39th Academy Awards

The 39th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1966, were held on April 10, 1967, hosted by Bob Hope at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. In a rare occurrence during the period with five Best Picture nominees, only two were nominated for Best Director this year: Fred Zinnemann for A Man for All Seasons (the winner) and Mike Nichols for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. The latter was the second film in Oscars history to be nominated in every eligible category (after Cimarron (1931)), as well as the first of three to date to receive acting nominations for the entire credited cast. For the second time in Oscars history, two siblings were nominated in the same category: Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, both nominated for Best Actress for their performances in Morgan! and Georgy Girl, respectively. This had previously occurred in 1941, when sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland were each nominated for Best Actress. Elizabeth Taylor was informed of her having won the Best Actress award in London, but was so frustrated by Richard Burton's loss of the Best Actor award that she refused to hold a press conference for two weeks. Six films won multiple Oscars this year—A Man for All Seasons, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Grand Prix, Fantastic Voyage, A Man and a Woman, and Born Free—a record that was later tied in 2010, 2012, and 2017, and surpassed in 2020/21, when seven films won at least two Oscars. Every Best Picture nominee was nominated for Best Actor as well, the only time in the era of five Best Picture nominees that each nominated film received a nomination in a single acting category.

Yakima Canutt "for achievements as a stunt man and for developing safety devices to protect stunt men everywhere." Y. Frank Freeman "for unusual and outstanding service to the Academy during his thirty years in Hollywood."

The Academy Awards broadcast was almost canceled due to a strike involving the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), the theatrical performers union governing live telecasts. The dispute was settled only three hours before the ceremony was scheduled to begin; Bob Hope's opening monologue makes many references to this, including a claim that as late as 30 minutes before the ceremony began, it was uncertain whether the telecast would go on. This was the only time in the history of the Academy Awards that all Best Actress nominees were born outside of the United States. Patricia Neal, making her first Hollywood appearance since a near fatal stroke of two years before, received a standing ovation from the audience. California's governor, Ronald Reagan, was among the guests in the audience. He was a longtime Academy member and supporter. This was the last year that separate awards were given for black and white and color films in Cinematography, Art Direction Set Decoration, and Costume Design. Mitzi Gaynor's performance of the song "Georgy Girl" is often cited as being one of the most heralded performances on an Oscar broadcast.

The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.

Name Role Announcer of the 39th Academy Awards (AMPAS President) Gave opening remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony Raquel Welch Presenters of the award for Best Sound Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor Omar Sharif Presenters of the awards for Best Cinematography Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Presenter of the Short Subjects Awards Presenter of the award for Best Sound Effects Barbara Rush Presenters of the Documentary Awards Presenter of the award for Best Special Visual Effects Robert Mitchum Presenters of the awards for Best Costume Design Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress Presenter of the Honorary Award to Y. Frank Freeman James Stewart Presenters of the award for Best Film Editing Presenter of the Honorary Award to Yakima Canutt Presenter of the award for Best Foreign Language Film Vanessa Redgrave Presenters of the awards for Best Art Direction Ginger Rogers Presenters of the Writing Awards Presenter of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to Robert Wise Dick Van Dyke Presenters of the Music Awards Presenter of the award for Best Song Presenter of the award for Best Actress Presenter of the award for Best Director Presenter of the award for Best Actor Presenter of the award for Best Picture