48th Academy Awards
The 48th Academy Awards were presented Monday, March 29, 1976, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, George Segal, Goldie Hawn, and Gene Kelly.
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 Night in 1934 and preceding The [Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs] in 1991.
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 Hartman in 1965. 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 and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees|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 Actress in 1989; 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.
This ceremony marked the return of Oscar telecasts to ABC, which carried the event from 1961 until NBC held the rights for a 5-year period beginning in 1971. NBC's coverage of the NCAA Division I basketball championship game|NCAA Division I basketball championship] aired the same night as the ceremony, and while Adjani unsealed the envelope for Best Film Editing, co-presenter Elliott Gould jokingly announced the winner as "1975–76 [Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team|Indiana], 86-68".
Winners and nominees
Nominees were announced on February 17, 1976. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.Special Achievement Award (Sound Effects)
Special Achievement Award (Visual Effects)
Honorary Award
- To Mary Pickford in recognition of her unique contributions to the film industry and the development of film as an artistic medium.
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
- Dr. Jules C. Stein
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
Multiple nominations and awards
| Nominations | Film |
| 9 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| 7 | Barry Lyndon |
| 6 | Dog Day Afternoon |
| 5 | Funny Lady |
| 5 | Nashville |
| 4 | Jaws |
| 4 | The [Man Who Would Be King (film)|The Man Who Would Be King] |
| 4 | Shampoo |
| 4 | The Sunshine Boys |
| 3 | The Hindenburg |
| 2 | Amarcord |
| 2 | Bite the Bullet |
| 2 | The [Day of the Locust (film)|The Day of the Locust] |
| 2 | Profumo di donna |
| 2 | Tommy |
| 2 | The Wind and the Lion |
| Awards | Film |
| 5 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| 4 | Barry Lyndon |
| 3 | Jaws |