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Fonda wins the Best Actor Academy Award for his role of Norman Thayer, Jr. in Mark Rydell’s On Golden Pond. Fonda plays a retired university professor, who, while staying at his Summer cottage in New Hampshire with his wife (Katharine Hepburn) reconnects with his daughter (Jane Fonda) whom he has not seen after many years. Fonda is not present, but his daughter Jane Fonda accepts the award in his absence:
I know that he feels that he would never have won this if it hadn’t been for Katharine Hepburn. And if “On Golden Pond” is one of the highlights of his life, one of the main reasons is because of her, having the chance to work with her and to become her friend.
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Kingsley wins the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough’s biopic Gandhi. Kingsley:
This film was dedicated to Pandit Nehru, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, and Motilal Kothari, all men of great vision and courage. It was made by my friend Sir Richard Attenborough, another great man of vision and courage. And for all the men and women who worked on the film, this is an Oscar for vision, for courage, and for acting and for peace. Thank you.
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Duvall wins the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of country western singer Mac Sledge in Bruce Beresford’s Tender Mercies. Duvall:
I think we set out to make a film, a very truthful film, a very good film. I think Bruce Beresford, Horton Foote, the Hobels, EMI, should all be commended for a very wonderful job that they did in putting this film together. I think it’s a valid film, valid enough that we have gotten very much applause of a certain kind from certain members of the country western community, such as my friend Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings. And this is certainly a very high level of criticism coming from those people.
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F. Murray Abraham takes the Academy Award win for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Milos Forman’s biopic Amadeus. Abraham:
You know, it’s easy to gamble everything when you’ve got nothing to lose, and Milos Forman had a great deal to lose when he gave these brilliant roles to Tom Hulce and me. And his courage became my inspiration. There’s only one thing that’s missing for me tonight and that is to have Tom Hulce standing by my side. [Music starts.] Wait a minute! Wait, I still have more time! Half of this statue belongs to my beloved wife Kate. Thank you.
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Hurt wins the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of homosexual prisoner Luis Molina who becomes unlikely friends with his cellmate (Raul Julia) in Héctor Babenco’s adaptation of Manuel Puig’s novel Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Hurt:
I share this with Raul. Ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom [miming his heart beating quickly with his hands], you know… It’s incredible. I didn’t expect to be here so I don’t know what I’m gonna say. I want to thank the courageous people in Brazil with whom I made this film. Saudade, Brazil. I am very proud to be an actor. Thank you very much.
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Paul Newman wins the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Fast Eddie Felson who teaches his younger protegé (Tom Cruise) the art of pool hustling in Martin Scorcese’s The Color of Money (1986). Robert E. Wise accepts the award for Newman who is not present, with an interjection by Bette Davis:
Just a moment. I would like to congratulate Paul. I’m sure he’s listening; he is not here tonight. And this award, Paul, is long overdue. Robert Wise, a great friend of Mr. Newman’s, is accepting for him. And Mr. Wise is the winner of two Oscars himself: “The Sound of Music,” “West Side Story.” Yes. Now, now you get on. That’s right.
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Matlin wins the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of deaf student Sarah Norman who falls in love with her teacher (William Hurt) in Randa Haines’s Children of a Lesser God. William Hurt presents the award. Matlin gives her acceptance speech in sign language with Jack Jason interpreting.
I just want to thank a lot of people. I, to tell you the truth, I didn’t prepare for this speech. But I definitely want to thank the Academy and its members. And I want to thank all those special people in the film. And I can name them: Randa Haines, Patrick Palmer, the entire cast and crew, and particularly William Hurt for his great support and love in this film. And I want to thank my mother and father, Eric, Marc, Gloria, Zachary and Liz. They are here tonight with me. And I just want to thank all of you. I love you.
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Douglas wins the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of “Greed is good” corporate raider Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street (1987). Douglas:
A large part of this award belongs to Oliver Stone. And not only as the director, but having the courage to cast me in a part that not many people thought I could play. So I’ll always be eternally grateful to him for that. And as a writer, Oliver, with Stanley Weiser, wrote a part that was the best part that I’ve ever had in my career.
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Cher wins the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Loretta Castorini, a Brooklyn bookkeeper who falls in love with the brother (Nicholas Cage) of the man she’s supposed to marry, in Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck. Paul Newman (with Chevy Chase) presents the award.
. . . . When I was little my mother said, “I want you to be something.” And I guess this represents twenty-three or twenty-four years of my work, and I’ve never won anything before from my peers. I’m really, really happy. I’d like to thank everyone I worked on with the movie [sic]. They were really fabulous. It was really a great experience for me . . . . And I don’t think that this means that I am somebody, but I guess I’m on my way. Thank you.
