54th Academy Awards


The 54th Academy Awards were presented March 29, 1982, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Johnny Carson.
Chariots of Fire was the surprise winner of the Best Picture Oscar. It was the first time in 13 years that a British film won the Academy's top honor. The next year's winner, Gandhi, was also a British production.
Henry Fonda won his only competitive Oscar this year, as Best Actor for On Golden Pond. At 76 years of age, Fonda became the oldest winner in the Best Actor category in Academy history. The only other nomination he received in his career was Best Actor for his performance in The Grapes of Wrath 41 years earlier – a record gap between acting nominations. His co-star, Katharine Hepburn, won her fourth Best Actress award, extending her own record for the most Best Actress wins by any actress.
This year's nominations also marked the second time that three different films were nominated for the "Big Five" Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay. The three films were On Golden Pond, Atlantic City and Reds. However, none of them won the Best Picture prize, losing to Chariots of Fire. This also marked the first year that the award for Best Makeup was presented; the winner was Rick Baker for his work on An American Werewolf in London.
This was the last year until the 2005 Oscars where all five Best Picture nominations were also nominated for Best Director. Reds was the last film to gain nominations in all four acting categories until Silver Linings Playbook matched that feat at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony in 2013. Facilitated in part by their advanced ages at the time, this is also the most recent ceremony for which the four acting award winners are all now deceased - though two of the four did live into their late 90s.
Chariots of Fire became the last film to win Best Picture and not win for directing
until Driving Miss Daisy in 1990.
Similar to 1976 and 1977, these Oscars were scheduled directly opposite the NCAA basketball championship game, which this year was broadcast on CBS. Beginning in 1983, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Game would take place on the Monday following the Academy Awards.

Awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger.
Best PictureBest Director

