daniels
Nominees
The Old Man and the Sea
James Wong Howe
Nominees
South Pacific
Leon Shamroy
Costume Design
Winner
Gigi
Cecil Beaton
Nominees
Bell, Book and Candle
Jean Louis
Nominees
The Buccaneer
Ralph Jester, Edith Head, John Jensen
Nominees
A Certain Smile
Charles LeMaire, Mary Wills
Nominees
Some Came Running
Walter Plunkett
Directing
Winner
Gigi
Vincente Minnelli
Nominees
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Richard Brooks
Nominees
The Defiant Ones
Stanley Kramer
Nominees
I Want to Live!
Robert Wise
Nominees
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
Mark Robson
Documentary (Feature)
Winner
White Wilderness
Ben Sharpsteen, Producer
Nominees
Antarctic Crossing
James Carr, Producer
Nominees
The Hidden World
Robert Snyder, Producer
Nominees
Psychiatric Nursing
Nathan Zucker, Producer
Documentary (Short Subject)
Winner
Ama Girls
Ben Sharpsteen, Producer
Nominees
Employees Only
Kenneth G. Brown, Producer
Nominees
Journey into Spring
Ian Ferguson, Producer
Nominees
The Living Stone
Tom Daly, Producer
Nominees
Overture
Thorold Dickinson, Producer
Film Editing
Winner
Gigi
Adrienne Fazan
Nominees
Auntie Mame
William Ziegler
Nominees
Cowboy
William A. Lyon, Al Clark
Nominees
The Defiant Ones
Frederic Knudtson
Nominees
I Want to Live!
William Hornbeck
Foreign Language Film
Winner
My Uncle
France
Nominees
Arms and the Man
West Germany
Nominees
La Venganza
Spain
Nominees
The Road a Year Long
Yugoslavia
Nominees
The Usual Unidentified Thieves
Italy
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
Winner
Jack L. Warner
Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)
Winner
The Old Man and the Sea
Dimitri Tiomkin
Nominees
The Big Country
Jerome Moross
Nominees
Separate Tables
David Raksin
Nominees
White Wilderness
Oliver Wallace
Nominees
The Young Lions
Hugo Friedhofer
Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)
Winner
Gigi
Andre Previn
Nominees
The Bolshoi Ballet
Yuri Faier, G. Rozhdestvensky
Nominees
Damn Yankees
Ray Heindorf
Nominees
Mardi Gras
Lionel Newman
Nominees
South Pacific
Alfred Newman, Ken Darby
Music (Song)
Winner
Gigi
Gigi in "Gigi" Music by Frederick Loewe; Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Nominees
Houseboat
Almost In Your Arms (Love Song From 'Houseboat') in "Houseboat" Music and Lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Nominees
A Certain Smile
A Certain Smile in "A Certain Smile" Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Nominees
Some Came Running
To Love And Be Loved in "Some Came Running" Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Nominees
Marjorie Morningstar
A Very Precious Love in "Marjorie Morningstar" Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Best Motion Picture
Winner
Gigi
Arthur Freed, Producer
Nominees
Auntie Mame
Warner Bros.
Nominees
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Lawrence Weingarten, Producer
Nominees
The Defiant Ones
Stanley Kramer, Producer
Nominees
Separate Tables
Harold Hecht, Producer
Short Subject (Cartoon)
Winner
Knighty Knight Bugs
John W. Burton, Producer
Nominees
Paul Bunyan
Walt Disney, Producer
Nominees
Sidney's Family Tree
William M. Weiss, Producer
Short Subject (Live Action)
Winner
Grand Canyon
Walt Disney, Producer
Nominees
Journey into Spring
Ian Ferguson, Producer
Nominees
The Kiss
John Patrick Hayes, Producer
Nominees
Snows of Aorangi
New Zealand Screen Board
Nominees
T Is for Tumbleweed
James A. Lebenthal, Producer
Sound
Winner
South Pacific
Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director
Nominees
I Want to Live!
Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director
Nominees
A Time to Love and a Time to Die
Universal-International Studio Sound Department, Leslie I. Carey, Sound Director
Nominees
Vertigo
Paramount Studio Sound Department, George Dutton, Sound Director
Nominees
The Young Lions
20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Carl Faulkner, Sound Director
Special Effects
Winner
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Visual Effects by Tom Howard
Nominees
Torpedo Run
Visual Effects by A. Arnold Gillespie; Audible Effects by Harold Humbrock
Writing (Screenplay—based on material from another medium)
Winner
Gigi
Alan Jay Lerner
Nominees
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Richard Brooks, James Poe
Nominees
The Horse's Mouth
Alec Guinness
Nominees
I Want to Live!
Nelson Gidding, Don Mankiewicz
Nominees
Separate Tables
Terence Rattigan, John Gay
Writing (Story and Screenplay—written directly for the screen)
Winner
The Defiant Ones
Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith
Nominees
The Goddess
Paddy Chayefsky
Nominees
Houseboat
Melville Shavelson, Jack Rose
Nominees
The Sheepman
Story by James Edward Grant; Screenplay by William Bowers, James Edward Grant
Nominees
Teacher's Pet
Fay Kanin, Michael Kanin

