27th Academy Awards
The 27th Academy Awards were held on March 30, 1955, to honor the best films of 1954, hosted by Bob Hope at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood with Thelma Ritter hosting from the NBC Century Theatre in New York City.
On the Waterfront led the ceremony with twelve nominations and eight wins, including Best Picture. Its total wins tied the record of Gone with the Wind and From Here to Eternity, though those each had thirteen nominations. It was the third film to receive five acting nominations, and the first to receive three in the Best Supporting Actor category. A "rematch" occurred in the category of Best Actor between Marlon Brando and Humphrey Bogart following Bogart's upset victory three years earlier. In an upset, Brando won, now seen as one of the greatest Best Actor wins in Oscar history. This was Brando's fourth consecutive nomination for Best Actor, a record that remains unmatched to this day.
In an even bigger upset, Grace Kelly won Best Actress for The Country Girl over Judy Garland, who was heavily favored to win for A Star Is Born. Garland could not attend the ceremony, having recently given birth to her third child; cameramen were present in her home so she could give an acceptance speech, only to awkwardly leave when Kelly was announced as the winner. Groucho Marx later sent her a telegram expressing that her loss was "the biggest robbery since Brink's Robbery|Brink's]".
Dorothy Dandridge became the first African American actress to receive a nomination for Best Actress.
Winners and nominees
Awards
Nominees were announced on February 12, 1955. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.Honorary Foreign Language Film Award
- To Gate of Hell - Best Foreign Language Film first released in the United States during 1954.
Honorary Awards
- To Bausch & Lomb Optical Company for their contributions to the advancement of the motion picture industry.
- To Kemp R. Niver for the development of the Renovare Process which has made possible the restoration of the Library of Congress Paper Film Collection.
- To Greta Garbo for her unforgettable screen performances.
- To Danny Kaye for his unique talents, his service to the Academy, the motion picture industry, and the American people.
- To Jon Whiteley for his outstanding juvenile performance in The Little Kidnappers.
- To Vincent Winter for his outstanding juvenile performance in The Little Kidnappers.
Presenters and performers
Presenters
- Grace Kelly
- Donna Reed
- Lee J. Cobb
- Dorothy Dandridge
- Nina Foch and Jane Wyman
- Dan O'Herlihy and Jan Sterling
- Humphrey Bogart
- Katy Jurado
- Jean Marie Ingels
- Charles Brackett
- Merle Oberon
- Lauren Bacall
- Marlon Brando
- Audrey Hepburn, Karl Malden, and Claire Trevor
- Bing Crosby
- Frank Sinatra
- William Holden
- Bette Davis
- Edmond O'Brien, Eva Marie Saint, and Rod Steiger
- Tom Tully
- Buddy Adler
Performers
Multiple nominations and awards
| Awards | Film |
| 8 | On the Waterfront |
| 2 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
| 2 | The Country Girl |
| 2 | Three Coins in the Fountain |