# 70th Academy Awards
The 70th 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 1997 and was held on Monday, March 23, 1998, at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Center in Los Angeles[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998). [Billy Crystal](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-crystal) hosted, and [James Cameron](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-cameron)'s *Titanic* swept the evening, winning 11 Oscars from a record-tying 14 nominations[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998) • [2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments). The telecast drew an estimated 87 million viewers in the United States, the largest audience of any Oscar broadcast to that date[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | Monday, March 23, 1998, Shrine Auditorium & Expo Center; honoring movies released in 1997[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998) |
| Host | Billy Crystal, for the second year in a row editing himself into scenes from the year's films[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments) • [3](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/70th/winners) |
| Best Picture | *Titanic* (James Cameron and Jon Landau, producers)[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998) |
| *Titanic* total | 11 wins from 14 nominations, tying the win record set by *Ben-Hur* (1959) and the nomination record set by *All About Eve* (1950)[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments) |
| Lead acting | Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt both won for *As Good as It Gets*, the seventh time in 70 years that a film took both lead acting Oscars[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments) |
| Anniversary salute | 70 previous acting winners gathered on stage for the Academy's 70th anniversary year[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments) |
| Audience | An estimated 87 million US viewers, the largest Oscar telecast audience to date[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments) |
| Emmy record for the show | 8 Emmy nominations and 5 wins, including directing (Louis J. Horvitz) and music direction (Bill Conti)[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/70th-annual-academy-awards) |
## The Titanic sweep
*Titanic* entered the night with 14 nominations, a total that tied 1950's *All About Eve* for the most nominations ever earned by a single film[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments). It won 11 Academy Awards, tying the record for wins set by *Ben-Hur* in 1959: Best Picture, Directing (James Cameron), Cinematography (Russell [Carpenter](https://www.edgepedia.org/carpenter)), Art Direction-Set Decoration (Peter Lamont and Michael Ford), Costume Design (Deborah L. Scott), Film Editing (Conrad Buff, James Cameron, and Richard A. Harris), Music-Original Dramatic Score ([James Horner](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-horner)), Music-Original Song ("My Heart Will Go On," music by James Horner, lyric by Will Jennings), Sound, Sound Effects Editing, and Visual Effects[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998) • [2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments). It was the overwhelming pre-ceremony favorite; contemporary coverage framed the open questions as how many Oscars the film would take and whether it could pass *Ben-Hur*'s record of 11[5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-24-mn-32153-story.html).
The Best Picture field alongside *Titanic* consisted of *As Good as It Gets* and *L.A. Confidential* among those listed in the Academy's record[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998). *Titanic*'s box office standing amplified its dominance: it had collected nearly $500 million in North American theaters by the time of the ceremony, while the previous year's slate of Best Picture nominees had grossed less than $75 million by Oscar time[6](https://newspapers.swco.ttu.edu/bitstreams/c4f69ad1-6354-45f6-9b7b-dda439fb4301/download).
## Acting winners
**Lead categories.** [Jack Nicholson](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-nicholson) won Best Actor for *As Good as It Gets*, over nominees [Matt Damon](https://www.edgepedia.org/matt-damon) (*Good Will Hunting*), Robert Duvall (*The Apostle*), Peter Fonda (*Ulee's Gold*), and [Dustin Hoffman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dustin-hoffman) (*Wag the Dog*)[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998). Helen Hunt won Best Actress for the same film, defeating Helena Bonham Carter (*The Wings of the Dove*), Julie Christie (*Afterglow*), Judi Dench (*Mrs. Brown*), and Kate Winslet (*Titanic*)[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998). Their paired wins marked the seventh time in 70 years that the leading actor and actress from the same film both received Oscars[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments). Hunt, nominated along with four British actresses, played a waitress who reaches the hard heart of Nicholson's obsessive-compulsive writer; Nicholson blew kisses to her as she gave her acceptance speech[7](https://newspapers.swco.ttu.edu/bitstreams/61ef0891-8bb5-40ba-9cd7-dbf7c17c230c/download).
**Supporting categories.** [Kim Basinger](https://www.edgepedia.org/kim-basinger) won Best Supporting Actress for *L.A. Confidential*, taking the first Oscar of the evening over [Joan Cusack](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-cusack), Minnie Driver, Julianne Moore, and [Gloria Stuart](https://www.edgepedia.org/gloria-stuart), whose nomination for *Titanic* at age 87 had made her the sentimental favorite[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998) • [5](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-24-mn-32153-story.html). Robin Williams won Best Supporting Actor for *Good Will Hunting*, beating Robert Forster (*Jackie Brown*), Anthony Hopkins (*Amistad*), Greg Kinnear (*As Good as It Gets*), and Burt Reynolds (*Boogie Nights*)[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998). Cuba Gooding Jr., remembered for his enthusiastic acceptance speech the previous year, presented the Supporting Actress award and urged the winners to take their time with their speeches[3](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/70th/winners).
