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.
| 46th Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | April 2, 1974 |
| Site | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Los Angeles, California |
| Hosted by | Burt Reynolds, Diana Ross, John Huston and David Niven |
| Produced by | Jack Haley Jr. |
| Directed by | Marty Pasetta |
| Highlights | |
| Best Picture | The Sting |
| Most awards | The Sting (7) |
| Most nominations | The Exorcist and The Sting (10) |
| TV in the United States | |
| Network | NBC |
| Duration | 3 hours, 23 minutes |
| Ratings | 44.7 million[1] |
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. Marvin Hamlisch won 3 awards, making him the third person to achieve this feat and, to date, the only person who has won 3 Oscars in one year without winning Best Picture. As of 2023, it is the most recent ceremony in which the 3 highest-grossing films of the year were nominated for Best Picture (The Exorcist, The Sting and American Graffiti).
Winners and nominees
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Nominations announced on February 19, 1974. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger (‡).[2]
Streaking incident
The 46th Academy Awards ceremony is perhaps best remembered as the one 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, "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?"[3][4][5] Terrence O'Flaherty, a columnist from San Francisco, responded by saying that "there's only one trouble with streaking—the wrong people usually do it. The ones who should have removed their clothes were Cher Bono, Twiggy and Elizabeth Taylor".[5]
The incident would be referenced 50 years later during the 96th Academy Awards in 2024; host Jimmy Kimmel brought up the streaker and asked the audience, "can you imagine a naked man at the Oscars today?" Eventually, a "nude" John Cena, holding the award envelope for Best Costume Design over his crotch, emerged from backstage.[6][7]
Other notable events
- First-time nominee George Lucas made his debut at the Academy Awards with his nostalgic teen drama American Graffiti. It was nominated for Best Picture (Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz), Director & Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Produced or Published (Lucas), Editor (Marcia Lucas) and Candy Clark for Best Supporting Actress.
- Jack Lemmon bet his friend Walter Matthau $1,000 to $500 that he would lose the Academy Award for Best Actor; he did not win the bet.[5]
- William Friedkin announced that he would not attend the ball celebrating the Oscars out of enragement that The Exorcist failed to win Best Picture.[5]
- Katharine Hepburn made her first and only appearance at the ceremony to present The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to her longtime friend Lawrence Weingarten. Whenever she won an Oscar, she always had either the presenter or another person associated with her film accept it on her behalf. Upon taking the stage, she received a standing ovation, to which she replied "I'm living proof that a person can wait forty-one years to be unselfish."
- Coincidentally, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor and Connie Stevens, who were all ex-wives of Eddie Fisher's, each appeared in some form.
- This was Susan Hayward's last public appearance before she died of brain cancer a year later (1975).
- At 10 years, 148 days of age, Tatum O'Neal won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Paper Moon. She became the youngest winner of an Oscar, a feat unmatched to this day.
- During the ceremony, the whole in memoriam tribute was for legendary producer Samuel Goldwyn, who had died at age 94, three months prior to the event. He is the only person to have an Academy Awards ceremony dedicated solely to him.
- Longtime film veteran/comedian Groucho Marx was presented with an Honorary Academy Award for his contributions to the cinema.
- Julia Phillips of The Sting became the first female producer to win for Best Picture.
- With Tatum O'Neal being 10 years old and John Houseman being 71 years old, this was the biggest age gap ever for 2 acting wins.
Multiple nominations and awards
| Awards | Film |
|---|---|
| 7 | The Sting |
| 2 | The Exorcist |
| The Way We Were |
Presenters and performers
The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers:
Presenters
Performers
| Name | Role | Performed |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Mancini | Musical arranger and Conductor | Orchestral |
| Liza Minnelli | Performer | "Oscar" |
| Academy Awards Chorus | Performers | "Thank You Very Much" from Scrooge during the Academy Awards' 45th Anniversary montage |
| Dyan Cannon | Performer | "All the Love That Went to Waste" from A Touch of Class |
| Connie Stevens | Performer | "Live and Let Die" from Live and Let Die |
| Jodie Foster and Johnny Whitaker | Performers | "Love" from Robin Hood |
| Peggy Lee | Performer | "The Way We Were" from The Way We Were |
| Telly Savalas | Performer | "You're So Nice to Be Around" from Cinderella Liberty |
| Academy Awards Orchestra | Performers | “Hooray for Hollywood” (orchestral) during the closing credits |