# 49th Academy Awards
The 49th Academy Awards ceremony, held on Monday, March 28, 1977, at the [Dorothy Chandler Pavilion](https://www.edgepedia.org/dorothy-chandler-pavilion) in Los Angeles, presented honors for films released in 1976.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) It was hosted by [Richard Pryor](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-pryor), Jane Fonda, Ellen Burstyn, and [Warren Beatty](https://www.edgepedia.org/warren-beatty).[2](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/49th/) The night is remembered for *Rocky* taking Best Picture and Directing, *Network* winning three acting awards, and Peter Finch becoming the first performer to win a posthumous Academy Award.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-et-mn-en-oscar-archive-1977-20150129-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | Monday, March 28, 1977, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, honoring films released in 1976[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) |
| Hosts | Richard Pryor (video), Jane Fonda, Ellen Burstyn, and Warren Beatty[2](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/49th/) |
| Nomination leaders | *Rocky* and *Network*, 10 nominations each; *All the President's Men*, 8; *Bound for Glory*, 6[2](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/49th/) |
| Best Picture | *Rocky*, produced by Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) |
| Acting winners | Peter Finch (Best Actor), Faye Dunaway (Best Actress), Jason Robards (Supporting Actor), Beatrice Straight (Supporting Actress)[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) |
| Historic firsts | First posthumous acting Oscar (Peter Finch); first Oscar-winning actress to also win as a composer (Barbra Streisand)[4](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977/memorable-moments) |
| Foreign Language Film | *Black and White in Color*, Ivory Coast[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) |
## The race
When nominations were announced in February 1977, *Rocky* and *Network* emerged as co-favorites, and they entered the ceremony as the only films with ten nominations apiece.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/02/11/oscar-favorites-rocky-network/6f43c16b-1e14-4dc8-82b0-7e5b027d7b33/) • [2](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/49th/) The two contenders came from very different backgrounds: *Network* was written by [Paddy Chayefsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/paddy-chayefsky), who already had two Oscars and another nomination, while *Rocky* was a sleeper hit written by the relatively unknown [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-stallone).[2](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/49th/) The supporting-actress field alone reflected the year's breadth, with nominees for *All the President's Men*, *Taxi Driver*, *Voyage of the Damned*, *Carrie*, and *Network*.[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/02/11/oscar-favorites-rocky-network/6f43c16b-1e14-4dc8-82b0-7e5b027d7b33/)
## Winners
**Rocky.** The boxing drama won three Oscars: Best Picture for producers [Irwin Winkler](https://www.edgepedia.org/irwin-winkler) and Robert Chartoff, Directing for John G. Avildsen, and Film Editing for Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) Stallone was also nominated for Best Actor and for his original screenplay but did not win either.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977)
**Network.** [Sidney Lumet](https://www.edgepedia.org/sidney-lumet)'s satire of television news received ten nominations and four wins, all for its craft and performances rather than Best Picture.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) Peter Finch won Best Actor, Faye Dunaway won Best Actress, Beatrice Straight won Supporting Actress, and Paddy Chayefsky won for the screenplay written directly for the screen.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) The three acting awards made *Network* the first film since 1951's *A Streetcar Named Desire* to win three of the four acting categories.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-et-mn-en-oscar-archive-1977-20150129-story.html) • [9](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977/A) Chayefsky summoned Finch's widow to the stage to accept her late husband's Oscar in one of the ceremony's most emotional moments.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/03/30/the-oscars-top-honors-to-rocky-finch-and-dunaway/44df154d-a3e2-4f51-8522-cf603defce4c/)
**All the President's Men.** Alan J. Pakula's Watergate film matched *Network* with four Oscars from eight nominations: Supporting Actor for Jason Robards, Art Direction for George Jenkins and George Gaines, Sound, and Adapted Screenplay for William Goldman.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977)
**Music and effects.