A

Ama Girls
1 WIN, 1 NOMINATION
  • * Documentary (Short Subject) - Ben Sharpsteen, Producer
Antarctic Crossing
1 NOMINATION
  • Documentary (Feature) - James Carr, Producer
Arms and the Man
1 NOMINATION
  • Foreign Language Film - West Germany
Auntie Mame
6 NOMINATIONS
  • Actress - Rosalind Russell
  • Actress in a Supporting Role - Peggy Cass
  • Art Direction - Art Direction: Malcolm Bert; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins
  • Cinematography (Color) - Harry Stradling, Sr.
  • Film Editing - William Ziegler
  • Best Motion Picture - Warner Bros.

B

Bell, Book and Candle
2 NOMINATIONS
  • Art Direction - Art Direction: Cary Odell; Set Decoration: Louis Diage
  • Costume Design - Jean Louis
The Big Country
2 NOMINATIONS, 1 WIN
  • * Actor in a Supporting Role - Burl Ives
  • Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Jerome Moross
The Bolshoi Ballet
1 NOMINATION
  • Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Yuri Faier, G. Rozhdestvensky
The Brothers Karamazov
1 NOMINATION
  • Actor in a Supporting Role - Lee J. Cobb
The Buccaneer
1 NOMINATION
  • Costume Design - Ralph Jester, Edith Head, John Jensen

C

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
6 NOMINATIONS
  • Actor - Paul Newman
  • Actress - Elizabeth Taylor
  • Cinematography (Color) - William Daniels
  • Directing - Richard Brooks
  • Best Motion Picture - Lawrence Weingarten, Producer
  • Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - Richard Brooks, James Poe
A Certain Smile
3 NOMINATIONS
  • Art Direction - Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler, John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox
  • Costume Design - Charles LeMaire, Mary Wills
  • Music (Song) - A Certain Smile in "A Certain Smile" Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Cowboy
1 NOMINATION
  • Film Editing - William A. Lyon, Al Clark

D

Damn Yankees
1 NOMINATION
  • Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Ray Heindorf
The Defiant Ones
8 NOMINATIONS, 2 WINS
  • * Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Sam Leavitt
  • * Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith
  • Actor - Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier
  • Actor in a Supporting Role - Theodore Bikel
  • Actress in a Supporting Role - Cara Williams
  • Directing - Stanley Kramer
  • Film Editing - Frederic Knudtson
  • Best Motion Picture - Stanley Kramer, Producer
Desire under the Elms
1 NOMINATION
  • Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Daniel L. Fapp

E

Employees Only
1 NOMINATION
  • Documentary (Short Subject) - Kenneth G. Brown, Producer

G

Gigi
9 WINS, 9 NOMINATIONS
  • * Art Direction - Art Direction: William A. Horning, Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Keogh Gleason
  • * Cinematography (Color) - Joseph Ruttenberg
  • * Costume Design - Cecil Beaton
  • * Directing - Vincente Minnelli
  • * Film Editing - Adrienne Fazan
  • * Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Andre Previn
  • * Music (Song) - Gigi in "Gigi" Music by Frederick Loewe; Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
  • * Best Motion Picture - Arthur Freed, Producer
  • * Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - Alan Jay Lerner
The Goddess
1 NOMINATION
  • Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Paddy Chayefsky
Grand Canyon
1 WIN, 1 NOMINATION
  • * Short Subject (Live Action) - Walt Disney, Producer

H

The Hidden World
1 NOMINATION
  • Documentary (Feature) - Robert Snyder, Producer
The Horse's Mouth
1 NOMINATION
  • Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - Alec Guinness
Houseboat
2 NOMINATIONS
  • Music (Song) - Almost In Your Arms (Love Song From 'Houseboat') in "Houseboat" Music and Lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
  • Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Melville Shavelson, Jack Rose

