Wins Oscar

Dreyfuss wins the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of a feckless Off-Broadway actor who takes in an unemployed dancer (Marsha Mason) and her daughter (Quinn Cummings) in Herbert Ross’s film adaptation of Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl. Sylvester Stalone presents the award. Dreyfuss:

I didn’t prepare anything. Ahhm… [laughs]. Wait a second, am I here? Yes, okay. First I will embarrass Ray Stark by saying that I owe him everything; and he is a great man. To Herb Ross, who is the only true gentleman I’ve ever known in my life. To Herb, Marsha, and Neil, and Quinn. I could go on and on and on and I don’t want to leave. Can I rent this [referring to the podium] now? Thank you very much.