Oscars 1954: Winners and Nominees of the 26th Academy Awards

The 26th Academy Awards ceremony was held on March 25, 1954. It took place at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, and the NBC Century Theatre in New York City. The second national telecast of the Awards show drew an estimated 43 million viewers. Shirley Booth, appearing in a play in Philadelphia, presented the Best Actor award through a live broadcast cut-in, and privately received the winner's name over the telephone from co-host Donald O'Connor. (Actor Fredric March co-hosted from New York City.) Gary Cooper filmed his presentation of the Best Actress award in advance on a set in Mexico, with O'Connor announcing the winner's name. All the major winners in this year were black-and-white films. The big winner was Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity, with 13 nominations and eight awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Academy Award for Best Director, Best Screenplay (Daniel Taradash), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Burnett Guffey), Best Sound Recording, and Best Film Editing. All five of its major actors and actresses were nominated, with secondary players Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra taking home Oscars. The film was based on James Jones' controversial, best-selling novel about Army life on a Hawaiian (Oahu) military base jus... ()