I

I Want to Live!
6 NOMINATIONS, 1 WIN
  • * Actress - Susan Hayward
  • Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Lionel Lindon
  • Directing - Robert Wise
  • Film Editing - William Hornbeck
  • Sound - Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director
  • Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - Nelson Gidding, Don Mankiewicz
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
1 NOMINATION
  • Directing - Mark Robson

J

Journey into Spring
2 NOMINATIONS
  • Documentary (Short Subject) - Ian Ferguson, Producer
  • Short Subject (Live Action) - Ian Ferguson, Producer

K

The Kiss
1 NOMINATION
  • Short Subject (Live Action) - John Patrick Hayes, Producer
Knighty Knight Bugs
1 WIN, 1 NOMINATION
  • * Short Subject (Cartoon) - John W. Burton, Producer

L

La Venganza
1 NOMINATION
  • Foreign Language Film - Spain
The Living Stone
1 NOMINATION
  • Documentary (Short Subject) - Tom Daly, Producer
Lonelyhearts
1 NOMINATION
  • Actress in a Supporting Role - Maureen Stapleton

M

Mardi Gras
1 NOMINATION
  • Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Lionel Newman
Marjorie Morningstar
1 NOMINATION
  • Music (Song) - A Very Precious Love in "Marjorie Morningstar" Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
My Uncle
1 WIN, 1 NOMINATION
  • * Foreign Language Film - France

O

The Old Man and the Sea
3 NOMINATIONS, 1 WIN
  • * Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Dimitri Tiomkin
  • Actor - Spencer Tracy
  • Cinematography (Color) - James Wong Howe
Overture
1 NOMINATION
  • Documentary (Short Subject) - Thorold Dickinson, Producer

P

Paul Bunyan
1 NOMINATION
  • Short Subject (Cartoon) - Walt Disney, Producer
Psychiatric Nursing
1 NOMINATION
  • Documentary (Feature) - Nathan Zucker, Producer

R

The Road a Year Long
1 NOMINATION
  • Foreign Language Film - Yugoslavia

S

Separate Tables
7 NOMINATIONS, 2 WINS
  • * Actor - David Niven
  • * Actress in a Supporting Role - Wendy Hiller
  • Actress - Deborah Kerr
  • Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Charles Lang, Jr.
  • Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - David Raksin
  • Best Motion Picture - Harold Hecht, Producer
  • Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium) - Terence Rattigan, John Gay
The Sheepman
1 NOMINATION
  • Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Story by James Edward Grant; Screenplay by William Bowers, James Edward Grant
Sidney's Family Tree
1 NOMINATION
  • Short Subject (Cartoon) - William M. Weiss, Producer
Snows of Aorangi
1 NOMINATION
  • Short Subject (Live Action) - New Zealand Screen Board
Some Came Running
5 NOMINATIONS
  • Actor in a Supporting Role - Arthur Kennedy
  • Actress - Shirley MacLaine
  • Actress in a Supporting Role - Martha Hyer
  • Costume Design - Walter Plunkett
  • Music (Song) - To Love And Be Loved in "Some Came Running" Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
South Pacific
3 NOMINATIONS, 1 WIN
  • * Sound - Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director
  • Cinematography (Color) - Leon Shamroy
  • Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Alfred Newman, Ken Darby

T

T Is for Tumbleweed
1 NOMINATION
  • Short Subject (Live Action) - James A. Lebenthal, Producer
Teacher's Pet
2 NOMINATIONS
  • Actor in a Supporting Role - Gig Young
  • Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen) - Fay Kanin, Michael Kanin
A Time to Love and a Time to Die
1 NOMINATION
  • Sound - Universal-International Studio Sound Department, Leslie I. Carey, Sound Director
tom thumb
1 WIN, 1 NOMINATION
  • * Special Effects - Visual Effects by Tom Howard
Torpedo Run
1 NOMINATION
  • Special Effects - Visual Effects by A. Arnold Gillespie; Audible Effects by Harold Humbrock

U

The Usual Unidentified Thieves
1 NOMINATION
  • Foreign Language Film - Italy

V

Vertigo
2 NOMINATIONS
  • Art Direction - Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Henry Bumstead; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Frank McKelvy
  • Sound - Paramount Studio Sound Department, George Dutton, Sound Director

W

White Wilderness
2 NOMINATIONS, 1 WIN
  • * Documentary (Feature) - Ben Sharpsteen, Producer
  • Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Oliver Wallace

Y

The Young Lions
3 NOMINATIONS
  • Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Joe MacDonald
  • Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) - Hugo Friedhofer
  • Sound - 20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Carl Faulkner, Sound Director
No Films Found