Notable Academy Award Winners of the 1960s

This post originally appeared on the DVD Netflix blog “Inside the Envelope.” That company closed in 2023, and the blog was shut down.

When thinking of the 1960s, many associate those years with free love, psychedelics, protests, integration, and war. For those living through those years, movie theaters provided respite from the disturbing images that appeared nightly on television screens listing the number of casualties each day in Vietnam. The Academy Award winners of the 1960s did not include films about the Vietnam War, however, although at least a dozen were released in that decade. To the decade’s credit, however, many winning nominees addressed important social issues. And the World Wars had not been forgotten, recalled in Lawrence of Arabia and Judgment at Nuremberg.

The 1960 Academy Awards honored a beloved figure from World War II, Anne Frank. In its subdued and intimate way, The Diary of Anne Frank reveals the cruelty and beauty that occurred in an attic during the Nazi regime, and the film received eight nominations and won three awards, including best supporting actress for Shelley Winters.

A graphic depiction of persecution and courage plays out in Spartacus, which depicts enslavement and gladiators in ancient Rome. Peter Ustinov won the best supporting actor award in 1961 for his portrayal of gladiator school owner, whose student, Spartacus, leads an uprising against the Roman Empire. This followed epic Ben-Hur’s best-picture win the previous year. That film told the Roman oppression story from a Jewish/Christian angle and Charlton Heston, in the title role, won best actor.

West Side Story, depicting a modern, mid-century social strata, nearly swept its 11 nominations, including best picture, at the 1962 ceremonies. Taking place in 1957 New York City, two rival gangs, American and Puerto Rican, rumble over turf, pride, and women, with tragic consequences.

Small towns aren’t immune to complex social issues, and To Kill a Mockingbird brought to life Harper Lee’s best-selling novel. Gregory Peck won best actor in 1963 for his portrayal of a lawyer defending a wrongly accused African American. In doing so, he also has to man to try to help his young daughter make sense of the world’s humanity shortcomings.

The 1963 ceremonies also marked the shortest acceptance speech ever, that of 16-year-old Patty Duke, when she accepted her supporting actress Oscar for The Miracle Worker. She simply said, “Thank you.”

A film depicting oppression, which never quite made it into our daily dialogue is America, America, directed by Elia Kazan. It won in 1964 for best black-and-white art direction. America, America tells the story of Kazan’s uncle, a Greek minority living in Turkey, who desires a better life, which seems like it should be in the United States.

Also wanting a better life was cockney Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, best-picture winner in 1965. Eliza’s rise to duchess is filled with challenges and sometimes comical moments. Surprisingly, Audrey Hepburn wasn’t nominated for her role as Eliza, but she did get to present the Oscar to her co-star, Rex Harrison, who won best-actor.

The mid-sixties were good years for Julie Andrews. She had just won best actress in 1965 for Mary Poppins and would also forever be associated with The Sound of Music, which won best picture in 1966. The musical, set in Nazi Austria, won four other Oscars, and although Andrews was nominated for best actress again, she did not take one home for her role as Maria.

The legendary Elizabeth Taylor won best actress in 1967 for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe. Her husband, Richard Burton, played her under-achieving college professor spouse and was nominated, but did not win best actor. “Liz and Dick” were practically newlyweds when they made Woolfe, but they convincingly played a long-married, volatile couple that reveals devastating details of its relationship to a young, seemingly happy couple.

The 1960s marked a good cinematic decade for Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor and World War II veteran. In 1964, he was the first-ever African-American to win a best-actor Oscar for his role in Lilies of the Field. The following year, he played a black man who befriends a blind white girl in A Patch of Blue, for which Shelley Winters won best supporting actress. But it was in 1968, that Poitier played major roles in two Oscar-winning films (receiving no nominations). In the Heat of the Night won best picture that year and in it, Poitier played a Philadelphia detective on special assignment in the south, where he encounters prejudice because of his race. The second film, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, won best writing for story and screenplay, and Katharine Hepburn took home the best actress Oscar.

At the end of the decade, several memorable movies took home Academy Awards. One would think that 2001: A Space Odyssey would have walked away with an armful, but it won for best special-visual-effects only. The best picture winner at the 1969 ceremonies was actually Oliver!, based on Charles Dickens’ classic novel, Oliver Twist. It received a dozen nominations and six wins, including Ron Moody’s best actor. That year, Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl) and Katherine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) tied for best actress. Ruth Gordon won best supporting actress for Rosemary’s Baby. From ancient times to far in the future, the films of the 1960s covered a wide variety of subjects and social issues, setting the stage for more such explorations in the 1970s.

