1962 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

56 films were recognised at the 1962 Academy Awards, across 26 categories. 14 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was West Side Story, with 10 awards, ahead of Judgment at Nuremberg with 2. The categories below run from Actress in a Supporting Role, Cinematography (Color) and Actor 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

Actress in a Supporting Role

West Side Story(1961)
Rita Moreno
Winner
Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Judy Garland
Summer and Smoke(1961)
Una Merkel
The Children's Hour(1961)
Fay Bainter
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone(1961)
Lotte Lenya
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone(2003)
Lotte Lenya

Cinematography (Color)

West Side Story(1961)
Daniel L. Fapp
Winner
A Majority of One(1961)
Harry Stradling, Sr.
Fanny(1961)
Jack Cardiff
Flower Drum Song(1961)
Russell Metty
One-Eyed Jacks(1961)
Charles Lang, Jr.
Pocketful of Miracles(1961)
Edith Head, Walter Plunkett

Actor

Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Maximilian Schell
Winner
Fanny(1961)
Charles Boyer
Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Spencer Tracy
The Hustler(1961)
Paul Newman
The Mark(1961)
Stuart Whitman

Actor in a Supporting Role

West Side Story(1961)
George Chakiris
Winner
Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Montgomery Clift
Pocketful of Miracles(1961)
Peter Falk
The Hustler(1961)
Jackie Gleason
The Hustler(1961)
George C. Scott

Actress

Two Women(1960)
Sophia Loren
Winner
Breakfast at Tiffany's(1961)
Audrey Hepburn
Splendor in the Grass(1961)
Natalie Wood
Summer and Smoke(1961)
Geraldine Page
The Hustler(1961)
Piper Laurie

Art Direction (Black-and-White)

The Hustler(1961)
Art Direction: Harry Horner; Set Decoration: Gene Callahan
Winner
Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Art Direction: Rudolph Sternad; Set Decoration: George Milo
La Dolce Vita(1960)
Piero Gherardi
The Absent-Minded Professor(1961)
Art Direction: Carroll Clark; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri, Hal Gausman
The Children's Hour(1961)
Art Direction: Fernando Carrere; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle

Art Direction (Color)

West Side Story(1961)
Art Direction: Boris Leven; Set Decoration: Victor A. Gangelin
Winner
Breakfast at Tiffany's(1961)
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Roland Anderson; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer
El Cid(1961)
Art Direction: Veniero Colasanti, John Moore
Flower Drum Song(1961)
Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen, Joseph Wright; Set Decoration: Howard Bristol
Summer and Smoke(1961)
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Arthur Krams

Best Picture

West Side Story(1961)
Robert Wise, Producer
Winner
Fanny(1961)
Joshua Logan, Producer
Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Stanley Kramer, Producer
The Guns of Navarone(1961)
Carl Foreman, Producer
The Hustler(1961)
Robert Rossen, Producer

Cinematography (Black-and-White)

The Hustler(1961)
Eugen Shuftan
Winner
Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Ernest Laszlo
One, Two, Three(1961)
Daniel L. Fapp
The Absent-Minded Professor(1961)
Edward Colman
The Children's Hour(1961)
Franz F. Planer

Costume Design (Black-and-White)

La Dolce Vita(1960)
Piero Gherardi
Winner
Claudelle Inglish(1961)
Howard Shoup
Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Jean Louis
The Children's Hour(1961)
Dorothy Jeakins
Yojimbo(1961)
Yoshiro Muraki

Costume Design (Color)

West Side Story(1961)
Irene Sharaff
Winner
Babes in Toyland(1961)
Bill Thomas
Back Street(1961)
Jean Louis
Flower Drum Song(1961)
Irene Sharaff
Pocketful of Miracles(1961)

Directing

West Side Story(1961)
Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins
Winner
Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Stanley Kramer
La Dolce Vita(1960)
Federico Fellini
The Guns of Navarone(1961)
J. Lee Thompson
The Hustler(1961)
Robert Rossen

Documentary (Short Subject)

Project Hope(1961)
Frank P. Bibas, Producer
Winner
Breaking the Language Barrier(1961)
United States Air Force
Cradle of Genius(1961)
Jim O'Connor and Tom Hayes, Producers
Kahl(1961)
Dido-Film-GmbH
The Man in Gray(1961)
Benedetto Benedetti, Producer

