Oscar statuette ©AMPAS


1981 (54th Annual Awards)
Winners Only

Listed below are the Academy Award winners for the year 1981 (non-winning nominations have been omitted from this list). Click on the name of a film, person or song in the list to display more information about that film, person or song Or, click on a year in the column on the right to display the winners from that year.

Best Picture

Winner markerChariots of Fire, Enigma Productions Limited; The Ladd Company/Warner Bros. (UK) David Puttnam, Producer.

Actor in a Leading Role

Winner markerHenry Fonda in On Golden Pond, ITC Films/IPC Films Production; Universal. (UK, USA)

Actress in a Leading Role

Winner markerKatharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond, ITC Films/IPC Films Production; Universal. (UK, USA)

Actor in a Supporting Role

Winner markerJohn Gielgud in Arthur, Rollins, Joffe, Morra and Brezner Production; Orion.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Winner markerMaureen Stapleton in Reds, J.R.S. Production; Paramount.

Directing

Winner markerReds, J.R.S. Production; Paramount. Warren Beatty.

Art Direction-Set Decoration

Winner markerRaiders of the Lost Ark, Lucasfilm, Ltd. Production; Paramount. Art direction by Norman Reynolds and Leslie Dilley; set decoration by Michael Ford.

Cinematography

Winner markerReds, J.R.S. Production; Paramount. Vittorio Storaro.

Costume Design

Winner markerChariots of Fire, Enigma Productions Limited; The Ladd Company/Warner Bros. (UK) Milena Canonero.

Documentary

(Feature)

Winner markerGenocide, Arnold Schwartzman Productions, Inc. Arnold Schwartzman and Rabbi Marvin Hier, Producers.

(Short Subject)

Winner markerClose Harmony, Noble Enterprise. Nigel Noble, Producer.

Film Editing

Winner markerRaiders of the Lost Ark, Lucasfilm, Ltd. Production; Paramount. Michael Kahn.

Foreign Language Film

Winner markerMephisto, Mafilm-Objektiv Studio and Manfred Durniok Production. (West Germany, Hungary, Austria)

Makeup

Winner markerAn American Werewolf in London, Lycanthrope/PolyGram/Universal Pictures Production; Universal. (UK, USA) Rick Baker.

Music

(Original Score)

Winner markerChariots of Fire, Enigma Productions Limited; The Ladd Company/Warner Bros. (UK) Vangelis.

(Original Song)

Winner markerArthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) from Arthur, Rollins, Joffe, Morra and Brezner Production; Orion. Music and lyric by Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen.

Short Films

(Animated)

Winner markerCrac, Société Radio Canada. (Canada) Frédéric Back, Producer.

(Live Action)

Winner markerViolet, The American Film Institute. (Canada, USA) Paul Kemp and Shelley Levinson, Producers.

Sound

Winner markerRaiders of the Lost Ark, Lucasfilm, Ltd. Production; Paramount. Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker and Roy Charman.

Special Achievement Award

(Sound Effects Editing)

Winner markerRaiders of the Lost Ark, Lucasfilm, Ltd. Production; Paramount. Ben Burtt and Richard L. Anderson.

Visual Effects

Winner markerRaiders of the Lost Ark, Lucasfilm, Ltd. Production; Paramount. Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson and Joe Johnston.

Writing

(Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium)

Winner markerOn Golden Pond, ITC Films/IPC Films Production; Universal. (UK, USA) Ernest Thompson.

(Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)

Winner markerChariots of Fire, Enigma Productions Limited; The Ladd Company/Warner Bros. (UK) Colin Welland.

Honorary Award

Winner markerTo Barbara Stanwyck, for superlative creativity and unique contribution to the art of screen acting. [ [Statuette]]

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Winner markerDanny Kaye

Gordon E. Sawyer Award

Winner markerJoseph B. Walker

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

Winner markerAlbert R. Broccoli

Scientific or Technical Award

(Academy Award of Merit)

Winner markerTo the Fuji Photo Film Company, Ltd. for the research, development and introduction of a new Ultra-high-speed color negative film for motion pictures.

(Scientific and Engineering Award)

Winner markerTo Nelson Tyler for the progressive development and improvement of the Tyler Helicopter motion picture camera platform.
Winner markerTo Leonard Sokolow for the concept and design and to Howard T. LaZare for the development of the Consolidated Film Industries’ Stroboscan motion picture film viewer.
Winner markerTo Richard Edlund and Industrial Light and Magic, Incorporated for the concept and engineering of a beam-splitter optical composite motion picture printer.
Winner markerTo Richard Edlund and Industrial Light and Magic, Incorporated for the engineering of the Empire Motion Picture Camera System.
Winner markerTo Edward J. Blasko and Dr. Roderick T. Ryan of the Eastman Kodak Company for the application of the Prostar Microfilm Processor for motion picture title and special optical effects production.

(Technical Achievement Award)

Winner markerTo Hal Landaker for the concept and to Alan D. Landaker for the engineering of the Burbank Studios’ Production Sound Department 24-frame color video system.
Winner markerTo Bill Hogan of Ruxton, Ltd. and Richard J. Stumpf and Daniel R. Brewer of Universal City Studios’ Production Sound Department for the engineering of a 24-frame color video system.
Winner markerTo John DeMuth for the engineering of a 24-frame color video system.
Winner markerTo ERNST F. NUTTMANN of Continental Camera Systems, Inc. for the development of a pitching lens for motion picture photography.
Winner markerTo Bill Taylor of Universal City Studios for the concept and specifications for a Two Format, Rotating Head, Aerial Image Optical Printer.
Winner markerTo Peter D. Parks of Oxford Scientific Films for the development of the OSF microcosmic zoom device for microscopic photography.
Winner markerTo Dr. Louis Stankiewicz and H. L. Blachford for the development of Baryfol sound barrier materials.
Winner markerTo Dennis Muren and Stuart Ziff of Industrial Light and Magic, Incorporated for the development of a Motion Picture Figure Mover for animation photography.