1990 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

51 films were recognised at the 1990 Academy Awards, across 23 categories. 15 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was Driving Miss Daisy, with 4 awards, ahead of Glory with 3. The categories below run from Actor in a Leading Role, Actor in a Supporting Role and Actress in a Leading Role 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 in a Leading Role

My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown(1989)
Daniel Day Lewis
Winner
Born on the Fourth of July(1989)
Tom Cruise
Dead Poets Society(1989)
Robin Williams
Driving Miss Daisy(1989)
Morgan Freeman
Henry V(1989)
Kenneth Branagh

Actor in a Supporting Role

Glory(1989)
Denzel Washington
Winner
A Dry White Season(1989)
Marlon Brando
Crimes and Misdemeanors(1989)
Martin Landau
Do the Right Thing(1989)
Danny Aiello
Driving Miss Daisy(1989)
Dan Aykroyd

Actress in a Leading Role

Driving Miss Daisy(1989)
Jessica Tandy
Winner
Camille Claudel(1988)
Isabelle Adjani
Music Box(1989)
Jessica Lange
Shirley Valentine(1989)
Pauline Collins
The Fabulous Baker Boys(1989)
Michelle Pfeiffer

Actress in a Supporting Role

My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown(1989)
Brenda Fricker
Winner
Enemies, a Love Story(1989)
Anjelica Huston
Enemies, a Love Story(1989)
Lena Olin
Parenthood(1989)
Dianne Wiest
Steel Magnolias(1989)
Julia Roberts

Art Direction

Batman(1989)
Art Direction: Anton Furst; Set Decoration: Peter Young
Winner
Driving Miss Daisy(1989)
Art Direction: Bruno Rubeo; Set Decoration: Crispian Sallis
Glory(1989)
Art Direction: Norman Garwood; Set Decoration: Garrett Lewis
The Abyss(1989)
Art Direction: Leslie Dilley; Set Decoration: Anne Kuljian
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen(1988)
Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

Best Picture

Driving Miss Daisy(1989)
Richard D. Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck, Producers
Winner
Born on the Fourth of July(1989)
A. Kitman Ho and Oliver Stone, Producers
Dead Poets Society(1989)
Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas, Producers
Field of Dreams(1989)
Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon, Producers
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown(1989)
Noel Pearson, Producer

Cinematography

Glory(1989)
Freddie Francis
Winner
Blaze(1989)
Haskell Wexler
Born on the Fourth of July(1989)
Robert Richardson
The Abyss(1989)
Mikael Salomon
The Fabulous Baker Boys(1989)
Michael Ballhaus

Costume Design

Henry V(1989)
Phyllis Dalton
Winner
Driving Miss Daisy(1989)
Elizabeth McBride
Harlem Nights(1989)
Joe I. Tompkins
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen(1988)
Gabriella Pescucci
Valmont(1989)
Theodor Pistek

Directing

Born on the Fourth of July(1989)
Oliver Stone
Winner
Crimes and Misdemeanors(1989)
Woody Allen
Dead Poets Society(1989)
Peter Weir
Henry V(1989)
Kenneth Branagh
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown(1989)
Jim Sheridan

Documentary (Feature)

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt(1989)
Robert Epstein and Bill Couturié, Producers
Winner
Adam Clayton Powell(1989)
Richard Kilberg and Yvonne Smith, Producers
Crack USA: County Under Siege(1989)
Vince DiPersio and William Guttentag, Producers
For All Mankind(1989)
Al Reinert and Betsy Broyles Breier, Producers
Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren(1989)
Judith Leonard and Bill Jersey, Producers

Film Editing

Born on the Fourth of July(1989)
David Brenner, Joe Hutshing
Winner
Driving Miss Daisy(1989)
Mark Warner
Glory(1989)
Steven Rosenblum
The Bear(1988)
Noëlle Boisson
The Fabulous Baker Boys(1989)
William Steinkamp

International Feature Film

Cinema Paradiso(1988)
Italy
Winner
Camille Claudel(1988)
France
Jesus of Montreal(1989)
Canada
Memories of a Marriage(1989)
Denmark
What Happened to Santiago(1989)
Puerto Rico

Music (Original Score)

The Little Mermaid(1989)
Alan Menken
Winner
Born on the Fourth of July(1989)
John Williams
Field of Dreams(1989)
James Horner
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade(1989)
John Williams
The Fabulous Baker Boys(1989)
David Grusin

Music (Original Song)

The Little Mermaid(1989)
Under The Sea in "The Little Mermaid" Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Howard Ashman
Winner
Chances Are(1989)
After All in "Chances Are" Music by Tom Snow; Lyric by Dean Pitchford
Parenthood(1989)
I Love To See You Smile in "Parenthood" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
Shirley Valentine(1989)
The Girl Who Used To Be Me in "Shirley Valentine" Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyric by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
The Little Mermaid(1989)
Kiss The Girl in "The Little Mermaid" Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Howard Ashman

Sound

Glory(1989)
Donald O. Mitchell, Gregg C. Rudloff, Elliot Tyson, Russell Williams II
Winner
Black Rain(1989)
Donald O. Mitchell, Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Keith A. Wester
Born on the Fourth of July(1989)
Michael Minkler, Gregory H. Watkins, Wylie Stateman, Tod A. Maitland
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade(1989)
Ben Burtt, Gary Summers, Shawn Murphy, Tony Dawe
The Abyss(1989)
Don Bassman, Kevin F. Cleary, Richard Overton, Lee Orloff

Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)

Dead Poets Society(1989)
Tom Schulman
Winner
Crimes and Misdemeanors(1989)
Woody Allen
Do the Right Thing(1989)
Spike Lee
sex, lies, and videotape(1989)
Steven Soderbergh
When Harry Met Sally...(1989)
Nora Ephron

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

Driving Miss Daisy(1989)
Alfred Uhry
Winner
Born on the Fourth of July(1989)
Oliver Stone, Ron Kovic
Enemies, a Love Story(1989)
Roger L. Simon, Paul Mazursky
Field of Dreams(1989)
Phil Alden Robinson
My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown(1989)
Jim Sheridan, Shane Connaughton

Documentary (Short Subject)

The Johnstown Flood(1989)
Charles Guggenheim, Producer
Winner
Fine Food, Fine Pastries, Open 6 to 9(1989)
David Petersen, Producer
Yad Vashem: Preserving the Past to Ensure the Future(1989)
Ray Errol Fox, Producer

Makeup

Driving Miss Daisy(1989)
Manlio Rocchetti, Lynn Barber, Kevin Haney
Winner
Dad(1989)
Dick Smith, Ken Diaz, Greg Nelson
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen(1988)
Maggie Weston, Fabrizio Sforza

Short Film (Animated)

Balance(1989)
Christoph Lauenstein, Wolfgang Lauenstein
Winner
The Cow(1989)
Alexander Petrov
The Hill Farm(1989)
Mark Baker

Short Film (Live Action)

Work Experience(1989)
James Hendrie
Winner
Amazon Diary(1989)
Robert Nixon
The Childeater(1989)
Jonathan Tammuz

Sound Effects Editing

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade(1989)
Ben Burtt, Richard Hymns
Winner
Black Rain(1989)
Milton C. Burrow, William L. Manger
Lethal Weapon 2(1989)
Robert Henderson, Alan Robert Murray

Visual Effects

The Abyss(1989)
John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman, Dennis Skotak
Winner
Back to the Future Part II(1989)
Ken Ralston, Michael Lantieri, John Bell, Steve Gawley
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen(1988)
Richard Conway, Kent Houston