  • Warren Beatty – Reds
  • *Louis Malle – Atlantic City
  • *Hugh Hudson – Chariots of Fire
  • *Mark Rydell – On Golden Pond
  • *Steven Spielberg – Raiders of the Lost Ark
    • Best ActorBest Actress
  • Henry Fonda – On Golden Pond as Norman Thayer Jr.
  • *Warren Beatty – Reds as John Silas "Jack" Reed
  • *Burt Lancaster – Atlantic City as Lou Pascal
  • *Dudley Moore – Arthur as Arthur Bach
  • *Paul Newman – Absence of Malice as Michael Gallagher
  • Katharine Hepburn – On Golden Pond as Ethel Thayer
  • *Diane Keaton – Reds as Louise Bryant
  • *Marsha Mason – Only When I Laugh as Georgia Hines
  • *Susan Sarandon – Atlantic City as Sally Matthews
  • *Meryl Streep – The French Lieutenant's Woman as Sarah Woodruff/Anna
    • Best Supporting ActorBest Supporting Actress
  • John Gielgud – Arthur as Hobson
  • *James Coco – Only When I Laugh as Jimmy Perrino
  • *Ian Holm – Chariots of Fire as Sam Mussabini
  • *Jack Nicholson – Reds as Eugene O'Neill
  • *Howard E. Rollins Jr. – Ragtime as Coalhouse Walker Jr.
  • Maureen Stapleton – Reds as Emma Goldman
  • *Melinda Dillon – Absence of Malice as Teresa Perrone
  • *Jane Fonda – On Golden Pond as Chelsea Thayer Wayne
  • *Joan Hackett – Only When I Laugh as Toby Landau
  • *Elizabeth McGovern – Ragtime as Evelyn Nesbit
    • Best Screenplay Written Directly for the ScreenBest Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
  • Chariots of Fire – Colin Welland
  • *Absence of Malice – Kurt Luedtke
  • *Arthur – Steve Gordon
  • *Atlantic City – John Guare
  • *Reds – Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths
  • On Golden Pond – Ernest Thompson based on his play
  • *The French Lieutenant's Woman – Harold Pinter based on the novel by John Fowles
  • *Pennies from Heaven – Dennis Potter based on his TV series
  • *Prince of the City – Jay Presson Allen and Sidney Lumet based on the book by Robert Daley
  • *Ragtime – Michael Weller based on the novel by E. L. Doctorow
    • Best Foreign Language FilmBest Documentary Feature
  • Mephisto
  • *The Boat Is Full
  • *Man of Iron
  • *Muddy River
  • *Three Brothers
  • Genocide – Arnold Schwartzman and Rabbi Marvin Hier
  • *' – Suzanne Bauman, Paul Neshamkin and Jim Burroughs
  • *Brooklyn Bridge – Ken Burns
  • *' – Mary Benjamin, Susanne Simpson and Boyd Estus
  • *' – Glenn Silber and Tete Vasconcellos
    • Best Documentary Short SubjectBest Live Action Short Film
  • Close Harmony – Nigel Noble
  • *Americas in Transition – Obie Benz
  • *Journey for Survival – Dick Young
  • *See What I Say – Linda Chapman, Pam LeBlanc and Freddi Stevens
  • *Urge to Build – Roland Hallé and John Hoover
  • Violet – Paul Kemp and Shelley Levinson
  • *Couples and Robbers – Christine Oestreicher
  • *First Winter – John N. Smith
    • Best Animated Short FilmBest Original Score
  • Crac – Frédéric Back
  • *The Creation – Will Vinton
  • *The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin – Janet Perlman
  • Chariots of Fire – Vangelis
  • *Dragonslayer – Alex North
  • *On Golden Pond – Dave Grusin
  • *Ragtime – Randy Newman
  • *Raiders of the Lost Ark – John Williams
    • Best Original SongBest Sound
  • "Arthur's Theme " from Arthur – Music by Burt Bacharach; Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen
  • *"Endless Love" from Endless Love – Music and Lyrics by Lionel Richie
  • *"The First Time It Happens" from The Great Muppet Caper – Music and Lyrics by Joe Raposo
  • *"For Your Eyes Only" from For Your Eyes Only – Music by Bill Conti; Lyrics by Mick Leeson
  • *"One More Hour" from Ragtime – Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark – Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker and Roy Charman
  • *On Golden Pond – Richard Portman and David M. Ronne
  • *Outland – John Wilkinson, Robert W. Glass Jr., Robert Thirlwell and Robin Gregory
  • *Pennies from Heaven – Michael J. Kohut, Jay M. Harding, Richard Tyler and Al Overton Jr.
  • *Reds – Dick Vorisek, Tom Fleischman and Simon Kaye
    • Best MakeupBest Costume Design
  • An American Werewolf in London – Rick Baker
  • *Heartbeeps – Stan Winston
  • Chariots of Fire – Milena Canonero
  • *The French Lieutenant's Woman – Tom Rand
  • *Pennies from Heaven – Bob Mackie
  • *Ragtime – Anna Hill Johnstone
  • *Reds – Shirley Russell
    • Best Art DirectionBest Cinematography
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark – Art Direction: Norman Reynolds and Leslie Dilley; Set Decoration: Michael Ford
  • *The French Lieutenant's Woman – Art Direction: Assheton Gorton; Set Decoration: Ann Mollo
  • *Heaven's Gate – Art Direction: Tambi Larsen; Set Decoration: James L. Berkey
  • *Ragtime – Art Direction: John Graysmark, Patrizia von Brandenstein and Anthony Reading; Set Decoration: George DeTitta Sr., George DeTitta Jr. and Peter Howitt
  • *Reds – Art Direction: Richard Sylbert; Set Decoration: Michael Seirton
  • Reds – Vittorio Storaro
  • *Excalibur – Alex Thomson
  • *On Golden Pond – Billy Williams
  • *Ragtime – Miroslav Ondříček
  • *Raiders of the Lost Ark – Douglas Slocombe
    • Best Film EditingBest Visual Effects
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark – Michael Kahn
  • *Chariots of Fire – Terry Rawlings
  • *The French Lieutenant's Woman – John Bloom
  • *On Golden Pond – Robert L. Wolfe
  • *Reds – Dede Allen and Craig McKay
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark – Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson and Joe Johnston'
  • *Dragonslayer'' – Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, Ken Ralston and Brian Johnson

    • Honorary Academy Award

  • Barbara Stanwyck

    Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

  • Danny Kaye

    Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

  • Albert R. Broccoli

    Gordon E. Sawyer Award

  • Joseph B. Walker

    Special Achievement Academy Award

  • Ben Burtt and Richard L. Anderson for Raiders of the Lost Ark for Sound Effects Editing

    Presenters and performers

    • The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.

    Presenters

    Performers

    Multiple nominations and awards

    These films had multiple nominations:
    The following films received multiple awards.