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53rd Academy Awards (1981)
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Oscars 1981 Winners & Nominees

The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) took place on March 31, 1981. Ordinary People won Best Picture and 3 more awards. Every winner and nominee in all 17 categories is below.

All 17 categories Most wins
categories
17
nominations
65
films nominated
22
winners
14
Held on
Best Picture
Ordinary People
Headline winners

Oscars 1981: The Winners

Ordinary People won Best Picture against 4 other nominees. Robert Redford (Best Director), Robert De Niro (Best Actor) and Sissy Spacek (Best Actress) took the main individual prizes.

Ordinary People (1980) movie poster Best Picture

Best Picture

Ordinary People

1980 · Drama · $54.8M worldwide

4 wins from 6 nominations at the 53rd Academy Awards (1981)

  • Best Supporting Actor
  • Best Director
  • Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium)

When Koo Jae-pil discovers his estranged wife covered in blood, he finds himself immediately suspected by the police. Determined to clear his name and uncover the truth behind the shocking scene, he navigates a complex web of suspicion and uncertainty. As he investigates, the boundaries of reality become increasingly blurred, forcing him to confront unsettling truths about his life and the people around him.

About Ordinary People
Scoreboard

Oscars 1981: Which Films Won the Most

Ordinary People won 4 awards from 6 nominations. 6 films won at least once, while The Elephant Man went home empty-handed from 8 nominations. Green is wins, blue is nominations.

  1. Ordinary People (1980) movie poster
    Ordinary People 4 / 6
    1980 · Drama · 4 wins from 6 nominations
  2. Tess (1980) movie poster
    Tess 3 / 6
    1980 · Drama, Romance · 3 wins from 6 nominations
  3. Raging Bull (1980) movie poster
    Raging Bull 2 / 8
    1980 · Biography, Drama · 2 wins from 8 nominations
  4. Fame (1980) movie poster
    Fame 2 / 5
    1980 · Drama, Music · 2 wins from 5 nominations
  5. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) movie poster
    Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back 2 / 4
    1980 · Action, Adventure · 2 wins from 4 nominations
  6. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) movie poster
    Coal Miner's Daughter 1 / 7
    1980 · Biography, Drama · 1 win from 7 nominations
  7. The Elephant Man (1980) movie poster
    The Elephant Man 0 / 8
    1980 · Biography, Drama · 0 wins from 8 nominations
  8. The Stunt Man (1980) movie poster
    The Stunt Man 0 / 3
    1980 · Action, Drama · 0 wins from 3 nominations
  9. Private Benjamin (1980) movie poster
    Private Benjamin 0 / 3
    1980 · Comedy, War · 0 wins from 3 nominations
  10. Altered States (1980) movie poster
    Altered States 0 / 2
    1980 · Sci-Fi, Thriller · 0 wins from 2 nominations
Full results

All 17 Oscars 1981 Categories: Winners & Nominees

17 categories and 65 nominations. The winner of each comes first, on a green row. Search for a film or a person, show only the winners, or jump straight to a category.

17 categories · 65 nominations

Jump to a category

Oscars 1981 Best Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)

Official name: Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)

3 nominees

No winner is recorded for this category.

Oscars 1981 Best Original Song

Official name: Music (Original Song)

1 nominee
By genre

The Genres Behind the Oscars 1981 Winners

Drama led with 54 nominations across 17 films and won 12. A film with several genres counts for each one.

  1. Drama 12 wins · 54 nominations · 22%
  2. Biography 3 wins · 24 nominations · 13%
  3. Romance 3 wins · 13 nominations · 23%
  4. Music 3 wins · 12 nominations · 25%
  5. Sport 2 wins · 9 nominations · 22%
  6. Action 2 wins · 8 nominations · 25%
  7. Thriller 0 wins · 8 nominations · 0%
  8. Comedy 0 wins · 7 nominations · 0%
  9. Adventure 2 wins · 6 nominations · 33%
  10. Sci-Fi 2 wins · 6 nominations · 33%
1981 season

How the Rest of the 1981 Awards Season Voted

The other 5 ceremonies of 1981, with the winner of each top prize. Ordinary People also won the top prize at one of them.

All 1981 awards
Earlier years

Previous Oscars Ceremonies

The 6 ceremonies before this one, with the winner of each top prize. The Oscars page has every year back to 1929.

Every Oscars ceremony

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FAQ

Oscars 1981: Questions & Answers

The top prize, the film that won the most, the most-nominated film, the individual winners and the date of the 53rd Academy Awards (1981), answered from the results on this page.

Who won Best Picture at the 53rd Academy Awards (1981)?

Ordinary People (1980) won Best Picture. The other nominees were Coal Miner's Daughter, The Elephant Man, Raging Bull and Tess.

About Ordinary People

Which film won the most awards at the 53rd Academy Awards (1981)?

Ordinary People (1980) won the most: 4 awards from 6 nominations. Tess was next with 3 wins.

Which film had the most nominations at the 53rd Academy Awards (1981)?

Raging Bull (1980) and The Elephant Man (1980) led with 8 nominations each.

Who won the acting and directing awards at the 53rd Academy Awards (1981)?

Best Director: Robert Redford for Ordinary People. Best Actor: Robert De Niro for Raging Bull. Best Actress: Sissy Spacek for Coal Miner's Daughter. Best Supporting Actor: Timothy Hutton for Ordinary People.

When was the 53rd Academy Awards (1981)?

The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) took place on March 31, 1981. The database has 17 categories and 65 nominations for it.