# 62nd Academy Awards
The 62nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the [Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-of-motion-picture-arts-and-sciences), honored films released in 1989 and was held on Monday, March 26, 1990, at the [Dorothy Chandler Pavilion](https://www.edgepedia.org/dorothy-chandler-pavilion) in Los Angeles.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) *Driving Miss Daisy* won Best Picture, and the telecast marked [Billy Crystal](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-crystal)'s first turn as host.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | Monday, March 26, 1990, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, honoring movies released in 1989[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) |
| Best Picture | *Driving Miss Daisy*, produced by Richard D. Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck; the film won four Oscars in total[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-mn-252-story.html) |
| Acting winners | Daniel Day-Lewis (*My Left Foot*), Jessica Tandy (*Driving Miss Daisy*), Denzel Washington (*Glory*), Brenda Fricker (*My Left Foot*), all first-time winners[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990/memorable-moments) |
| Record set | Jessica Tandy, 80 years and 292 days old, became the oldest performer ever to win a competitive Oscar[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990/memorable-moments) |
| Host | Billy Crystal, hosting the Oscars for the first time[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990/memorable-moments) |
| Honorary Award | Akira Kurosawa, presented by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) |
| Telecast | Broadcast on ABC, ran 3 hours and 35 minutes after opening shortly after 6 p.m.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-mn-252-story.html) |
## Background and production
The ceremony followed the widely criticized 61st Academy Awards, whose opening number featuring [Rob Lowe](https://www.edgepedia.org/rob-lowe) and an actress playing [Snow White](https://www.edgepedia.org/snow-white) had embarrassed the Academy. Producer [Allan Carr](https://www.edgepedia.org/allan-carr) was replaced by director-producer Gilbert Cates, whom Academy President Karl Malden announced for the job in September 1989.[7](https://digitalcollections.oscars.org/digital/api/collection/p15759coll4/id/2926/download) • [5](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/01/when-the-oscars-chose-driving-miss-daisy-over-do-the-right-thing) Cates's production, titled "Around the World in 3 ½ Hours," beamed in satellite contributions featuring stars stationed in cities abroad: London provided Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, Sydney contributed Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward, Buenos Aires offered Charlton Heston and Norma Aleandro, and a segment out of Moscow was hosted by Jack Lemmon.[5](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/01/when-the-oscars-chose-driving-miss-daisy-over-do-the-right-thing) • [2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990/memorable-moments)
Crystal, then 43 and fresh from three years as the Grammy telecast's emcee, was hired to give the show a jolt; he was Oscar's first official solo host since [Chevy Chase](https://www.edgepedia.org/chevy-chase) in 1988.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-25-ca-170-story.html) The show opened with a montage, "One Hundred Years at the Movies," assembled by Chuck Workman, which Crystal later said included clips from 330 films in five minutes.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/03/27/on-the-air/98718256-0480-4f30-9846-ba8f62f75898/) The Washington Post's reviewer called Crystal's opening monologue a "smash success" but found the rest of the show tedious, and noted that the program included derogatory references to the previous year's debacle.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/03/27/on-the-air/98718256-0480-4f30-9846-ba8f62f75898/)
The show's own opening number, a song-and-dance featuring Snow White and actor Rob Lowe, proved an embarrassment of a different kind when the Walt Disney Company later sued the Academy for trademark infringement.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-mn-252-story.html) The telecast itself earned five Emmy nominations, winning Outstanding Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program for Roy Christopher and set decorator Greg Richman.[8](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/62nd-annual-academy-awards)
## Major winners
**Driving Miss Daisy** led the evening with four Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actress for Jessica Tandy, Makeup for Manlio Rocchetti, Lynn Barber, and Kevin Haney, and Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for Alfred Uhry.[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990/memorable-moments) The Los Angeles Times called the film, about a Southern matron and her Black chauffeur, a "surprise hit," and noted that its makeup award reflected the difficulty of aging actors across the story's span.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-mn-252-story.html) Notably, the film's director, Bruce Beresford, was not even nominated.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-mn-252-story.html)
[Oliver Stone](https://www.edgepedia.org/oliver-stone) won Best Director, his second statuette, for *Born on the Fourth of July*, which also took Film Editing for David Brenner and Joe Hutshing; those were the film's only Oscars despite eight nominations.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-mn-252-story.html) [Daniel Day-Lewis](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-day-lewis) won Best Actor for *My Left Foot*, and [Brenda Fricker](https://www.edgepedia.org/brenda-fricker) won Best Supporting Actress for the same film.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) Denzel Washington won Best Supporting Actor for *Glory*, which also won Cinematography for Freddie Francis and Sound; *Glory* and *Driving Miss Daisy* together took seven awards.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-ca-356-story.html)