## Writing and other categories
[Ben Affleck](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-affleck) and Matt Damon won the Oscar for Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for *Good Will Hunting*, beating *As Good as It Gets*, *Boogie Nights*, *Deconstructing Harry*, and *The Full Monty*[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998) • [8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1998/03/24/james-camerons-ship-comes/5ad71cd3-c397-430c-8981-8d0b0eba944b/). The adapted screenplay award went to *L.A. Confidential*, written by [Brian Helgeland](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-helgeland) and [Curtis Hanson](https://www.edgepedia.org/curtis-hanson)[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998).
*Titanic*'s wins dominated the technical and music categories, but other films took several prizes. *Men in Black* won Makeup ([Rick Baker](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-baker) and David LeRoy Anderson)[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998). *The Full Monty* won Original Musical or Comedy Score for Anne Dudley, a film made for $3.5 million with a cast unknown to American audiences[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998) • [7](https://newspapers.swco.ttu.edu/bitstreams/61ef0891-8bb5-40ba-9cd7-dbf7c17c230c/download). The Foreign Language Film award went to *Character* from the Netherlands, over entries from Germany, Brazil, Spain, and Russia[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998). Other winners that night included *Geri's Game* for animated short, *Visas and Virtue* for live action short, *The Long Way Home* for documentary feature, and *A Story of Healing* for documentary short subject[9](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1998/03/24/UPI-Focus-Titanic-ties-Oscar-record/2093890715600/).
The Original Song field is notable in retrospect: it included Elliott Smith's "Miss Misery" from *Good Will Hunting* and Diane Warren's "How Do I Live" from *Con Air*, alongside the winning "My Heart Will Go On"[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998). For only the third time in Academy history, the year's Oscar-winning song came from the movie that won Best Picture; the previous instances were "Swinging on a Star" from *Going My Way* in 1944 and "Gigi" from *Gigi* in 1958[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments).
## The telecast
Gilbert Cates produced the telecast, his eighth, having already held the record for the most consecutive stints as producer of the global broadcast[10](https://digitalcollections.oscars.org/digital/api/collection/p15759coll4/id/3346/download). Marking the Academy's 70th anniversary year, the ceremony gathered 70 previous winners of acting Oscars on stage as a special salute[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments). Composer Jerry Goldsmith, at the request of the Board of Governors, had written "Fanfare for Oscar" as an official opening theme for the annual presentations for the 70th anniversary[11](https://www.oscars.org/news/oscars-air). Crystal opened, for the second year running, by having himself edited into key scenes of the year's movies, and Dustin Hoffman introduced a short film of clips from the previous 69 Best Picture winners[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments) • [3](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/70th/winners).
The show ran more than three hours and pulled the largest audience of any Oscar telecast to date, an estimated 87 million people watching in the United States; ABC reported the next day that it was the most-watched Oscar ceremony of all time[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments) • [6](https://newspapers.swco.ttu.edu/bitstreams/c4f69ad1-6354-45f6-9b7b-dda439fb4301/download). The telecast itself earned 8 Emmy nominations and 5 wins from the Television Academy, including Outstanding Directing for a Variety or Music Program for Louis J. Horvitz, Outstanding Music Direction for Bill Conti, and a win for Billy Crystal as performer[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/70th-annual-academy-awards).
## References
1. [The 70th Academy Awards | 1998, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998)
2. [The 70th Academy Awards Memorable Moments, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998/memorable-moments)
3. [70th Annual Academy Awards Results and Commentary (1998), DigitalHit.com](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/70th/winners)
4. [The 70th Annual Academy Awards, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/70th-annual-academy-awards)
5. [Basinger, Williams Win Early Awards, Los Angeles Times (March 24, 1998)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-24-mn-32153-story.html)
6. [Wednesday, March 25, 1998, University Daily (Texas Tech newspapers archive)](https://newspapers.swco.ttu.edu/bitstreams/c4f69ad1-6354-45f6-9b7b-dda439fb4301/download)
7. [Tuesday, March 24, 1998, The University Daily (Texas Tech newspapers archive)](https://newspapers.swco.ttu.edu/bitstreams/61ef0891-8bb5-40ba-9cd7-dbf7c17c230c/download)
8. [James Cameron's Ship Comes In, The Washington Post (March 24, 1998)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1998/03/24/james-camerons-ship-comes/5ad71cd3-c397-430c-8981-8d0b0eba944b/)
9. [UPI Focus: 'Titanic' ties Oscar record, UPI Archives (March 24, 1998)](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1998/03/24/UPI-Focus-Titanic-ties-Oscar-record/2093890715600/)
10. [Cates Will Produce His Eighth Oscar Telecast, Academy digital collections](https://digitalcollections.oscars.org/digital/api/collection/p15759coll4/id/3346/download)
11. [Oscars on the Air, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/news/oscars-air)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Awards and screen reference › Academy Awards ceremonies and categories*
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