Here are some at-a-glance facts about 1960s Academy Awards:

1960

• Best Picture: Ben-Hur
  • 11 Academy AwardsBest actor (Charlton Heston), directing, music, special effects
• Diary of Anne Frank
  • 8 nominations, 3 wins
  • Shelley Winters (best supporting actress), art direction, cinematography B&W
• Best song
  • A Hole in the Head, “High Hopes.” Not lip synced. Frank Sinatra and Eddie Hodges

1961

• Best Picture: The Apartment
  • 10 nominations, 5 wins
  • B&W art direction, set decoration, directing, editing, writing
• Spartacus
  • 6 nominations, 4 wins
  • art direction (color), actor in supporting role (Peter Ustinov), cinematography (color), costume design (color)
• Burt Lancaster won best actor for Elmer Gantry
• Elizabeth Taylor won best actress for Butterfield 8

1962

• Best Picture: West Side Story
  • 11 nominations, 10 wins
  • Supporting actor/actress: George Chakiris and Rita Moreno.
• Best actress: Sophia Loren (Two Women)
• Best actor: Maximilian Schell (Judgment at Nuremberg)
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s (two wins) Best music score (Henry Mancini), best song “Moon River”
• Judgment at Nuremberg – 11 nominations, 2 wins (writing–screenplay, best actor)

1963

• Best Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
  • 10 nominations, 7 wins
• Best supporting Actress: Patty Duke (The Miracle Worker)
• Best Actor: Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird)
• Best Actor: Anne Bancroft
• Best Documentary: Black Fox: The True Story of Adolf Hitler
• The Longest Day –
  • 5 nominations 2 wins (cinematography B&W, special effects)
  • Three-hour war epic about WWII D-Day starring John Wayne
• The Music Man – 6 nominations, 1 win (music, of course)
• The Miracle Worker, 5 nominations, 2 wins

1964

• Best Picture: Tom Jones
  • 10 nominations, 4 wins
  • Music, screenplay, directing
  • Story of an orphan adopted by a womanizing nobleman
  • Outrageous comedy. Stars Albert Finney and Susannah York.
• Best actor: Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field)
• America, America – Best Art Direction (B&W)  Gene Callahan.
  • Elia Kazan director, story of his own uncle, who leaves Turkey (where he had been a Greek minority) for America.

1965

• Best Picture – My Fair Lady
  • 12 nominations, 8 wins
  • Best actor, Rex Harrison. Audrey Hepburn wasn’t nominated but she presented the trophy to Harrison. 
• Best Actress: Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins
• Mary Poppins – 13 nominations, 5 wins
• Zorba the Greek – 7 nominations, 3 wins, including supporting actress (Lila Kedrova), art direction B&W, cinematography B&W

1966

• Best Picture: The Sound of Music
  • 10 nominations, five wins
    • Music, directing, film editing, sound
• Julie Andrews had won best actress the previous year and was nominated this year, but Julie Christie won best actress in 1966 for Darling
• Best Actor: Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou
• Dr. Zhivago
  • 10 nominations and 5 wins, art direction, cinematography (color), music, costume design, screenplay writing
• A Patch of Blue – 5 nominations, 1 win for actress in a supporting role Shelley Winters (had won in 1960 for The Diary of Anne Frank)

1967

• Best Picture: A Man for all Seasons
  • 8 nominations, 6 wins
  • Best actor (Paul Scofield)
  • The struggle between Henry VII (Robert Shaw) and the Roman Catholic Church for the right to divorce his wife, Ann Boleyn.
• Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  • Elizabeth Taylor (Best Actress)
  • Devastating. Richard Burton

1968

• Best Picture: In the Heat of the Night
  • 7 nominations, 5 wins
  • Rod Steiger (best actor)
• Bonnie and Clyde – 10 nom 3 wins
• Camelot: 5 nominations, 3 wins, music (scoring), art direction, costume design
• The Graduate
  • 7 nominations but only 1 win – directing (Mike Nichols)
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
  • Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn (best actress), Katherine Houghton
  • Best writing (story and screenplay)

1969

• Best Picture Oliver!
  • 12 nominations, 6 wins
  • Supporting actor (Jack Wild), Actor (Ron Moody)
• Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn tied for best actress.
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (best special visual effects)
• Funny Girl: 8 nominations, 1 win for Barbra Streisand
• The Lion in Winter
  • King Henry II
  • Katharine Hepburn (best actress), music, screenplay writing
• Rosemary’s Baby – Ruth Gordon (supporting actress)
• Romeo & Juliet
  • 4 nominations, 2 wins (costumes, cinematography)