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The 53rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...
(AMPAS), honored films released in 1980 and took place on March 31, 1981, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 7:00 p.m. PST / 10:00 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled to take place originally on the previous day but was postponed due to the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
(commonly referred to as Oscars) in 20 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Norman Jewison and directed by Marty Pasetta. Comedian and talk show host Johnny Carson hosted the show for the third consecutive time. Two weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in
Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
, on March 15, the
Academy Scientific and Technical Awards The Scientific and Technical Awards are three different Honorary Awards that are given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) during the annual Academy Awards season. The Awards have been presented since the 4th Academy Awards ...
were presented by hosts Ed Asner and Fay Kanin. ''
Ordinary People ''Ordinary People'' is a 1980 American drama film directed by Robert Redford in his directorial debut. The screenplay by Alvin Sargent is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Judith Guest. The film follows the disintegration of an uppe ...
'' won four awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included ''
Tess Tess or TESS may refer to: Music * Tess (band), a Spanish pop band active from 2000 to 2005 * TESS (musician), a UK musician Film and theatre * ''Tess'' (1979 film), a 1979 film adaptation of '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' * ''Tess'' (2016 fil ...
'' with three awards, '' The Empire Strikes Back'', '' Fame'', '' Melvin and Howard'', and ''
Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir '' Raging Bull: M ...
'' with two, and '' Coal Miner's Daughter'', '' The Dollar Bottom'', '' The Fly'', '' From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China'', '' Karl Hess: Toward Liberty'', and '' Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears'' with one. The telecast garnered 39.9 million viewers in the United States.


Winners and nominees

The nominees for the 53rd Academy Awards were announced on February 17, 1981, by Academy president Fay Kanin and actor William Devane. '' The Elephant Man'' and ''
Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir '' Raging Bull: M ...
'' tied for the most nominations with eight each. The winners were announced at the awards ceremony on March 31. Best Director winner
Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award from four nominations, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, the Cec ...
became the third individual to win this category for his directing debut and the first actor to achieve this feat. At age 20, Best Supporting Actor winner Timothy Hutton was the youngest male acting winner in Oscar history. '' Fame'' became the first film to earn two nominations for Best Original Song.


Awards

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


Academy Honorary Award

* Henry Fonda "In recognition of his brilliant accomplishments and enduring contribution to the art of motion pictures."


Special Achievement Award

* Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and
Bruce Nicholson Bruce Nicholson is a special effects artist who received the Special Achievement Academy Award in 1980 for the visual effects of the film ''The Empire Strikes Back'', which he shared with Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund and Dennis Muren. He won his f ...
for the visual effects of '' The Empire Strikes Back''


Multiple nominations and awards


Presenters and performers

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


Presenters


Performers


Ceremony information

In December 1980, the Academy hired film producer Norman Jewison to produce the telecast for the first time. "I am delighted that the Academy will have the benefit of Norman Jewison's insight and creativity," said AMPAS President Fay Kanin in a press release announcing the selection. "He has always been able to bring a fresh approach into his work." That same month, it was announced that comedian and '' The Tonight Show'' host Johnny Carson would preside over emceeing duties for the 1981 ceremony. Jewison explained the decision to hire Carson saying that the host was "an entertainment institution whose spontaneous wit and charm would add a great deal to the quality of the show." Originally the gala was scheduled to take place on March 30. However, due to the attempted assassination on US president Ronald Reagan which occurred earlier that day, Kanin, Jewison, and executives from broadcaster ABC announced that the festivities would be postponed to the following day. It marked the first time since the 40th ceremony held in 1968 that the ceremony was postponed from its original date. Furthermore, producers debated whether or not to televise a pre-recorded speech from Reagan, who was a former actor, saluting the nominees and the Academy. The segment, which was filmed nearly four weeks prior to the show, was eventually broadcast with host Carson giving a preface explaining the decision to postpone the event.


''The Fly'' acceptance speech

During the presentation of the award for Best Animated Short Film to '' The Fly'', presenters Alan Arkin and Margot Kidder announced that the film's director
Ferenc Rofusz Ferenc Rofusz (born 19 August 1946) is a Hungarian animator. He is known for the 1980 Academy Award-winning animated short '' The Fly''. Biography Rofusz was born in 1946 in Budapest. His interest in animation and film making started relativel ...
was unable to attend the ceremony. Just as they announced the Academy would accept the award on his behalf, an unnamed man later identified as Hungarofilm general manager Istvan Dosai came up on stage and accepted the award in lieu of the absent filmmaker. Marble Arch Films publicist Regina Gruss, who was in charge of hosting the Hungarian delegation at the Oscars, said that Rofusz contacted Dosai to accept the award on his behalf, but Academy officials asked him not to come up onstage unless his name was announced. After speaking to reporters and posing for pictures backstage, he never returned to his seat and left the ceremony immediately. According to Academy security chief Jerry Moon, AMPAS contacted the LAPD to issue a search warrant for Dosai for theft. However, Academy spokesperson Art Sarno denied the organization had contacted the police and said that Dosai returned the statuette during a post-awards banquet.


Critical reviews

Some media outlets received the broadcast critically. Television columnist Tom Shales of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' commented, "Everything seemed an anticlimax to the Reagan opening, and the tragic events in Washington a day earlier did put a shadow of gloom over an affair that had promised to be grim enough anyway – since all but one of the year's Best Picture nominees were somber, austere films, and nothing to shout about." '' The Salt Lake Tribune'' television critic
Harold Schindler Harold Moroni "Hal" Schindler (December 6, 1929 – December 28, 1998) was an American journalist and historian, known for his articles and books on the American west. Early in his career he also scripted episodes of the television series '' Deat ...
wrote, "On the whole, the 53rd annual Academy Awards telecast Tuesday was overly long, expectedly dull and surprisingly lacking in those highlights which make Oscar night conversation." Bill Mandel of the ''
San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...
'' quipped, "After the real and completely unscripted emotional explosions of Monday, all the manipulated thrills of the movie industry seemed like the efforts of those bullfight clowns who distract the bull when the matador is injured." Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. ''
Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'' film critic Robert Alan Ross remarked, "The one-day delay turned out well. President Reagan's taped greeting – combined with emcee Johnny Carson's assurance that the First Couple were comfortably watching – instilled a happier mood than might otherwise have prevailed." Jerry Buck of the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
quipped, "Producer Norman Jewison effectively chose to make the night a homage to motion pictures' past, making wide use of many cherished film clips that tugged at the heart and memory." ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' columnist Bruce McCabe wrote, "Given the trauma of the past few days, the Academy Awards show conducted itself rather well. No one really disgraced himself. There were no political speeches."


Ratings and reception

The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 39.9 million people over the length of the entire ceremony, which was a 19% decrease from the previous year's ceremony. An estimated 75 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards. Moreover, the show drew lower
Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
compared to the previous ceremony with 31% of households watching over a 58% share. Nevertheless, the ceremony presentation won an award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety Program (
Roy Christopher Roy Christopher Hergenroeder (December 27, 1935 - February 2, 2021) was an American art director and production designer. Early life Christopher was born in Fresno, California as Roy Christopher Hergenroeder. He was a son of a farmer. Christ ...
) at the 33rd Primetime Emmys in September 1981.


See also

* List of submissions to the 53rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * *


External links


Academy Awards official website

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences official website

Oscars' channel
on
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run by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...
;Analysis
1980 Academy Awards Winners and History
Filmsite ;Other resources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Awards, 53 Academy Awards ceremonies 1980 film awards 1981 in Los Angeles 1981 in American cinema March 1981 events in the United States Academy Television shows directed by Marty Pasetta Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan