1966 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

55 films were recognised at the 1966 Academy Awards, across 26 categories. 15 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was Doctor Zhivago, with 5 awards, ahead of The Sound of Music with 5. 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

Cat Ballou(1965)
Lee Marvin
Winner
Othello(1965)
Laurence Olivier
Ship of Fools(1965)
Oskar Werner
The Pawnbroker(1964)
Rod Steiger
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold(1965)
Richard Burton

Actor in a Supporting Role

A Thousand Clowns(1965)
Martin Balsam
Winner
Doctor Zhivago(1965)
Tom Courtenay
Othello(1965)
Frank Finlay
Ship of Fools(1965)
Michael Dunn
The Flight of the Phoenix(1965)
Ian Bannen

Actress

Darling(1965)
Julie Christie
Winner
A Patch of Blue(1965)
Elizabeth Hartman
Ship of Fools(1965)
Simone Signoret
The Collector(1965)
Samantha Eggar
The Sound of Music(1965)
Julie Andrews

Actress in a Supporting Role

A Patch of Blue(1965)
Shelley Winters
Winner
Inside Daisy Clover(1965)
Ruth Gordon
Othello(1965)
Joyce Redman
Othello(1965)
Maggie Smith
The Sound of Music(1965)
Peggy Wood

Art Direction (Black-and-White)

Ship of Fools(1965)
Art Direction: Robert Clatworthy; Set Decoration: Joseph Kish
Winner
A Patch of Blue(1965)
Art Direction: George W. Davis, Urie McCleary; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Charles S. Thompson
King Rat(1965)
Art Direction: Robert Emmet Smith; Set Decoration: Frank Tuttle
The Slender Thread(1965)
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Jack Poplin; Set Decoration: Robert Benton, Joseph Kish
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold(1965)
Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Edward Marshall; Set Decoration: Josie MacAvin

Art Direction (Color)

Doctor Zhivago(1965)
Art Direction: John Box, Terry Marsh; Set Decoration: Dario Simoni
Winner
Inside Daisy Clover(1965)
Art Direction: Robert Clatworthy; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins
The Agony and the Ecstasy(1965)
Art Direction: John DeCuir, Jack Martin Smith; Set Decoration: Dario Simoni
The Greatest Story Ever Told(1965)
Art Direction: Richard Day, William Creber, David Hall; Set Decoration: Ray Moyer, Fred MacLean, Norman Rockett
The Sound of Music(1965)
Art Direction: Boris Leven; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Ruby Levitt

Best Picture

The Sound of Music(1965)
Robert Wise, Producer
Winner
A Thousand Clowns(1965)
Fred Coe, Producer
Darling(1965)
Joseph Janni, Producer
Doctor Zhivago(1965)
Carlo Ponti, Producer
Ship of Fools(1965)
Stanley Kramer, Producer

Cinematography (Black-and-White)

Ship of Fools(1965)
Ernest Laszlo
Winner
A Patch of Blue(1965)
Robert Burks
In Harm's Way(1965)
Loyal Griggs
King Rat(1965)
Burnett Guffey
Morituri(1965)
Conrad Hall

Cinematography (Color)

Doctor Zhivago(1965)
Freddie Young
Winner
The Agony and the Ecstasy(1965)
Leon Shamroy
The Great Race(1965)
Russell Harlan
The Greatest Story Ever Told(1965)
William C. Mellor, Loyal Griggs
The Sound of Music(1965)
Ted McCord

Costume Design (Black-and-White)

Darling(1965)
Julie Harris
Winner
A Rage to Live(1965)
Howard Shoup
Morituri(1965)
Moss Mabry
Ship of Fools(1965)
Bill Thomas, Jean Louis
The Slender Thread(1965)
Edith Head

Costume Design (Color)

Doctor Zhivago(1965)
Phyllis Dalton
Winner
Inside Daisy Clover(1965)
Edith Head, Bill Thomas
The Agony and the Ecstasy(1965)
Vittorio Nino Novarese
The Greatest Story Ever Told(1965)
Vittorio Nino Novarese, Marjorie Best
The Sound of Music(1965)
Dorothy Jeakins

Directing

The Sound of Music(1965)
Robert Wise
Winner
Darling(1965)
John Schlesinger
Doctor Zhivago(1965)
David Lean
The Collector(1965)
William Wyler
Woman in the Dunes(1964)
Hiroshi Teshigahara

Documentary (Feature)

The Eleanor Roosevelt Story(1965)
Sidney Glazier, Producer
Winner
Let My People Go: The Story of Israel(1965)
Marshall Flaum, Producer
Mourir à Madrid (To Die in Madrid)(1963)
To Die in Madrid
The Battle of the Bulge... The Brave Rifles(1965)
Laurence E. Mascott, Producer
The Forth Road Bridge(1965)
Peter Mills, Producer

Documentary (Short Subject)

To Be Alive!(1964)
Francis Thompson, Producer
Winner
Mural on Our Street(1965)
Kirk Smallman, Producer
Ouverture(1965)
Mafilm Productions
Point of View(1965)
Vision Associates Productions
Yeats Country(1965)
Patrick Carey and Joe Mendoza, Producers

Film Editing

The Sound of Music(1965)
William Reynolds
Winner
Cat Ballou(1965)
Charles Nelson
Doctor Zhivago(1965)
Norman Savage
The Flight of the Phoenix(1965)
Michael Luciano
The Great Race(1965)
Ralph E. Winters

International Feature Film

The Shop on Main Street(1965)
Czechoslovakia
Winner
Blood on the Land(1965)
Greece
Dear John(1964)
Sweden
Kwaidan(1964)
Japan
Marriage Italian Style(1964)
Italy

Music (Music Score--substantially original)

Doctor Zhivago(1965)
Maurice Jarre
Winner
A Patch of Blue(1965)
Jerry Goldsmith
The Agony and the Ecstasy(1965)
Alex North
The Greatest Story Ever Told(1965)
Alfred Newman
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg(1964)
Michel Legrand, Jacques Demy

Music (Scoring of Music--adaptation or treatment)

The Sound of Music(1965)
Irwin Kostal
Winner
A Thousand Clowns(1965)
Don Walker
Cat Ballou(1965)
DeVol
The Pleasure Seekers(1964)
Lionel Newman, Alexander Courage
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg(1964)
Michel Legrand

Music (Song)

The Sandpiper(1965)
The Shadow Of Your Smile in "The Sandpiper" Music by Johnny Mandel; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Winner
Cat Ballou(1965)
The Ballad Of Cat Ballou in "Cat Ballou" Music by Jerry Livingston; Lyrics by Mack David
The Great Race(1965)
The Sweetheart Tree in "The Great Race" Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg(1964)
I Will Wait For You in "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" Music by Michel Legrand; Lyrics by Jacques Demy; English Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
What's New Pussycat?(1965)
What's New Pussycat? in "What's New Pussycat?" Music by Burt Bacharach; Lyrics by Hal David

Short Subject (Live Action)

The Chicken(1965)
Claude Berri, Producer
Winner
Fortress of Peace(1964)
Lothar Wolff, Producer
Skaterdater(1965)
Marshal Backlar and Noel Black, Producers
Snow(1963)
Edgar Anstey, Producer
Time Piece(1965)
Jim Henson, Producer

Sound

The Sound of Music(1965)
20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, James P. Corcoran, Sound Director; and Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director
Winner
Doctor Zhivago(1965)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studio Sound Department, A. W. Watkins, Sound Director; and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department, Franklin E. Milton, Sound Director
Shenandoah(1965)
Universal City Studio Sound Department, Waldon O. Watson, Sound Director
The Agony and the Ecstasy(1965)
20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, James P. Corcoran, Sound Director
The Great Race(1965)
Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department, George R. Groves, Sound Director

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

Doctor Zhivago(1965)
Robert Bolt
Winner
A Thousand Clowns(1965)
Herb Gardner
Cat Ballou(1965)
Walter Newman, Frank R. Pierson
Ship of Fools(1965)
Abby Mann
The Collector(1965)
Stanley Mann, John Kohn

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

Darling(1965)
Frederic Raphael
Winner
Casanova '70(1965)
Age, Scarpelli, Mario Monicelli, Tonino Guerra, Giorgio Salvioni, Suso Cecchi D'Amico
The Train(1964)
Franklin Coen, Frank Davis
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg(1964)
Jacques Demy
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines(1965)
Jack Davies, Ken Annakin

Short Subject (Cartoon)

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics(1965)
Chuck Jones and Les Goldman, Producers
Winner
Clay or The Origin of Species(1965)
Eliot Noyes, Jr., Producer
The Thieving Magpie(1964)
Emanuele Luzzati, Producer

Sound Effects

The Great Race(1965)
Tregoweth Brown
Winner
Von Ryan's Express(1965)
Walter A. Rossi

Special Visual Effects

Thunderball(1965)
John Stears
Winner
The Greatest Story Ever Told(1965)
J. McMillan Johnson