** [Jerry Goldsmith](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-goldsmith) won Original Score for *The Omen*, beating [Bernard Herrmann](https://www.edgepedia.org/bernard-herrmann)'s scores for *Obsession* and *Taxi Driver*, Jerry Fielding's for *The Outlaw Josey Wales*, and [Lalo Schifrin](https://www.edgepedia.org/lalo-schifrin)'s for *Voyage of the Damned*.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) "Evergreen (Love Theme From A Star Is Born)" won Original Song, with music by Barbra Streisand and lyrics by Paul Williams; Streisand became the first Oscar-winning actress to also win an Academy Award as a composer.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) • [4](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977/memorable-moments) *Bound for Glory* won Adaptation Score for Leonard Rosenman and Cinematography for Haskell Wexler.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) No competitive visual-effects category existed that year; instead, Special Achievement Awards for Visual Effects went to both *King Kong* and *Logan's Run*, which *Rocky*'s sound team, among others, had been nominated against in the regular Sound category.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977)
**Documentaries and other honors.** Barbara Kopple's *Harlan County, U.S.A.* won Documentary Feature, and Lynne Littman's *Number Our Days* won Documentary Short Subject.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) *Black and White in Color* took the Foreign Language Film award for [Ivory Coast](https://www.edgepedia.org/ivory-coast).[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, given for a producer's body of work, went to Pandro S. Berman.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) Danilo Donati won Costume Design for Fellini's *Casanova*.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977)
## Posthumous Best Actor
[Peter Finch](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-finch) died of a heart attack about two months before the ceremony, and his Best Actor win for playing the deranged newscaster Howard Beale made him the first performer to receive a posthumous acting Oscar.[7](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/49th/winners/) The Academy's own record lists Eletha Finch accepting her husband's award as one of the night's memorable moments.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) The Los Angeles Times later described the ceremony as a watershed in Oscar history on this count, noting that it marked the first time a performer was posthumously awarded an Academy Award.[3](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-et-mn-en-oscar-archive-1977-20150129-story.html)
## The ceremony itself
The presentation paired four hosts, with Pryor appearing on video, and one of its most quoted moments was staged rather than spoken: presenters [Muhammad Ali](https://www.edgepedia.org/muhammad-ali) and Sylvester Stallone took a moment to spar on stage.[2](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/49th/) • [1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977) When looked back on years afterward, the event is frequently characterized as marking a shift in Hollywood during the second half of the 1970s, a moment when the harsh, combative films of [New Hollywood](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-hollywood) briefly shared the screen, so to speak, with more conventional, feel-good narratives.[8](https://mondomovies.wordpress.com/2026/03/28/the-49th-academy-awards-28th-march-1977/)
## References
1. [The 49th Academy Awards | 1977, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977)
2. [49th Annual Academy Awards Coverage (1977), DigitalHit.com](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/49th/)
3. [Oscar archives: In '77: 'Rocky,' posthumous honor and Scorsese snub, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-et-mn-en-oscar-archive-1977-20150129-story.html)
4. [The 49th Academy Awards Memorable Moments, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977/memorable-moments)
5. [Oscar Favorites: 'Rocky', 'Network', The Washington Post (February 10, 1977)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/02/11/oscar-favorites-rocky-network/6f43c16b-1e14-4dc8-82b0-7e5b027d7b33/)
6. [The Oscars: Top Honors to 'Rocky,' Finch and Dunaway, The Washington Post (March 29, 1977)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1977/03/30/the-oscars-top-honors-to-rocky-finch-and-dunaway/44df154d-a3e2-4f51-8522-cf603defce4c/)
7. [49th Annual Academy Awards Results and Commentary (1977), DigitalHit.com](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/49th/winners/)
8. [The 49th Academy Awards 28th March 1977, mondomovies](https://mondomovies.wordpress.com/2026/03/28/the-49th-academy-awards-28th-march-1977/)
9. [oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977/A)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Awards and screen reference › Academy Awards ceremonies and categories*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license