The 48th Academy Awards were presented Monday, March 29, 1976, at the Dorothy Chandler PavilioninLos Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, George Segal, Goldie Hawn, and Gene Kelly. This year, ABC took over broadcast rights from NBC and has maintained the rights to this day.
| 48th Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | March 29, 1976 |
| Site | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Hosted by | Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, George Segal, Goldie Hawn and Gene Kelly |
| Produced by | Howard W. Koch |
| Directed by | Marty Pasetta |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| Most awards | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (5) |
| Most nominations | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (9) |
| TV in the United States | |
| Network | ABC |
| Duration | 3 hours, 12 minutes |
| |
Miloš Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest made a "clean sweep" of the five major categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay (Adapted). It was the second of three films to date to do so, following It Happened One Nightin1934 and preceding The Silence of the Lambsin1991.
20-year-old French actress Isabelle Adjani received her first nomination for Best Actress this year, becoming the youngest nominee that category, breaking the record set by 22-year-old Elizabeth Hartmanin1965. Her record would be surpassed by 13-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes in 2004, and again in 2013 by nine-year old Quvenzhané Wallis, the current record. Adjani also co-presented the award for Best Film Editing.
At 80, George Burns became the oldest acting winner, as well as the last person born in the nineteenth century to receive an acting award. His record stood until Jessica Tandy won Best Actressin1989; Burns was later succeeded as the oldest Best Supporting Actor winner by Christopher Plummer, who won in 2012 for Beginners at the age of 82.
Jaws won all its nominations except Best Picture, the last film to do so until Traffic. As of the 94th Academy Awards, Amarcord, nominated for Best Director, is the last film to be nominated for Academy Awards in separate years (having won the award for Best Foreign Language Film the year before).
NBC's coverage of the NCAA championship basketball game aired opposite the ceremony; during the presentation of the Best Film Editing award, the winner was jokingly announced by presenter Elliott Gould as "Indiana, 86-68," after the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers had won the NCAA title that night in Philadelphia.[1]
Nominees were announced on February 17, 1976. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).[2]
| Nominations | Film |
|---|---|
| 9 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| 7 | Barry Lyndon |
| 6 | Dog Day Afternoon |
| 5 | Funny Lady |
| The Hindenburg | |
| Nashville | |
| 4 | Jaws |
| The Man Who Would Be King | |
| Shampoo | |
| The Sunshine Boys | |
| 2 | Amarcord |
| Bite the Bullet | |
| The Day of the Locust | |
| Profumo di donna | |
| Tommy | |
| The Wind and the Lion |
| Awards | Film |
|---|---|
| 5 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| 4 | Barry Lyndon |
| 3 | Jaws |
| 2 | The Hindenburg |
The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers:
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Hank Simms | Announcer for the 48th Academy Awards |
| Ray Bolger | Introducer of the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Walter Mirisch |
| Walter Mirisch (AMPAS President) | Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony |
| Joel Grey Madeline Kahn |
Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actress |
| Robert Blake | Presenter of the Special Achievement Award |
| Marisa Berenson O. J. Simpson |
Presenters of the Short Subjects Awards |
| Margaux Hemingway Roy Scheider |
Presenters of the award for Best Sound |
| Beau Bridges Marilyn Hassett |
Presenters of the Documentary Awards |
| Charlton Heston | Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Dr. Jules C. Stein |
| Anthony Hopkins Charlotte Rampling |
Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction |
| Jennifer O'Neill Telly Savalas |
Presenters of the award for Best Costume Design |
| Linda Blair Ben Johnson |
Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Rod McKuen Marlo Thomas |
Presenters of the Music Awards |
| Stockard Channing Billy Dee Williams |
Presenters of the award for Best Cinematography |
| Isabelle Adjani Elliott Gould |
Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing |
| Jacqueline Bisset Jack Valenti |
Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film |
| Burt Bacharach Angie Dickinson |
Presenters of the award for Best Original Song |
| William Friedkin | Presenter of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to Mervyn LeRoy |
| Diane Keaton William Wyler |
Presenters of the award for Best Director |
| Gore Vidal | Presenter of the Writing Awards |
| Walter Mirisch | Presenter of the Honorary Award to Mary Pickford |
| Charles Bronson Jill Ireland |
Presenters of the award for Best Actress |
| Art Carney | Presenter of the award for Best Actor |
| Audrey Hepburn | Presenter of the award for Best Picture |
| Elizabeth Taylor | Introducer of the performance of "America the Beautiful" by the Spirit of Troy |
| Name | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| John Williams | Musical arranger and conductor | Orchestral |
| Ray Bolger | Performer | "Hollywood Honors Its Own" |
| Keith Carradine | Performer | "I'm Easy" from Nashville |
| Bernadette Peters | Performer | "How Lucky Can You Get" from Funny Lady |
| Steve Lawrence | Performer | "Now That We're in Love" from Whiffs |
| Kelly Garrett | Performer | "Richard's Window" from The Other Side of the Mountain |
| Diana Ross | Performer | "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" from Mahogany |
| Spirit of Troy | Performers | "America the Beautiful/That’s Entertainment!" (instrumental) |