The Best Years of Our Lives won seven of its eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and both male acting Oscars. The Academy awarded Harold Russell—a World War II veteran who had lost both hands in the war—an Honorary Academy Award for "bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans" for his role as Homer Parrish, believing that, as a non-actor, he would not win the Best Supporting Actor award for which he was nominated. Russell also won the competitive award, making him the only person in Academy history to receive two Oscars for the same performance.
When Olivia de Havilland won the Best Actress Oscar, her sister, Joan Fontaine, attempted to shake her hand, but she refused the handshake, saying "I don't know why she does that when she knows how I feel."[1]
This was the first time since the 2nd Academy Awards that every category had, at most, five nominations.
Jean Hersholt (Presenter: Academy Honorary Award to Laurence Olivier)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Presenter: Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Live Action Short Subject-One-Reel, Best Live Action Short Subject-Two-Reel, Best Short Subject-Cartoons, and Scientific & Technical Awards)
Rex Harrison (Presenter: Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, and Best Special Effects)
Lana Turner (Presenter: Best Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)
Greer Garson (Presenter: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration-Black-and-White and Best Art Direction–Interior Decoration-Color)
Ann Sheridan (Presenter: Best Cinematography-Black-and-White and Best Cinematography-Color)
