1981

The 53rd Academy Awards | 1981
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Tuesday, March 31, 1981
Honoring movies released in 1980
Highlights
Memorable Moments
  • Thelma Schoonmaker
    Film Editing winner for Raging Bull, with presenters Richard Pryor and Jane Seymour
  • Timothy Hutton
    Supporting Actor winner for Ordinary People
  • The Empire Strikes Back
    A Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects to Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson, with Jack Valenti

Nominees

Actor in a Leading Role

Winner

Robert De Niro

Raging Bull

Nominees

Robert Duvall

The Great Santini

John Hurt

The Elephant Man

Jack Lemmon

Tribute

Peter O'Toole

The Stunt Man

Actor in a Supporting Role

Winner

Timothy Hutton

Ordinary People

Nominees

Judd Hirsch

Ordinary People

Michael O'Keefe

The Great Santini

Joe Pesci

Raging Bull

Jason Robards

Melvin and Howard

Actress in a Leading Role

Winner

Sissy Spacek

Coal Miner's Daughter

Nominees

Ellen Burstyn

Resurrection

Goldie Hawn

Private Benjamin

Mary Tyler Moore

Ordinary People

Gena Rowlands

Gloria

Actress in a Supporting Role

Winner

Mary Steenburgen

Melvin and Howard

Nominees

Eileen Brennan

Private Benjamin

Eva Le Gallienne

Resurrection

Cathy Moriarty

Raging Bull

Diana Scarwid

Inside Moves

Art Direction

Winner

Tess

Art Direction: Pierre Guffroy, Jack Stephens

Nominees

Coal Miner's Daughter

Art Direction: John W. Corso; Set Decoration: John M. Dwyer

The Elephant Man

Art Direction: Stuart Craig, Bob Cartwright; Set Decoration: Hugh Scaife

The Empire Strikes Back

Art Direction: Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley, Harry Lange, Alan Tomkins; Set Decoration: Michael Ford

Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)

Yoshiro Muraki

Cinematography

Winner

Tess

Geoffrey Unsworth, Ghislain Cloquet

Nominees

The Blue Lagoon

Nestor Almendros

Coal Miner's Daughter

Ralf D. Bode

The Formula

James Crabe

Raging Bull

Michael Chapman

Costume Design

Winner

Tess

Anthony Powell

Nominees

The Elephant Man

Patricia Norris

My Brilliant Career

Anna Senior

Somewhere in Time

Jean-Pierre Dorleac

When Time Ran Out

Paul Zastupnevich

Directing

Winner

Ordinary People

Robert Redford

Nominees

The Elephant Man

David Lynch

Raging Bull

Martin Scorsese

The Stunt Man

Richard Rush

Tess

Roman Polanski

Documentary (Feature)

Winner

From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China

Murray Lerner, Producer

Nominees

Agee

Ross Spears, Producer

The Day after Trinity

Jon Else, Producer

Front Line

David Bradbury, Producer

The Yellow Star - The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-45

Bengt von zur Muehlen and Arthur Cohn, Producers

Documentary (Short Subject)

Winner

Karl Hess: Toward Liberty

Karl Hess: Toward Liberty

Nominees

Don't Mess with Bill

John Watson and Pen Densham, Producers

The Eruption of Mount St. Helens

George Casey, Producer

It's the Same World

Dick Young, Producer

Luther Metke at 94

Richard Hawkins and Jorge Preloran, Producers

Film Editing

Winner

Raging Bull

Thelma Schoonmaker

Nominees

Coal Miner's Daughter

Arthur Schmidt

The Competition

David Blewitt

The Elephant Man

Anne V. Coates

Fame

Gerry Hambling

Foreign Language Film

Winner

Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Nominees

Confidence

Hungary

Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior)

Japan

The Last Metro

France

The Nest

Spain

Music (Original Score)

Winner

Fame

Michael Gore

Nominees

Altered States

John Corigliano

The Elephant Man

John Morris

The Empire Strikes Back

John Williams

Tess

Philippe Sarde

Music (Original Song)

Winner

Fame

Fame in "Fame" Music by Michael Gore; Lyric by Dean Pitchford

Nominees

Nine to Five

Nine To Five in "Nine to Five" Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

Honeysuckle Rose

On The Road Again in "Honeysuckle Rose" Music and Lyric by Willie Nelson

Fame

Out Here On My Own in "Fame" Music by Michael Gore; Lyric by Lesley Gore

The Competition

People Alone in "The Competition" Music by Lalo Schifrin; Lyric by Wilbur Jennings

Best Picture

Winner

Ordinary People

Ronald L. Schwary, Producer

Nominees

Coal Miner's Daughter

Bernard Schwartz, Producer

The Elephant Man

Jonathan Sanger, Producer

Raging Bull

Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, Producers

Tess

Claude Berri, Producer; Timothy Burrill, Co-Producer

Short Film (Animated)

Winner

The Fly

Ferenc Rofusz, Producer

Nominees

All Nothing

Frédéric Back, Producer

History of the World in Three Minutes Flat

Michael Mills, Producer

Short Film (Dramatic Live Action)

Winner

The Dollar Bottom

Lloyd Phillips, Producer

Nominees

Fall Line

Bob Carmichael and Greg Lowe, Producers

A Jury of Her Peers

Sally Heckel, Producer

Sound

Winner

The Empire Strikes Back

Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker, Peter Sutton

Nominees

Altered States

Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Michael Minkler, Willie D. Burton

Coal Miner's Daughter

Richard Portman, Roger Heman, Jim Alexander

Fame

Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Jay M. Harding, Chris Newman

Raging Bull

Donald O. Mitchell, Bill Nicholson, David J. Kimball, Les Lazarowitz

Special Achievement Award (Visual Effects)

Winner

The Empire Strikes Back

Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Bruce Nicholson

Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium)

Winner

Ordinary People

Alvin Sargent

Nominees

Breaker Morant

Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens, Bruce Beresford

Coal Miner's Daughter

Tom Rickman

The Elephant Man

Christopher DeVore, Eric Bergren, David Lynch

The Stunt Man

Screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus; Adaptation by Richard Rush

Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)

Winner

Melvin and Howard

Bo Goldman

Nominees

Brubaker

Screenplay by W. D. Richter; Story by W. D. Richter, Arthur Ross

Fame

Christopher Gore

Mon Oncle D'Amerique

Jean Gruault

Private Benjamin

Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer, Harvey Miller
P
Private Benjamin
3 Nominations
Actress in a Supporting Role - Eileen Brennan in "Private Benjamin"
Actress in a Leading Role - Goldie Hawn in "Private Benjamin"
Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) - Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer, Harvey Miller