58th Academy Awards


The 58th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, took place on March 24, 1986, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 23 categories honoring films released in 1985. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Stanley Donen and directed by Marty Pasetta. Actors Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, and Robin Williams co-hosted the show. Fonda hosted the gala for the second time, having previously been a co-host of the 49th ceremony held in 1977. Meanwhile, this was Alda and Williams's first Oscars hosting stint. Eight days earlier, in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on March 16, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Macdonald Carey.
Out of Africa won seven awards including Best Picture. Other winners included Cocoon and Witness with two awards, and Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Trip to Bountiful, Prizzi's Honor, The Official Story, Broken Rainbow, , Molly's Pilgrim, Anna & Bella, White Nights, Back to the Future, Mask and Ran with one.

Winners and nominees

The nominees for the 58th Academy Awards were announced on February 5, 1986. The Color Purple and Out of Africa led all nominees with eleven each. Winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 24, 1986. With its 11 nominations and zero wins, The Color Purple joined The Turning Point as the most nominated films in Oscar history without a single win. At age 79, John Huston became the oldest person nominated for Best Director. By virtue of his father Walter's previous wins, John's daughter Anjelica's victory in the Best Supporting Actress category made her the first third-generation Oscar winner in history. For the first time in Academy Awards history, all lead acting nominees were born in the United States. Argentina's The Official Story became the first Latin American film to win the Best Foreign Language Film category. Paul Newman was awarded an Academy Honorary Award, much like previous reciepient Henry Fonda in 1980, Newman, like Fonda, won the Academy Award for Best Actor the year after receiving the Honorary Award.

Awards

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

  • Sydney Pollack – Out of Africa
  • *Héctor Babenco – Kiss of the Spider Woman
  • *John Huston – Prizzi's Honor
  • *Akira Kurosawa – Ran
  • *Peter Weir – Witness
    • Best ActorBest Actress
  • William Hurt – Kiss of the Spider Woman as Luis Molina
  • *Harrison Ford – Witness as Detective Captain John Book
  • *James Garner – Murphy's Romance as Murphy Jones
  • *Jack Nicholson – Prizzi's Honor as Charley Partanna
  • *Jon Voight – Runaway Train as Oscar "Manny" Manheim
  • Geraldine Page – The Trip to Bountiful as Carrie Watts
  • *Anne Bancroft – Agnes of God as Miriam Ruth
  • *Whoopi Goldberg – The Color Purple as Celie Harris Johnson
  • *Jessica Lange – Sweet Dreams as Patsy Cline
  • *Meryl Streep – Out of Africa as Karen Blixen
    • Best Supporting ActorBest Supporting Actress
  • Don Ameche – Cocoon as Arthur Selwyn
  • *Klaus Maria Brandauer – Out of Africa as Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke
  • *William Hickey – Prizzi's Honor as Don Corrado Prizzi
  • *Robert Loggia – Jagged Edge as Sam Ransom
  • *Eric Roberts – Runaway Train as Buck
  • Anjelica Huston – Prizzi's Honor as Maerose Prizzi
  • *Margaret Avery – The Color Purple as Shug Avery
  • *Amy Madigan – Twice in a Lifetime as Sunny Sobel
  • *Meg Tilly – Agnes of God as Sister Agnes
  • *Oprah Winfrey – The Color Purple as Sofia Johnson
    • Best Screenplay Written Directly for the ScreenBest Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
  • Witness – Screenplay by Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley; Story by William Kelley, Pamela Wallace and Earl W. Wallace
  • *Back to the Future – Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
  • *Brazil – Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown
  • *The Official Story – Luis Puenzo and Aída Bortnik
  • *The Purple Rose of Cairo – Woody Allen
  • Out of Africa – Kurt Luedtke based on the memoir by Isak Dinesen and the books Silence Will Speak by Errol Trzebinski and Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller by Judith Thurman
  • *The Color Purple – Menno Meyjes based on the novel by Alice Walker
  • *Kiss of the Spider Woman – Leonard Schrader based on the novel by Manuel Puig
  • *Prizzi's Honor – Richard Condon and Janet Roach based on the novel by Richard Condon
  • *The Trip to Bountiful – Horton Foote based on his teleplay
    • BestForeign Language FilmBest Documentary Feature

