Oscar History: Academy Award Winning Movies and Actors of 1963

A look at Oscar winners and nominees, behind the scenes on the decisions for best picture, actor, etc for 1963, Tom Jones gets top honors.

1963

Best Picture

NOMINEES: America, America, Cleopatra, How the West Was Won, Lilies of the Field, Tom Jones

THE WINNER: Tom Jones (British; United Artists-Lopert)

DIRECTOR: Tony Richardson

PLAYERS: Albert Finney, Susannah York, Hugh Griffith, Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood, Diane Cilento

Best Actor

NOMINEES: Albert Finney (Tom Jones); Richard Harris (This Sporting Life); Rex Harrison (Cleopatra); Paul Newman (Hud); Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field)

THE WINNER: Sidney Poitier

Best Actress

NOMINEES: Leslie Caron (The L-Shaped Room); Shirley MacLaine (Irma La Douce); Patricia Neal (Hud); Rachel Roberts (This Sporting Life); Natalie Wood (Love with the Proper Stranger)

THE WINNER: Patricia Neal

Behind the Oscar

Since Hattie McDaniel was the only black to win an Oscar before him, Sidney Poitier was aware of the importance of the occasion when he accepted his Oscar. He was practically the only winner in the acting categories who showed up. Patricia Neal, who won for Hud, was expecting a baby in England, and the rest of the winners were abroad also. Sammy Davis got the only laugh in a rather dull evening when he remarked upon receiving the wrong envelope: "Wait until the NAACP hears about this!"