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Lewis garners the Best Actor Academy award for his portrayal of Christy Brown, an artist stricken with Cerebral Palsy who teaches himself to paint using only his left foot in Jim Sheridan’s My Left Foot (1989).
. . . all our desire to make the film, all the strength that we needed, all the pleasure that we took in making the film came from Christy Brown. When he was alive he needed very little encouragement to make his voice heard. Now he needs a little more. And I’m truly grateful to you that in honoring me with this award you’re encouraging Christy to carry on making his mark. Thank you very much indeed.
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Hoffman wins the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in Rain Man (1988) of Raymond Babbitt, an idiot-savant who is reluctantly cared for by his younger brother (Tom Cruise). Hoffman:
Thank you. Thank you very much. Uh…I’m supposed to be jaded by this point. I’m very honored and I thank the Academy for your support.
Hoffman forgets to mention Cruise and Director Barry Levinson in his acceptance speech, but adds later in the ceremony:
In my nervousness I left out the director’s name, and I left out Tom’s name. Tom, thank you very much. I love you very much.
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Foster wins the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of rape victim Sarah Tobias in Jonathan Kaplan’s The Accused. Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman present the award.
This is such a big deal and my life is so simple. There are very few things: there’s love and work and family. And this movie is so special to us because it was all three of those things. And I’d like to thank all of my families, the tribes that I come from . . . . And most importantly my mother Brandy, who taught me that all of my finger paintings were Picassos, and that I didn’t have to be afraid. And mostly that cruelty might be very human, and it might be very cultural, but it’s not acceptable. Which is what this movie’s about. Thank you so much.
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Tandy wins the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Daisy Werthan, in Bruce Beresford’s Driving Miss Daisy. Gregory Peck presents the award.
I never expected in a million years that I would ever be in this position. It’s a miracle. And I thank my lucky stars and Richard and Lili Zanuck who had the faith to give me this wonderful chance. And also, most especially, to that forgotten man, my director Bruce Beresford. The cast that was with me which made a wonderful, happy family. It was a pleasure to go to work with them all each day. And to Sam Cohn, who takes such good care of me. Thank you, the Academy, and all of you. I am on cloud nine!
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Stone wins the Academy Award for Best Directing for his biopic of Vietnam Veteran Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July. Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro present the award.
My deepest thanks for your acknowledgment that Vietnam is not over, although some people say it is. But that Vietnam is a state of mind that continues all over the world for as long as men in his [sic] quest for power interfere in the affairs of other men.
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Costner wins the Academy Award for Best Directing for his western adventure drama Dances With Wolves. Tom Cruise presents the award.
Everyone knows that you really don’t make pictures by yourself and I accept this tonight on behalf of, of my friends, people that influenced my life, influenced this movie . . .
http://oscar.go.com/video/PL55171715/_m_VDKA0_qiwjr44k
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Irons lands the Best Actor win for his portrayal of Claus von Bülow, accused of attempted murder of his wife Sunny (Glenn Close) in Barbet Schroeder’s Reversal of Fortune (1990). Irons:
This is great. Thank you, the Academy, and thank you, everybody who’s wished me well, for this . . . . if I may cut the call of a telephone to London where my wife is trying to keep awake in a hotel bedroom, I wish you were here to help me carry this because you helped me win it. Thank you all.
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Bates wins the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes, the crazed “number one fan,” in Rob Reiner’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery. Daniel Day-Lewis presents the award.
I’d like to thank the Academy. I’ve been waiting a long time to say that . . . . I would like to thank everyone associated with “Misery”: Columbia Pictures, Castle Rock, Andy Scheinman, Rob Reiner for giving me a chance. I’d like to thank William Goldman for bringing the wonderful, crazy “Annie Wilkes” to the screen and Stephen King for thinking of her in the first place . . . . I would like to say thank you. Thank you very much.
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Hopkins makes the win for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of cannibal serial killer Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1991).
I want to say hello to my mother. She’s in Wales watching this on television with Eve and Jean and Jill and Tony. My father died eleven years ago tonight, so maybe he had something to do with this as well, I don’t know. But I want to say thank you to the Academy for your tremendous generosity. To my friend Bob Palmer, my friend and publicist. My dear, beloved wife Jenni. And I have many people to thank here in Los Angeles who over the years have given me tremendous support, without whose help I wouldn’t be here, I know. And I am greatly honored and tremendously moved. And I—God bless you all. Thank you very much.
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Foster wins the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of F.B.I. detective Clarice Starling in Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs. Michael Douglass presents the award.
. . . . Thank you. And thank the Academy for embracing such an incredibly strong and beautiful feminist hero that I am so proud of. Thank you very much. Mike and Carol, you won the bet. Right on!
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Demme wins the Academy Award for Best Directing for his serial killer thriller Silence of the Lambs. Kevin Costner presents the award.
In the context of my movie-loving life this is very unanticipated.
