1955 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

55 films were recognised at the 1955 Academy Awards, across 28 categories. 17 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was On the Waterfront, with 8 awards, ahead of The Country Girl with 2. The categories below run from Actor, Actor in a Supporting Role and Actress to the smaller prizes, and in every one the winner is listed first, followed by the other nominees.

Each title links to the film's full award history at all four awards, and the links at the bottom step to the previous and next ceremony.

Last updated August 12, 2026

Actor

On the Waterfront(1954)
Marlon Brando
Winner
A Star Is Born(1954)
James Mason
Robinson Crusoe (Adventures of Robinson Crusoe)(1954)
Dan O'Herlihy
Robinson Crusoe (Adventures of Robinson Crusoe)(1954)
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
The Caine Mutiny(1954)
Humphrey Bogart
The Country Girl(1954)
Bing Crosby

Actor in a Supporting Role

The Barefoot Contessa(1954)
Edmond O'Brien
Winner
On the Waterfront(1954)
Lee J. Cobb
On the Waterfront(1954)
Karl Malden
On the Waterfront(1954)
Rod Steiger
The Caine Mutiny(1954)
Tom Tully

Actress

The Country Girl(1954)
Grace Kelly
Winner
A Star Is Born(1954)
Judy Garland
Carmen Jones(1954)
Dorothy Dandridge
Magnificent Obsession(1954)
Jane Wyman
Sabrina(1954)
Audrey Hepburn

Actress in a Supporting Role

On the Waterfront(1954)
Eva Marie Saint
Winner
Broken Lance(1954)
Katy Jurado
Executive Suite(1954)
Nina Foch
The High and the Mighty(1954)
Jan Sterling
The High and the Mighty(1954)
Claire Trevor

Art Direction (Black-and-White)

On the Waterfront(1954)
Richard Day
Winner
Executive Suite(1954)
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Edward Carfagno; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Emile Kuri
Le Plaisir(1952)
Max Ophuls
Sabrina(1954)
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer
The Country Girl(1954)
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Grace Gregory

Art Direction (Color)

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea(1954)
Art Direction: John Meehan; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri
Winner
A Star Is Born(1954)
Art Direction: Malcolm Bert, Gene Allen, Irene Sharaff; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins
Brigadoon(1954)
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Keogh Gleason
Désirée(1954)
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Paul S. Fox
Red Garters(1954)
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer

Best Picture

On the Waterfront(1954)
Sam Spiegel, Producer
Winner
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers(1954)
Jack Cummings, Producer
The Caine Mutiny(1954)
Stanley Kramer, Producer
The Country Girl(1954)
William Perlberg, Producer
Three Coins in the Fountain(1954)
Sol C. Siegel, Producer

Cinematography (Black-and-White)

On the Waterfront(1954)
Boris Kaufman
Winner
Executive Suite(1954)
George Folsey
Rogue Cop(1954)
John Seitz
Sabrina(1954)
Charles Lang, Jr.
The Country Girl(1954)
John F. Warren

Cinematography (Color)

Three Coins in the Fountain(1954)
Milton Krasner
Winner
Rear Window(1954)
Robert Burks
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers(1954)
George Folsey
The Egyptian(1954)
Leon Shamroy
The Silver Chalice(1954)
William V. Skall

Costume Design (Black-and-White)

Sabrina(1954)
Edith Head
Winner
Executive Suite(1954)
Helen Rose
Indiscretion of an American Wife(1953)
Christian Dior
It Should Happen to You(1954)
Jean Louis
The Earrings of Madame de...(1953)
Georges Annenkov, Rosine Delamare

Costume Design (Color)

Gate of Hell(1953)
Sanzo Wada
Winner
A Star Is Born(1954)
Jean Louis, Mary Ann Nyberg, Irene Sharaff
Brigadoon(1954)
Irene Sharaff
Désirée(1954)
Desiree
There's No Business Like Show Business(1954)
Charles LeMaire, Travilla, Miles White

Directing

On the Waterfront(1954)
Elia Kazan
Winner
Rear Window(1954)
Alfred Hitchcock
Sabrina(1954)
Billy Wilder
The Country Girl(1954)
George Seaton
The High and the Mighty(1954)
William Wellman

Film Editing

On the Waterfront(1954)
Gene Milford
Winner
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea(1954)
Elmo Williams
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers(1954)
Ralph E. Winters
The Caine Mutiny(1954)
William A. Lyon, Henry Batista
The High and the Mighty(1954)
Ralph Dawson

Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

The High and the Mighty(1954)
Dimitri Tiomkin
Winner
Genevieve(1953)
Larry Adler
On the Waterfront(1954)
Leonard Bernstein
The Caine Mutiny(1954)
Max Steiner
The Silver Chalice(1954)
Franz Waxman

Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers(1954)
Adolph Deutsch, Saul Chaplin
Winner
A Star Is Born(1954)
Ray Heindorf
Carmen Jones(1954)
Herschel Burke Gilbert
The Glenn Miller Story(1954)
Joseph Gershenson, Henry Mancini
There's No Business Like Show Business(1954)
Alfred Newman, Lionel Newman

Music (Song)

Three Coins in the Fountain(1954)
Three Coins In The Fountain in "Three Coins in the Fountain" Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Winner
A Star Is Born(1954)
The Man That Got Away in "A Star Is Born" Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Susan Slept Here(1954)
Hold My Hand in "Susan Slept Here" Music and Lyrics by Jack Lawrence and Richard Myers
The High and the Mighty(1954)
The High And The Mighty in "The High and the Mighty" Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyrics by Ned Washington
White Christmas(1954)
Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep in "White Christmas" Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

Short Subject (Cartoon)

When Magoo Flew(1954)
Stephen Bosustow, Producer
Winner
Crazy Mixed Up Pup(1955)
Walter Lantz, Producer
Pigs Is Pigs(1954)
Walt Disney, Producer
Sandy Claws(1955)
Edward Selzer, Producer
Touché, Pussy Cat!(1954)
Fred Quimby, Producer

Sound Recording

The Glenn Miller Story(1954)
Universal-International Studio Sound Department, Leslie I. Carey, Sound Director
Winner
Brigadoon(1954)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department, Wesley C. Miller, Sound Director
Rear Window(1954)
Paramount Studio Sound Department, Loren L. Ryder, Sound Director
Susan Slept Here(1954)
RKO Radio Studio Sound Department, John O. Aalberg, Sound Director
The Caine Mutiny(1954)
Columbia Studio Sound Department, John P. Livadary, Sound Director

Writing (Motion Picture Story)

Broken Lance(1954)
Philip Yordan
Winner
Bread, Love and Dreams(1953)
Ettore Margadonna
Forbidden Games(1952)
François Boyer
Night People(1954)
Jed Harris, Tom Reed
There's No Business Like Show Business(1954)
Lamar Trotti

Writing (Screenplay)

The Country Girl(1954)
George Seaton
Winner
Rear Window(1954)
John Michael Hayes
Sabrina(1954)
Billy Wilder, Samuel Taylor, Ernest Lehman
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers(1954)
Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, Dorothy Kingsley
The Caine Mutiny(1954)
Stanley Roberts