  • Broken Rainbow – Maria Florio and Victoria Mudd
  • *The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo – Susana Muñoz and Lourdes Portillo
  • *Soldiers in Hiding – Japhet Asher
  • *The Statue of Liberty – Ken Burns and Buddy Squires
  • *Unfinished Business – Steven Okazaki
    • Best Documentary Short SubjectBest Live Action Short Film
  • – David Goodman
  • *The Courage to Care – Robert H. Gardner
  • *' – Michael Crowley and James Wolpaw
  • *' – Barbara Willis Sweete
  • *The Wizard of the Strings – Alan Edelstein
  • Molly's Pilgrim – Jeffrey D. Brown and Chris Pelzer
  • *Graffiti – Dianna Costello
  • *Rainbow War – Bob Rogers
    • Best Animated Short FilmBest Original Score
  • Anna & Bella – Cilia van Dijk
  • *The Big Snit – Richard Condie and Michael J. F. Scott
  • *Second Class Mail – Alison Snowden
  • Out of Africa – John Barry
  • *Agnes of God – Georges Delerue
  • *The Color Purple – Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rod Temperton, Caiphus Semenya, Andraé Crouch, Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Joel Rosenbaum, Fred Steiner, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey and Randy Kerber
  • *Silverado – Bruce Broughton
  • *Witness – Maurice Jarre
    • Best Original SongBest Sound Effects Editing
  • "Say You, Say Me" from White Nights – Music and Lyrics by Lionel Richie
  • *"Miss Celie's Blues " from The Color Purple – Music by Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton; Lyrics by Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton and Lionel Richie
  • *"The Power of Love" from Back to the Future – Music by Chris Hayes and Johnny Colla; Lyrics by Huey Lewis
  • *"Separate Lives" from White Nights – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Bishop
  • *"Surprise Surprise" from A Chorus Line – Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics by Edward Kleban
  • Back to the Future – Charles L. Campbell and Robert Rutledge
  • *Ladyhawke – Robert G. Henderson and Alan Robert Murray
  • *' – Frederick Brown
    • Best SoundBest Art Direction
  • Out of Africa – Chris Jenkins, Gary Alexander, Larry Stensvold and Peter Handford
  • *Back to the Future – Bill Varney, B. Tennyson Sebastian II, Robert Thirlwell and William B. Kaplan
  • *A Chorus Line – Donald O. Mitchell, Michael Minkler, Gerry Humphreys and Christopher Newman
  • *Ladyhawke – Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore and Bud Alper
  • *Silverado – Donald O. Mitchell, Rick Kline, Kevin O'Connell and David M. Ronne
  • Out of Africa – Art Direction: Stephen B. Grimes; Set Decoration: Josie MacAvin
  • *Brazil – Art Direction: Norman Garwood; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
  • *The Color Purple – Art Direction: J. Michael Riva and Robert W. Welch; Set Decoration: Linda DeScenna
  • *Ran – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Yoshirō Muraki and Shinobu Muraki
  • *Witness – Art Direction: Stan Jolley; Set Decoration: John H. Anderson
    • Best CinematographyBest Makeup
  • Out of Africa – David Watkin
  • *The Color Purple – Allen Daviau
  • *Murphy's Romance – William A. Fraker
  • *Ran – Takao Saito, Masaharu Ueda and Asakazu Nakai
  • *Witness – John Seale
  • Mask – Michael Westmore and Zoltan Elek
  • *The Color Purple – Ken Chase
  • *' – Carl Fullerton
    • Best Costume DesignBest Film Editing
  • Ran – Emi Wada
  • *The Color Purple – Aggie Guerard Rodgers
  • *The Journey of Natty Gann – Albert Wolsky
  • *Out of Africa – Milena Canonero
  • *Prizzi's Honor – Donfeld
  • Witness – Thom Noble
  • *A Chorus Line – John Bloom
  • *Out of Africa – Fredric Steinkamp, William Steinkamp, Pembroke J. Herring and Sheldon Kahn
  • *Prizzi's Honor – Rudi Fehr and Kaja Fehr
  • *Runaway Train – Henry Richardson
    • Best Visual Effects-
  • Cocoon – Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar and David Berry
  • *Return to Oz – Will Vinton, Ian Wingrove, Zoran Perisic and Michael Lloyd
  • *Young Sherlock Holmes – Dennis Muren, Kit West, John R. Ellis and David W. Allen
    		• -

    Honorary Academy Awards

  • Paul Newman
  • Alex North

    Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

  • Charles "Buddy" Rogers

    Multiple nominations and awards

    • The following 18 films had multiple nominations:
    AwardsFilm
    11The Color Purple
    11Out of Africa
    8Prizzi's Honor
    8Witness
    4Back to the Future
    4Kiss of the Spider Woman
    4Ran
    3Agnes of God
    3Runaway Train
    3A Chorus Line
    2Brazil
    2Cocoon
    2Ladyhawke
    2Murphy's Romance
    2The Official Story
    2Silverado
    2The Trip to Bountiful
    2White Nights

    The following three films won multiple awards:
    AwardsFilm
    7Out of Africa
    2Cocoon
    2Witness

    Presenters and performers

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

    Presenters

    NameRole
    Announcer for the 58th annual Academy Awards

    Marsha Mason    		Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actress
    Presenter of the award for Best Visual Effects

