Winners Announced: April 14, 1969
Held at: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
Host: no one
Eligibility Year: 1968
Cinematic Highlights and Achievements
Table of Contents
- Oliver! Steals the Show: This musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel surprised many by bagging six awards, including Best Picture.
- Oliver! had 11 nominations, winning five awards.
- Oliver! was the only G-rated film to win Best Picture.
- Heat for Cool Hand Luke: Strother Martin coined the memorable line “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate” in this film. Although not a winner, the movie received nominations and became iconic.
- Katharine Hepburn’s Double Act: Hepburn won Best Actress for her role in The Lion in Winter, sharing the honor with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl—an Oscars first!
Trivia and Noteworthy Moments
- Host-less Night: For the first time in its history, the Academy Awards had no host, creating a more streamlined (but less comedic) atmosphere.
- Political Activism: When Marlon Brando won Best Actor for The Godfather, he sent Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather to decline the award as a protest against Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans in film.
- Foreign Influence: The Best Director award went to Carol Reed for Oliver!, marking a triumph for British cinema in Hollywood.
- Take our 1969 Quiz!
1969 Oscar Nominees and Winners
Oliver! – John Woolf, producer (WINNER)
Funny Girl – Ray Stark, producer
The Lion In Winter – Martin Poll, producer
Rachel, Rachel – Paul Newman, producer
Romeo and Juliet – John Brabourne and Anthony Havelock-Allan, producers
Carol Reed – Oliver! (WINNER)
Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey
Gillo Pontecorvo – The Battle of Algiers
Anthony Harvey – The Lion In Winter
Franco Zeffirelli – Romeo and Juliet
Cliff Robertson – Charly as Charlie Gordon (WINNER)
Alan Arkin – The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter as John Singer
Alan Bates – The Fixer as Yakov Bok
Ron Moody – Oliver! as Fagin
Peter O’Toole – The Lion In Winter as King Henry II of England
Katharine Hepburn – The Lion In Winter as Eleanor of Aquitaine (WINNER)
Barbra Streisand – Funny Girl as Fanny Brice (WINNER)
Patricia Neal – The Subject Was Roses as Nettie Cleary
Vanessa Redgrave – Isadora as Isadora Duncan
Joanne Woodward – Rachel, Rachel as Rachel Cameron
Jack Albertson – The Subject Was Roses as John Cleary (WINNER)
Seymour Cassel – Faces as Chet
Daniel Massey – Star! as Noël Coward
Jack Wild – Oliver! as Jack Dawkins (“The Artful Dodger”)
Gene Wilder – The Producers as Leo Bloom
Ruth Gordon – Rosemary’s Baby as Minnie Castevet (WINNER)
Lynn Carlin – Faces as Maria Frost
Sondra Locke – The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter as Mick Kelly
Kay Medford – Funny Girl as Rose Stern Borach
Estelle Parsons – Rachel, Rachel as Calla Mackie
The Producers – Mel Brooks (WINNER)
2001: A Space Odyssey – Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke
The Battle of Algiers – Franco Solinas and Gillo Pontecorvo
Faces – John Cassavetes
Hot Millions – Ira Wallach and Peter Ustinov
The Lion in Winter – James Goldman based on his play (WINNER)
The Odd Couple – Neil Simon based on his play
Oliver! – Vernon Harris based on the play by Lionel Bart and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Rachel, Rachel – Stewart Stern based on the novel A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence
Rosemary’s Baby – Roman Polanski based on the novel by Ira Levin
Journey into Self – Bill McGaw (WINNER)
A Few Notes on Our Food Problem – U.S. Information Agency
The Legendary Champions – William Cayton
Other Voices – David H. Sawyer
Young Americans – Robert Cohn and Alex Grasshoff
Why Man Creates – Saul Bass (WINNER)
The House That Ananda Built – Films Division, Government of India
The Revolving Door – Vision Associates Production for the American Foundation Institute of Corrections
A Space to Grow – Office of Economic Opportunity for Project Upward Bound
A Way Out of the Wilderness – Dan E. Weisburd
Robert Kennedy Remembered – Guggenheim Productions (WINNER)
The Dove – Coe-Davis Ltd.
Duo – National Film Board of Canada
Prelude – Prelude Co.
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day – Walt Disney (posthumous award) (WINNER)
The House That Jack Built – National Film Board of Canada
The Magic Pear Tree – Murakami-Wolf Films
Windy Day – Hubley Studios
The Lion in Winter – John Barry (WINNER)
The Fox – Lalo Schifrin
Planet of the Apes – Jerry Goldsmith
The Shoes of the Fisherman – Alex North
The Thomas Crown Affair – Michel Legrand
Oliver! – Johnny Green (WINNER)
Finian’s Rainbow – Ray Heindorf
Funny Girl – Walter Scharf
Star! – Lennie Hayton
The Young Girls of Rochefort – Adaptation: Michel Legrand; Song Score: Michel Legrand and Jacques Demy
“The Windmills of Your Mind” from The Thomas Crown Affair – Music by Michel Legrand; Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman (WINNER)
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Music and Lyrics by The Sherman Brothers: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
“For Love of Ivy” from For Love of Ivy – Music by Quincy Jones; Lyrics by Bob Russell
“Funny Girl” from Funny Girl – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Bob Merrill
“Star!” from Star! – Music by Jimmy Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Oliver! – Shepperton Studio Sound Dept. (WINNER)
Bullitt – Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Studio Sound Dept.
Finian’s Rainbow – Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Studio Sound Dept.
Funny Girl – Columbia Studio Sound Dept.
Star! – Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Sound Dept.
War and Peace – U.S.S.R. (WINNER)
The Boys of Paul Street – Hungary
The Firemen’s Ball – Czechoslovakia
The Girl with the Pistol – Italy
Stolen Kisses – France
Romeo and Juliet – Danilo Donati (WINNER)
The Lion in Winter – Margaret Furse
Oliver! – Phyllis Dalton
Planet of the Apes – Morton Haack
Star! – Donald Brooks
Oliver! – Art Direction: John Box and Terence Marsh; Set Decoration: Vernon Dixon and Ken Muggleston (WINNER)
2001: A Space Odyssey – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Anthony Masters, Harry Lange and Ernest Archer
The Shoes of the Fisherman – Art Direction and Set Decoration: George W. Davis and Edward Carfagno
Star! – Art Direction: Boris Leven; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott and Howard Bristol
War and Peace – Art Direction: Mikhail Bogdanov and Gennady Myasnikov; Set Decoration: G. Koshelev and V. Uvarov
Romeo and Juliet – Pasqualino De Santis (WINNER)
Funny Girl – Harry Stradling
Ice Station Zebra – Daniel L. Fapp
Oliver! – Oswald Morris
Star! – Ernest Laszlo
Bullitt – Frank P. Keller (WINNER)
Funny Girl – Robert Swink, Maury Winetrobe and William Sands
The Odd Couple – Frank Bracht
Oliver! – Ralph Kemplen
Wild in the Streets – Fred R. Feitshans Jr. and Eve Newman
2001: A Space Odyssey – Stanley Kubrick (WINNER)
Ice Station Zebra – Hal Millar and Joseph McMillan Johnson
Martha Raye
Walter Matthau presented John Chambers his award for outstanding makeup achievement for Planet of the Apes
Diahann Carroll presented Onna White her award for outstanding choreography achievement for Oliver!
