68th Academy Awards

The 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.