46th Academy Awards


The 46th Academy Awards were presented on Tuesday, April 2, 1974, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Burt Reynolds, Diana Ross, John Huston, and David Niven.
The Sting won 7 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for George Roy Hill. The Exorcist and The Way We Were were the only other films to win multiple awards.

Winners and nominees

Nominations announced on February 19, 1974. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger.
Best PictureBest Director

  • George Roy Hill – The Sting
  • *George Lucas – American Graffiti
  • *Ingmar Bergman – Cries and Whispers
  • *William Friedkin – The Exorcist
  • *Bernardo Bertolucci – Last Tango in Paris
    • Best ActorBest Actress
  • Jack Lemmon – Save the Tiger as Harry Stoner
  • *Marlon Brando – Last Tango in Paris as Paul
  • *Jack Nicholson – The Last Detail as Billy "Badass" Buddusky
  • *Al Pacino – Serpico as Frank Serpico
  • *Robert Redford – The Sting as Johnny Hooker
  • Glenda Jackson – A Touch of Class as Vicki Allessio
  • *Ellen Burstyn – The Exorcist as Chris MacNeil
  • *Marsha Mason – Cinderella Liberty as Maggie Paul
  • *Barbra Streisand – The Way We Were as Katie Morosky
  • *Joanne Woodward – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams as Rita Pritchett-Walden
    • Best Supporting ActorBest Supporting Actress
  • John Houseman – The Paper Chase as Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr.
  • *Vincent Gardenia – Bang the Drum Slowly as Dutch
  • *Jack Gilford – Save the Tiger as Phil
  • *Jason Miller – The Exorcist as Damien Karras
  • *Randy Quaid – The Last Detail as Larry Meadows
  • Tatum O'Neal – Paper Moon as Addie Loggins
  • *Linda Blair – The Exorcist as Regan MacNeil
  • *Candy Clark – American Graffiti as Debbie Dunham
  • *Madeline Kahn – Paper Moon as Trixie Delight
  • *Sylvia Sidney – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams as Mrs. Pritchett
    • Best Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Produced or PublishedBest Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
  • The Sting – David S. Ward
  • *American Graffiti – George Lucas, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck
  • *Cries and Whispers – Ingmar Bergman
  • *Save the Tiger – Steve Shagan
  • *A Touch of Class – Melvin Frank and Jack Rose
  • The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty based on his novel
  • *The Last Detail – Robert Towne based on the novel by Darryl Ponicsan
  • *The Paper Chase – James Bridges based on the novel by John Jay Osborn, Jr.
  • *Paper Moon – Alvin Sargent based on the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown
  • *Serpico – Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler based on the book by Peter Maas
    • Best Documentary FeatureBest Documentary Short Subject
  • The Great American Cowboy – Kieth Merrill
  • *Always a New Beginning – John D. Goodell
  • *Battle of Berlin – Franz Baake and Jost von Morr
  • *Journey to the Outer Limits – Alexander Grasshoff
  • *Walls of Fire – Herbert Kline and Edmund Penney
  • ' – Julian Krainin and DeWitt L. Sage Jr.
  • *Background
  • *Christo's Valley Curtain
  • *Four Stones for Kanemitsu
  • *Paisti ag obair
    • Best Live Action Short SubjectBest Animated Short Subject
  • The Bolero – Allan Miller and William Fertik
  • *Clockmaker – Richard Gayer
  • *Life Times Nine – Pen Densham and John Watson
  • Frank Film – Frank Mouris
  • *The Legend of John Henry – Nick Bosustow and David Adams
  • *Pulcinella – Emanuele Luzzati and Guilo Gianini
    • Best Original Dramatic ScoreBest Scoring: Original Song Score and Adaptation or Scoring: Adaptation
  • The Way We Were – Marvin Hamlisch
  • * Cinderella Liberty – John Williams
  • * The Day of the Dolphin – Georges Delerue
  • * Papillon – Jerry Goldsmith
  • * A Touch of Class – John Cameron
  • The Sting – Adapted by Marvin Hamlisch
  • * Jesus Christ Superstar – Adapted by André Previn, Herbert W. Spencer and Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • * Tom Sawyer – Song Score by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman; Adapted by John Williams
    • Best SongBest Sound
  • "The Way We Were" — The Way We Were • Music by Marvin Hamlisch • Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
  • * "All That Love Went to Waste" — A Touch of Class • Music by George Barrie • Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
  • * "Live and Let Die" — Live and Let Die • Music and Lyrics by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney
  • * "Love" — Robin Hood • Music by George Bruns • Lyrics by Floyd Huddleston
  • * " Nice to Be Around" — Cinderella Liberty • Music by John Williams • Lyrics by Paul Williams
  • The Exorcist – Robert Knudson and Chris Newman
  • *The Day of the Dolphin – Richard Portman and Larry Jost
  • *The Paper Chase – Donald O. Mitchell and Larry Jost
  • *Paper Moon – Richard Portman and Les Fresholtz
  • *The Sting – Ronald Pierce and Robert R. Bertrand
    • Best Foreign Language FilmBest Costume Design
  • Day for Night – France
  • *The House on Chelouche Street – Israel
  • *L'Invitation – Switzerland
  • *The Pedestrian – Germany
  • *Turkish Delight – Netherlands
  • The Sting – Edith Head
  • *Cries and Whispers – Marik Vos
  • *Ludwig – Piero Tosi
  • *Tom Sawyer – Donfeld
  • *The Way We Were – Dorothy Jeakins and Moss Mabry
    • Best Art DirectionBest Cinematography
  • The Sting – Art Direction: Henry Bumstead; Set Decoration: James W. Payne
  • *Brother Sun, Sister Moon – Art Direction: Lorenzo Mongiardino and Gianni Quaranta; Set Decoration: Carmelo Patrono
  • *The Exorcist – Art Direction: Bill Malley; Set Decoration: Jerry Wunderlich
  • *Tom Sawyer – Art Direction: Philip Jefferies; Set Decoration: Robert De Vestel
  • *The Way We Were – Art Direction: Stephen B. Grimes; Set Decoration: William Kiernan
  • Cries and Whispers – Sven Nykvist
  • *The Exorcist – Owen Roizman
  • *Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Jack Couffer
  • *The Sting – Robert Surtees
  • *The Way We Were – Harry Stradling Jr.
    • Best Film Editing-
  • The Sting — William H. Reynolds'
  • * American Graffiti — Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas
  • * The Day of the Jackal — Ralph Kemplen
  • * The Exorcist – Jordan Leondopoulos, Bud S. Smith, Evan Lottman and Norman Gay
  • * Jonathan Livingston Seagull'' — Frank P. Keller and James Galloway
    		• -

    Streaking incident

    The 46th Academy Awards ceremony is perhaps best remembered as the ceremony in which a streaker named Robert Opel ran across the stage naked while flashing a peace sign with his hand. In response, host David Niven jokingly quipped, "The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings."

    Other notable events

    These films had multiple nominations:
    The following films received multiple awards.
    The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.

    Presenters

    Performers