Film Editing

West Side Story(1961)
Thomas Stanford
Winner
Fanny(1961)
William H. Reynolds
Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Frederic Knudtson
The Guns of Navarone(1961)
Alan Osbiston
The Parent Trap(1961)
Philip W. Anderson

International Feature Film

Through a Glass Darkly(1961)
Sweden
Winner
Harry and the Butler(1961)
Denmark
Immortal Love(1961)
Japan
Placido(1961)
Spain
The Important Man(1961)
Mexico

Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

Breakfast at Tiffany's(1961)
Henry Mancini
Winner
El Cid(1961)
Miklos Rozsa
Fanny(1961)
Morris Stoloff, Harry Sukman
Summer and Smoke(1961)
Elmer Bernstein
The Guns of Navarone(1961)
Dimitri Tiomkin

Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

West Side Story(1961)
Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal
Winner
Babes in Toyland(1961)
George Bruns
Flower Drum Song(1961)
Alfred Newman, Ken Darby
Khovanshchina(1959)
Dimitri Shostakovich
Paris Blues(1961)
Duke Ellington

Music (Song)

Breakfast at Tiffany's(1961)
Moon River in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Winner
Bachelor in Paradise(1961)
Bachelor In Paradise in "Bachelor in Paradise" Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Mack David
El Cid(1961)
Love Theme From El Cid (The Falcon And The Dove) in "El Cid" Music by Miklos Rozsa; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Pocketful of Miracles(1961)
Pocketful Of Miracles in "Pocketful of Miracles" Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Town Without Pity(1961)
Town Without Pity in "Town without Pity" Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyrics by Ned Washington

Short Subject (Cartoon)

The Substitute(1961)
Zagreb Film
Winner
Aquamania(1961)
Walt Disney, Producer
Beep Prepared(1961)
Chuck Jones, Producer
Nelly's Folly(1961)
Chuck Jones, Producer
The Pied Piper of Guadalupe(1961)
Friz Freleng, Producer

Short Subject (Live Action)

Seawards the Great Ships(1961)
Templar Film Studios
Winner
Play Ball!(1960)
Ballon Vole (Play Ball!)
Rooftops of New York(1961)
Robert Gaffney, Producer
The Face of Jesus(1961)
Dr. John D. Jennings, Producer
Very Nice, Very Nice(1961)
National Film Board of Canada

Sound

West Side Story(1961)
Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director; and Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director
Winner
Flower Drum Song(1961)
Revue Studio Sound Department, Waldon O. Watson, Sound Director
The Children's Hour(1961)
Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director
The Guns of Navarone(1961)
Shepperton Studio Sound Department, John Cox, Sound Director
The Parent Trap(1961)
Walt Disney Studio Sound Department, Robert O. Cook, Sound Director

Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium)

Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Abby Mann
Winner
Breakfast at Tiffany's(1961)
George Axelrod
The Guns of Navarone(1961)
Carl Foreman
The Hustler(1961)
Sidney Carroll, Robert Rossen
West Side Story(1961)
Ernest Lehman

Writing (Story and Screenplay--written directly for the screen)

Splendor in the Grass(1961)
William Inge
Winner
Ballad of a Soldier(1959)
Valentin Yoshov, Grigori Chukhrai
General Della Rovere(1959)
Sergio Amidei, Diego Fabbri, Indro Montanelli
La Dolce Vita(1960)
Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, Brunello Rondi
Lover Come Back(1961)
Stanley Shapiro, Paul Henning

Documentary (Feature)

Sky Above and Mud Beneath(1961)
Arthur Cohn and Rene Lafuite, Producers
Winner
La Grande Olimpiade (La Grande Olimpiade (Olympic Games 1960))(1961)
dell Istituto Nazionale Luce, Comitato Organizzatore Del Giochi Della XVII Olimpiade

Special Effects

The Guns of Navarone(1961)
Visual Effects by Bill Warrington; Audible Effects by Vivian C. Greenham
Winner
The Absent-Minded Professor(1961)
Visual Effects by Robert A. Mattey, Eustace Lycett

Honorary Award

A Force in Readiness(1961)
Special Award
Winner