The 42nd Academy Awards were presented April 7, 1970, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. For the second year in a row, there was no official host. Awards were presented by seventeen "Friends of Oscar":

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

, Fred Astaire, Jon Voight, Myrna Loy,

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...

, Raquel Welch, Candice Bergen,

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

Katharine Ross Katharine Juliet Ross (born January 29, 1940) is an American film, stage, and television actress. Her accolades include one Academy Award nomination, one BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. A native of Los Angeles, Ross spent most of her ...

, Cliff Robertson, Ali MacGraw,

Barbara McNair Barbara Jean McNair (March 4, 1934 – February 4, 2007) was an American singer and theater, television, and film actress. McNair's career spanned over five decades in television, film, and stage. McNair's professional career began in music dur ...

Elliott Gould Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s. Elliott's breakthrough role was in the '' Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination ...

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

, and

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

. This was the first Academy Awards ceremony to be broadcast via satellite to an international audience, but only outside North America. Mexico and Brazil were the sole countries to broadcast the event live. This is currently the highest rated of the televised Academy Awards ceremonies, according to

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 ...

. Its ratings record remains unbroken as of 2020 thanks to the emergence of the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

as the biggest event of

Awards Season Film awards season is an annual time period between November and February every year, in the United States, where a majority of significant film award events take place. In October ballots are sent out to voters, to collect nominations for the first ...

. ''

Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...

'' became the first and only X-rated film to win the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only categ ...

. Its rating has since been downgraded to R. The previous year had seen the only G-rated film to win Best Picture, Carol Reed's ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age Musical theatre, stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre ...

''. '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' set an Oscar record by receiving nine nominations without one for Best Picture. This was the last time until the 68th Academy Awards wherein none of the four winning performances came from Best Picture nominees, as well as the first time where every acting nomination, as well as every major nominated film, was in color.

The ceremony

This was the first Academy Award ceremony intended to be broadcast via satellite worldwide, but according to Klaus Lehmann, a foreign sales executive of the ABC television network, in addition to Canada and Mexico (broadcasting the event since

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

, but only live since 1964), only two South American countries, Chile and Brazil, roughly in the Oscars' time zone, were interested in the live coverage. The Chilean television rights to the Oscars were sold by ABC International to

Televisión Nacional de Chile Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) is a Chilean public service broadcaster. It was founded by order of President Eduardo Frei Montalva and it was launched nationwide on 18 September 1969. Since then, the company has been reorganized on sever ...

while the Brazilian rights were sold to

TV Tupi Rede Tupi (; in English, Tupi Network) was a Brazilian television network free-to-air. Its parent broadcaster, located in the city of São Paulo, was the first TV station to operate in the country, being inaugurated on 18 September 1950 by journ ...

. The latter country's rights to the TV broadcast of the Oscars were moved to a joint venture of

TV Bandeirantes Rede Bandeirantes (, ''Bandeirantes Network''), or simply known as Band (), is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It began broadcasting on May 13, 1967 on VHF channel 13 in São Paulo. Its founder was businessman João Saad with t ...

and TV Record. Starting in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, the Brazilian TV rights to the Oscars were sold by NBC (which had acquired the TV rights to the Awards from ABC to be broadcast for a five-year period until

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, when they returned to ABC for the next year's Awards) to

Rede Globo TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Grupo Globo. The TV stati ...

. An early attempt to change the Academy Awards presentation's start time to 1 p.m. to fit European television audiences was rejected by AMPAS executives. Since at the time television standards conversion was difficult, about 50 other countries did not broadcast the event live. In Europe, most TV broadcasters signed off at midnight, thus the Oscars were not broadcast live and were recorded on film and then shipped to broadcasters with a minimum 4-day delay from the awards' broadcast date. In terms of performances, in-between presenting the documentary awards,

and Fred Astaire discussed how Astaire had never danced on the Academy Awards broadcast before, with Astaire claiming to have "given it ancingup" the previous year. Cuing the orchestra, Hope then left the stage as Astaire began a impromptu dance performance, first in a modern jazz style before ending with traditional tap dancing. (This would not be Astaire's final dance performance as he would later dance in the film '' That's Entertainment, Part II''.)