    Kermit the Frog
    Scooter    		Presentation of the award for Best Animated Short Film
    Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design
    Presenter of the award for Best Documentary Feature
    Presenter of the award for Best Sound
    Presenter of the award for Best Makeup
    Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor
    Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Charles "Buddy" Rogers

    Ally Sheedy    		Presenters of the award for Best Documentary Short Subject

    Michael J. Fox    		Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction
    Presenter of the Honorary Award to Paul Newman
    Presenter of the award for Best Sound Effects Editing
    Presenter of the Honorary Award to Alex North

    Chuck McCann as Laurel and Hardy    		Presenters of the award for Best Live Action Short Film
    Presenter of the award for Best Actress
    Presenter of the award for Best Cinematography

    Jack Valenti    		Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film
    Presenter of the award for Best Film Editing

    Donald O'Connor
    Debbie Reynolds    		Presenters of the awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song
    Presenter of the Writing Awards
    Presenter of the award for Best Director
    Presenter of the award for Best Actor

    Akira Kurosawa
    Billy Wilder    		Presenters of the award for Best Picture

    Performers

    Ceremony information

    Determined to revive interest surrounding the awards and reverse declining ratings, the Academy hired Stanley Donen in December 1985 to produce the telecast for the first time. The following February, actor and comedian Robin Williams was selected as host of the 1986 telecast. Actor Alan Alda and two-time Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda were later announced to join Williams in sharing emceeing duties.
    Several other people were involved with the production of the ceremony. Lionel Newman served as musical director and conductor for the ceremony. Actress Teri Garr performed the titular song from Flying Down to Rio during the opening segment. Singer Irene Cara sang the Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann-penned "Here's to the Losers" in honor of unsuccessful Oscar nominees throughout history. A song-and-dance number featuring actor and singer Howard Keel and several actresses including Cyd Charisse, Leslie Caron, and Debbie Reynolds paid tribute to MGM musicals.

    Box office performance of nominated films

    At the time of the nominations announcement on February 5, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees at the US box office was $119 million with an average of $23.9 million. Witness was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $68.7 million in the domestic box office receipts. The film was followed by Out of Africa, The Color Purple, Prizzi's Honor and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
    Of the 50 grossing movies of the year, 42 nominations went to 12 films on the list. Only Back to the Future, Cocoon, Witness, Jagged Edge, The Color Purple, Prizzi's Honor, Agnes of God were nominated for Best Picture, directing, acting, or screenplay. The other top 50 box office hits that earned nominations were Rambo: First Blood Part II, Mask, White Nights, Silverado, Young Sherlock Holmes, and Ladyhawke.

    Critical reviews

    Terrence O'Flaherty of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Last night's sustained-release Oscar pill moved faster through the system than most, but from a standpoint of taste it was the worst in years." Regarding Alda, Fonda, and Williams hosting performance, he commented, "Together they immediately placed a fatal suggestion in the viewer's mind that there must be a shortage of elegant people in the movie business today – a suspicion that was substantiated again and again throughout this disjointed and unattractive program." Chicago Tribune film critic Gene Siskel noted that after co-host Williams opened the ceremony with a slew of humorous jokes, "The show regrettably returned to its old bad habits with a boring onstage production number intended to be a tribute to old movies. Instead, it was a tribute to the continuing inability of the Oscar show producers to create fun for the home viewer rather than for the audience in the auditorium." The Record's Joel Pisetzner remarked "The program might as well have begun with the announcement 'Dead, from L.A. it's Academy night!' "
    Television columnist John J. O'Connor of The New York Times quipped, "Suddenly, it seemed, somebody had listened to the complaints that had grown deadeningly familiar over the years. Clumpy film clips and smirking patronization were out. Spiffy electronic techniques and pure celebration were in, leavened with generous dollops of good-natured and sometimes outrageous humor." He also added, "Mr. Williams's improvisational, on-the-precipice style of humor brought the event's comic tone thumpingly into the 1980's." Yardena Arar from the Los Angeles Daily News said, "This time, the ABC telecast didn't drown in the thank yous -- or, for that matter, boring presentation speeches and production numbers. Clocking in at 3 and one-fourth hours, the show seemed shorter -- and Donen must take the lion's share of the credit." Furthermore, she observed, "The writing was by and large brisk, the production numbers fair to fabulous." Houston Chronicle television critic Ann Hodges remarked, "Oscar 1986 goes into the record books as a very good year - the year the Academy parked the pompous and let the show biz show." She also lauded the winners' acceptance speeches and the various musicals numbers during the broadcast.

    Ratings and reception

    The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 37.8 million people over its length, which was a 2% decrease from the previous year's ceremony. Moreover, the show drew lower Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 27.3% of households watching over a 43 share. At the time, it earned the lowest viewership for an Academy Award telecast and the lowest ratings for any broadcast.
    In July 1986, the ceremony presentation received four nominations at the 38th Primetime Emmys. The following month, the ceremony won one of those nominations for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety Program.