57th Academy Awards


The 57th Academy Awards were presented March 25, 1985, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. Jack Lemmon presided over the ceremonies.
The big winner at the ceremony was Miloš Forman's Amadeus, which had received 11 nominations and won 8 awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for F. Murray Abraham. As of the 92nd Academy Awards, Amadeus is the most recent film to receive two lead actor nominations.
The winner of Best Supporting Actor was also significant. Haing S. Ngor, a Cambodian surgeon who survived the horrors of the Khmer Rouge, won the award for his performance as Dith Pran in Roland Joffé's The Killing Fields, despite having had no previous acting experience. Ngor and Harold Russell are the only two non-professional actors to win Academy Awards for acting.
Sally Field won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Places in the Heart, her second Oscar, after winning in the same category in 1980 for Norma Rae. In her acceptance speech, she exclaimed, "The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!"
77-year-old Peggy Ashcroft won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in A Passage to India, making her the oldest winner in that category.
This ceremony marked the first time that multiple black nominees would win an Oscar, when Prince and Stevie Wonder won for their respective work on Purple Rain and The Woman in Red. Additionally, it was the only time that all five nominees in Best Original Song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
One of the more notable gaffes in Oscar history occurred during the ceremony. Presenting the Best Picture award, Sir Laurence Olivier forgot to list the nominees and simply tore open the envelope to declare: "Amadeus!". Upon accepting the award on the film's behalf, producer Saul Zaentz had the presence of mind to mention the other Best Picture nominees during his speech to make up for Olivier's flub.

Awards

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

  • Miloš Forman – Amadeus
  • *Woody Allen – Broadway Danny Rose
  • *Roland Joffé – The Killing Fields
  • *David Lean – A Passage to India
  • *Robert Benton – Places in the Heart
    • Best ActorBest Actress
  • F. Murray Abraham – Amadeus as Antonio Salieri
  • *Jeff Bridges – Starman as Starman/Scott Hayden
  • *Albert Finney – Under the Volcano as Geoffrey Firmin
  • *Tom Hulce – Amadeus as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • *Sam Waterston – The Killing Fields as Sydney Schanberg
  • Sally Field – Places in the Heart as Edna Spalding
  • *Judy Davis – A Passage to India as Adela Quested
  • *Jessica Lange – Country as Jewell Ivy
  • *Vanessa Redgrave – The Bostonians as Olive Chancellor
  • *Sissy Spacek – The River as Mae Garvey
    • Best Supporting ActorBest Supporting Actress
  • Haing S. Ngor – The Killing Fields as Dith Pran
  • *Adolph Caesar – A Soldier's Story as Sgt. Waters
  • *John Malkovich – Places in the Heart as Mr. Will
  • *Pat Morita – The Karate Kid as Kesuke Miyagi
  • *Ralph Richardson – as 6th Earl of Greystoke
  • Peggy Ashcroft – A Passage to India as Mrs. Moore
  • *Glenn Close – The Natural as Iris Gaines
  • *Lindsay Crouse – Places in the Heart as Margaret Lomax
  • *Christine Lahti – Swing Shift as Hazel Zanussi
  • *Geraldine Page – The Pope of Greenwich Village as Mrs. Ritter
    • Best Screenplay Written Directly for the ScreenBest Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
  • Places in the Heart – Robert Benton
  • *Beverly Hills Cop – Screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr.; Story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr.
  • *Broadway Danny Rose – Woody Allen
  • *The North – Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas
  • *Splash – Screenplay by Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel and Bruce Jay Friedman; Screen Story by Bruce Jay Friedman based on a story by Brian Grazer
  • Amadeus – Peter Shaffer based on his play
  • *' – P.H. Vazak and Michael Austin based on the novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  • *The Killing Fields – Bruce Robinson based on the article "The Death and Life of Dith Pran" by Sydney Schanberg
  • *A Passage to India – David Lean based on the novel by E. M. Forster
  • *A Soldier's Story – Charles Fuller based on his play A Soldier's Play
    • Best Foreign Language FilmBest Documentary Feature
  • Dangerous Moves
  • *Beyond the Walls
  • *Camila
  • *Double Feature
  • *Wartime Romance
  • The Times of Harvey Milk – Robert Epstein and Richard Schmiechen
  • *High Schools – Charles Guggenheim and Nancy Sloss
  • *In the Name of the People – Alex W. Drehsler and Frank Christopher
  • *Marlene – Karel Dirka and Zev Braun
  • *Streetwise – Cheryl McCall
    • Best Documentary Short SubjectBest Live Action Short Film
  • The Stone Carvers – Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner
  • *The Children of Soong Ching Ling – Gary Bush and Paul T.K. Lin
  • *' – Ben Achtenberg and Joan Sawyer
  • *The Garden of Eden – Lawrence R. Hott and Roger M. Sherman
  • *Recollections of Pavlovsk – Irina Kalinina
  • Up – Mike Hoover
  • *The Painted Door – Michael MacMillan and Janice L. Platt
  • *Tales of Meeting and Parting – Sharon Oreck and Lesli Linka Glatter
    • Best Animated Short FilmBest Original Score
  • Charade – Jon Minnis
  • *Doctor DeSoto – Morton Schindel and Michael Sporn
  • *Paradise – Ishu Patel
  • A Passage to India – Maurice Jarre
  • *Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – John Williams
  • *The Natural – Randy Newman
  • *The River – John Williams
  • *Under the Volcano – Alex North
    • Best Original Song ScoreBest Original Song
  • Purple Rain – Prince
  • *The Muppets Take Manhattan – Jeff Moss
  • *Songwriter – Kris Kristofferson
  • "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red – Music and Lyrics by Stevie Wonder
  • *"Against All Odds " from Against All Odds – Music and Lyrics by Phil Collins
  • *"Footloose" from Footloose – Music and Lyrics by Kenny Loggins and Dean Pitchford
  • *"Let's Hear It for the Boy" from Footloose – Music and Lyrics by Dean Pitchford and Tom Snow
  • *"Ghostbusters" from Ghostbusters – Music and Lyrics by Ray Parker Jr.
    • Best SoundBest Art Direction
  • Amadeus – Mark Berger, Tom Scott, Todd Boekelheide and Chris Newman
  • *' –Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Carlos Delarios and Gene Cantamessa
  • *Dune – Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Kevin O'Connell and Nelson Stoll
  • *A Passage to India – Graham V. Hartstone, Nicolas Le Messurier, Michael A. Carter and John W. Mitchell
  • *The River – Nick Alphin, Robert Thirlwell, Richard Portman and David M. Ronne
  • Amadeus – Art Direction: Patrizia von Brandenstein; Set Decoration: Karel Černý
  • *' – Art Direction: Albert Brenner; Set Decoration: Rick Simpson
  • *The Cotton Club – Art Direction: Richard Sylbert; Set Decoration: George Gaines and Leslie Bloom
  • *The Natural – Art Direction: Mel Bourne, Angelo P. Graham, James J. Murakami and Speed Hopkins; Set Decoration: Bruce Weintraub
  • *A Passage to India – Art Direction: John Box and Leslie Tomkins; Set Decoration: Hugh Scaife
    • Best Costume DesignBest Makeup
  • Amadeus – Theodor Pištěk
  • *' – Patricia Norris
  • *The Bostonians – Jenny Beavan and John Bright
  • *A Passage to India – Judy Moorcroft
  • *Places in the Heart – Ann Roth
  • Amadeus – Dick Smith and Paul LeBlanc
  • *' – Michael Westmore
  • *' – Rick Baker and Paul Engelen
    • Best CinematographyBest Film Editing
  • The Killing Fields – Chris Menges
  • *Amadeus – Miroslav Ondříček
  • *The Natural – Caleb Deschanel
  • *A Passage to India – Ernest Day
  • *The River – Vilmos Zsigmond
  • The Killing Fields – Jim Clark
  • *Amadeus – Nena Danevic and Michael Chandler
  • *The Cotton Club – Barry Malkin and Robert Q. Lovett
  • *A Passage to India – David Lean
  • *Romancing the Stone – Donn Cambern and Frank Morriss
    • Best Visual Effects-
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Dennis Muren, Michael J. McAlister, Lorne Peterson and George Gibbs
  • *' – Richard Edlund, Neil Krepela, George Jenson and Mark Stetson
  • *Ghostbusters – Richard Edlund, John Bruno, Mark Vargo and Chuck Gaspar
    		• -