Winners and nominees

Nominees were announced on February 16, 1970. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger ().

Academy Honorary Award

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

* George Jessel

Multiple nominations and awards

These films had multiple nominations: *''10 nominations'': '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' *''9 nominations'': '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' *''7 nominations'': ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch C ...

'', '' Hello, Dolly!'' and ''

'' *''5 nominations'': '' Z'' *''4 nominations'': '' Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' *''3 nominations'': ''

Gaily, Gaily ''Gaily, Gaily'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''Chicago, Chicago'') is a 1969 American comedy film directed by Norman Jewison. It is a fictionalized adaptation of a 1963 memoir of the same name by Ben Hecht and stars Beau Bridges, Brian K ...

'', ''

Marooned Marooned may refer to: * Marooning, the intentional act of abandoning someone in an uninhabited area Film and television * ''Marooned'' (1933 film), a British drama film * ''Marooned'' (1969 film), an American science-fiction film * ''Marooned ...

'' and ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin. It is based on ...

'' *''2 nominations'': ''

Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...

'', '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'', ''

The Happy Ending ''The Happy Ending'' is a 1969 drama film written and directed by Richard Brooks, which tells the story of a repressed housewife who longs for liberation from her husband and daughter. It stars Jean Simmons (who received an Oscar nomination), J ...

'', '' The Magic Machines'', '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', ''

The Reivers ''The Reivers: A Reminiscence'', published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previously won this award for his book '' A Fable'' ...

'', '' The Secret of Santa Vittoria'', ''

The Sterile Cuckoo ''The Sterile Cuckoo'' (released in the UK as ''Pookie'') is a 1969 American comedy-drama film by producer-director Alan J. Pakula that tells the story of an eccentric young couple whose relationship deepens despite their differences and inadeq ...

'', ''

True Grit True Grit may refer to: Fiction * True Grit (novel), ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis ** True Grit (1969 film), ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne ** True Grit (2010 film), ''Tr ...

'' and ''

The Wild Bunch ''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw ga ...

'' The following films received multiple awards. *''4 wins'': ''

'' *''3 wins'': '' Hello, Dolly!'' and ''

'' *''2 wins'': '' Z''

Presenters and performers

* Fred Astaire (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress and Documentary Awards) * Candice Bergen (Presenter: Best Sound, Best Costume Design and Best Song Original for the Picture) *

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

(Presenter: Best Original Score for a Musical Picture Original or Adaptation) *

(Presenter: Best Film Editing and Best Foreign Language Film) *

(Presenter: Best Foreign Language Film) *

(Presenter: Best Sound) *

(Presenter: Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and Documentary Awards) *

(Presenter: Best Film Editing and Best Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced) * Myrna Loy (Presenter: Best Short Subjects, Best Art Direction and Best Director) * Ali MacGraw (Presenter: Best Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced) *

(Presenter: Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (Non-Musical)) * Cliff Robertson (Presenter: Best Actress, Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (Not a Musical) & Short Subjects Awards) *

(Presenter: Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) *

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

(Presenter: Honorary Award to

) *

(Presenter: Best Actor) *

(Presenter: Best Picture) * Jon Voight (Presenter: Best Art Direction and Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) *

Shani Wallis Shani Wallis (born 14 April 1933) is a British actress and singer, who has worked in theatre, film, and television in both her native United Kingdom and in the United States. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she is perhaps best ...

(Presenter: Best Original Score for a Musical Picture Original or Adaptation) *

(Presenter: Best Cinematography) * Raquel Welch (Presenter: Best Special Visual Effects)

Performers

* Glen Campbell ("

" from ''

'') * Michel Legrand (" What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" from ''

'') *

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his s ...

(" Jean" from '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'') * The Sandpipers (" Come Saturday Morning" from ''

'') * B. J. Thomas (" Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" from ''

'') *Fred Astaire (untitled dance in-between presentation of the two documentary awards)�
Fred Astaire Cuts Loose: 1970 Oscars
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Awards, 42 Academy Awards ceremonies 1969 film awards 1970 in Los Angeles Television shows directed by Jack Haley Jr. 1970 in American cinema April 1970 events in the United States