**Other categories.** *The Little Mermaid* won both music awards, Original Score for Alan Menken and Original Song for "Under the Sea" by Menken and [Howard Ashman](https://www.edgepedia.org/howard-ashman); the film's "Kiss the Girl" was also nominated in the song category.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) *The Abyss* won Visual Effects for John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman, and Dennis Skotak.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) *Cinema Paradiso* of Italy won Foreign Language Film, and the animated short prize went to *Balance* by Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990) Howard W. Koch received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990/memorable-moments)
## Reception and legacy
The nominations had already been laced with surprises, as Academy members overlooked some critical and box-office favorites.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-mn-252-story.html) The most enduring controversy concerns [Spike Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/spike-lee)'s *Do the Right Thing*, which was not nominated for Best Picture or Best Director. Presenter [Kim Basinger](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-basinger) used her stage time to protest the omission, calling the film's subject "the greatest truth of all."[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/03/27/on-the-air/98718256-0480-4f30-9846-ba8f62f75898/) Time later listed *Driving Miss Daisy* among the most controversial Best Picture winners, and Spike Lee drew on the 1990 result in 2019 when *Green Book* beat his *BlacKkKlansman*, remarking, "Every time somebody's driving somebody I lose."[10](https://time.com/4239180/oscars-best-picture-controversy/) • [11](https://time.com/5537269/green-book-oscars-race/)
The ceremony also broke ground in its winners. [Jessica Tandy](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-tandy)'s win at 80 made her the oldest performer ever to win a competitive Oscar, and [Denzel Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/denzel-washington) became only the second Black actor to win the supporting-actor category.[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990/memorable-moments) • [5](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/01/when-the-oscars-chose-driving-miss-daisy-over-do-the-right-thing) Crystal's success in his first outing began a long association with the telecast, and the show's mix of tribute montage, satellite segments, and comedy monologue set the template Cates would refine as producer through the early 1990s.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/03/27/on-the-air/98718256-0480-4f30-9846-ba8f62f75898/)
## References
1. [The 62nd Academy Awards | 1990, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990)
2. [The 62nd Academy Awards Memorable Moments, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990/memorable-moments)
3. ['Driving Miss Daisy,' Tandy Win Top Oscars, Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1990](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-mn-252-story.html)
4. [On the Air: Billy Crystal and the Night That Wouldn't End, The Washington Post, March 26, 1990](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/03/27/on-the-air/98718256-0480-4f30-9846-ba8f62f75898/)
5. [When the Oscars Chose Driving Miss Daisy Over Do the Right Thing, Vanity Fair, January 22, 2019](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/01/when-the-oscars-chose-driving-miss-daisy-over-do-the-right-thing)
6. [Calendar Goes to the Oscars: A Crystal-Clear Vision of a Star-Studded Night, Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1990](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-25-ca-170-story.html)
7. [Academy Report: Gilbert Cates to Produce 62nd Annual Academy Awards, Academy Digital Collections](https://digitalcollections.oscars.org/digital/api/collection/p15759coll4/id/2926/download)
8. [The 62nd Annual Academy Awards, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/62nd-annual-academy-awards)
9. [Who Really Won? Oscars: Academy voters split their ballots, Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1990](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-27-ca-356-story.html)
10. [The 12 Most Controversial Best Picture Oscar Winners of All Time, Time](https://time.com/4239180/oscars-best-picture-controversy/)
11. [How Green Book Fits Into the Oscars' Complicated History With Movies About Race, Time, February 25, 2019](https://time.com/5537269/green-book-oscars-race/)
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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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