    Honorary Academy Awards

  • James Stewart "for his fifty years of memorable performances. For his high ideals both on and off the screen. With the respect and affection of his colleagues."
  • National Endowment for the Arts "in recognition of its 20th anniversary and its dedicated commitment to fostering artistic and creative activity and excellence in every area of the arts."

    Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

  • David L. Wolper

    Special Achievement Academy Award

  • The River – Kay Rose for Sound Effects Editing

    Presenters and performers

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

    Presenters

    NameRole
    Announcer for the 57th Academy Awards
    Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony
    Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor
    Presenter of the award for Best Documentary Short
    Presenter of the award for Best Documentary Feature

    Lonette McKee    		Presenters of the award for Best Makeup

    Amy Irving    		Presenters of the award for Best Sound

    Tom Selleck    		Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography
    Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress
    Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to David L. Wolper
    Presenter of the award for Best Art Direction
    Presenter of the Scientific & Technical Awards

    William Hurt    		Presenters of the award for Best Visual Effects
    Presenter of the Honorary Award to the National Endowment for the Arts

    Burt Lancaster    		Presenters of the Writing Awards

    Ann Reinking    		Presenters of the award for Best Original Score

    Kathleen Turner    		Presenters of the award for Best Original Song Score

    Glenn Close    		Presenters of the award for Best Costume Design

    Ann Reinking    		Presenters of the award for Best Animated Short Film

    Kathleen Turner    		Presenters of the award for Best Live Action Short Film
    Presenter of the award for Best Actor
    Presenter of the award for Best Original Song
    Presenter of the Honorary Award to James Stewart

    Faye Dunaway    		Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film
    Presenter of the award for Best Director
    Presenter of the award for Best Actress
    Presenter of the award for Best Picture

    Performers

    NameRolePerformed
    Musical arranger and conductorOrchestral

    Dom DeLuise    		Performers"Ghostbusters" from Ghostbusters
    Performer"Let's Hear It for the Boy" from Footloose
    Performer"Against All Odds " from Against All Odds

    Willie Nelson
    Kris Kristofferson    		Performers“How Do You Feel about Foolin’ Around?”,
    “On the Road Again” and
    “Amazing Grace”
    Debbie AllenPerformer"Footloose" from Footloose
    Diana RossPerformer"I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red
    Performers"They Say It's Wonderful" from Annie Get Your Gun during the closing credits

    Multiple nominations and awards

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