68th Academy Awards

Infobox Academy Awards | name = 68th


date = Monday, March 25, 1996
site = Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Los Angeles, California
host = Whoopi Goldberg
producer = Quincy Jones
director = Jeff Margolis
duration = 3 hours, 39 minutes
network = ABC
ratings = 44.48 million
30.5 (Nielsen rating)
last = 67th
next = 69thThe 68th Academy Awards was held on March 25, 1996 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The show was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. The ceremony was watched 44.48 million viewers, with 30.5% households watching. Despite controversy from the NAACP concerning what was deemed as a lack of attention to African-American actors by the Academy, this show was the one and only time an African-American was hired to produce the show to date.

Key moments in this presentation included Christopher Reeve making his first public appearance onstage after becoming paralyzed, the performance of the troupe Stomp, the sextet Take 6, and a lifetime achievement award to Kirk Douglas recovering from a stroke. A special tribute to Gene Kelly was also produced.

"Braveheart" won five Oscars including Best Picture.

Winners & Nominees

Best Picture

"Braveheart"
*"Apollo 13"
*"Babe"
*"Il Postino"
*"Sense and Sensibility"

Best Actor in a Leading Role

"Leaving Las Vegas - Nicolas Cage"
*"Dead Man Walking - Sean Penn"
*"Il Postino - Massimo Troisi"
*"Mr. Holland's Opus - Richard Dreyfuss"
*"Nixon - Anthony Hopkins"

Best Actress in a Leading Role

"Dead Man Walking - Susan Sarandon"
*"Sense and Sensibility - Emma Thompson"
*"Leaving Las Vegas - Elizabeth Shue"
*"Casino - Sharon Stone"
*"The Bridges of Madison County - Meryl Streep"

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

"The Usual Suspects - Kevin Spacey"
*"Apollo 13 - Ed Harris"
*"Babe - James Cromwell"
*"Rob Roy - Tim Roth"
*"Twelve Monkeys - Brad Pitt"

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

"Mighty Aphrodite - Mira Sorvino"
*"Apollo 13 - Kathleen Quinlan"
*"Sense and Sensibility - Kate Winslet"
*"Nixon - Joan Allen"
*"Georgia - Mare Winningham"

Best Director

"Braveheart - Mel Gibson"
*"Babe - Chris Noonan"
*"Dead Man Walking - Tim Robbins"
*"Leaving Las Vegas - Mike Figgis"
*"Il Postino - Michael Radford"

Best Original Screenplay

"The Usual Suspects - Christopher McQuarrie"
*"Braveheart - Randall Wallace"
*"Mighty Aphrodite - Woody Allen"
*"Nixon - Oliver Stone , Christopher Wilkinson and Stephen J. Rivele"
*"Toy Story - Joss Whedon , Andrew Stanton , Joel Cohen , Alec Sakolow , John Lasseter , Pete Docter and Joe Ranft"

Best Adapted Screenplay

"Sense and Sensibility - Emma Thompson"
*"Apollo 13 - Al Reinert and William Broyles Jr."
*"Babe - George Miller and Chris Noonan"
*"Leaving Las Vegas - Mike Figgis"
*"Il Postino - Michael Radford , Anna Pavignano , Furio Scarpelli , Giacomo Scarpelli and Massimo Troisi"

Best Cinematography

"Braveheart - John Toll"

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

"Restoration - Eugenio Zanetti"

Best Costume Design

"Restoration - James Acheson"

Best Sound

"Apollo 13 - Rick Dior , Steve Pederson , Scott Millan and David MacMillan"

Best Film Editing

"Apollo 13 - Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley"

Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing

"Braveheart - Lon Bender and Per Hallberg"

Best Effects, Visual Effects

"Babe - Scott E. Anderson , Charles Gibson , Neal Scanlan and John Cox"

Best Makeup

"Braveheart - Peter Frampton , Paul Pattison and Lois Burwell"

Best Music, Original Song

"Pocahontas - Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for the song Colors of the Wind"

Best Music, Original Dramatic Score

"Il Postino - Luis Enriquez Bacalov"

Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score

"Pocahontas - Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz"

Best Short Film, Animated

"Wallace & Gromit in A Close Shave"

Best Short Film, Live Action

"Lieberman in Love"

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

"One Survivor Remembers"

Best Documentary, Features

"Anne Frank Remembered"

Best Foreign Language Film

"Antonia - Netherlands"

In Memoriam

Presented by Sharon Stone, a tribute honoring those members in the motion picture industry that died in the previous year: Ginger Rogers, composer Miklós Rózsa, Maxine Andrews, Michael V. Gazzo, Dean Martin, Viveca Lindfors, Martin Balsam, animator Friz Freleng, Burl Ives, Butterfly McQueen, costume designer Dorothy Jenkins, Nancy Kelly, Lana Turner, Elisha Cook Jr., Ida Lupino, art director Harry Horner, writer Terry Southern, Haing S. Ngor, Michael Hordern, producer Don Simpson, producer Ross Hunter, director Frank Perry, Alexander Godunov, director Louis Malle, director/writer Howard Koch, and George Burns.