38th Golden Globe Awards (1981)
· 14 categories · 57 nominations · Winners not recorded
Awards season
1981 Movie Awards: Every Ceremony, Winner & Nominee
6 award ceremonies and festivals from January to September 1981, with 193 nominations and 34 winners. Ordinary People and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back tied for the most wins, 5 wins each. At the Oscars, Ordinary People won Best Picture. Below: every ceremony and top prize, the most-awarded films and the people who won the most.
- ceremonies
- 6
- nominations
- 193
- winners
- 34
- top prizes
- 4
Top prizes
The Top Prize at Every 1981 Ceremony
Ordinary People took the top prize at 2 ceremonies (DGA Awards and Oscars). The other 2 went to 2 films. 2 ceremonies have no top prize winner in the database.
Most awarded
The Most-Awarded Films of 1981
Ordinary People and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back each won 5 awards at the 1981 ceremonies. The Elephant Man, Fame and Tess followed with 3 wins each. The logos show where each film won.
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Ordinary People 5 / 151980 · Drama · 5 wins from 15 nominations -
1980 · Action, Adventure · 5 wins from 12 nominations -
The Elephant Man 3 / 201980 · Biography, Drama · 3 wins from 20 nominations -
Fame 3 / 131980 · Drama, Music · 3 wins from 13 nominations -
Tess 3 / 91980 · Drama, Romance · 3 wins from 9 nominations -
Raging Bull 2 / 161980 · Biography, Drama · 2 wins from 16 nominations -
All That Jazz 2 / 61979 · Drama, Fantasy · 2 wins from 6 nominations -
Kagemusha 2 / 31980 · Drama, History · 2 wins from 3 nominations -
My Brilliant Career 2 / 31979 · Biography, Drama · 2 wins from 3 nominations -
Coal Miner's Daughter 1 / 121980 · Biography, Drama · 1 win from 12 nominations
People
Who Won the Most Awards in 1981
Robert Redford and Judy Davis each won 2 awards. Only prizes that name a person count here; Best Picture goes to the film.
Month by month
Every 1981 Award Ceremony
6 ceremonies in date order from January to September 1981. Each links to its full list of winners and nominees.
January 1981 Award Ceremony
March 1981 Award Ceremonies
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33rd Directors Guild of America Awards (1981)· 1 category · 5 nominations
Outstanding Directing – Feature Film: Ordinary People
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34th British Academy Film Awards (1981)· 12 categories · 44 nominations
Best Film: The Elephant Man
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July 1981 Award Ceremony
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8th Saturn Awards (1981)· 7 categories · 21 nominations
September 1981 Film Festival
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6th Toronto International Film Festival (1981)· 1 category · 1 nomination
People's Choice Award: Chariots of Fire
1 ceremony has no winners in the database yet.
Archive
Movie Awards by Year
98 years of results, from 1929 to 2026. The busiest season is 2025, with 19 ceremonies; 1981 has 6. Each year collects its ceremonies, top prizes and biggest winners.
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FAQ
1981 Movie Awards: Questions & Answers
The most-awarded film, the most-awarded person, Best Picture at the Oscars and every ceremony of 1981, answered from the results on this page.
Which movie won the most awards in 1981?
Ordinary People (1980) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) tied for the most awards at the 1981 ceremonies, with 5 wins each. The Elephant Man, Fame and Tess followed with 3 wins each.
About Ordinary People Who won the most awards in 1981?
Robert Redford and Judy Davis each won 2 awards in 1981, the most of anyone named in a category.
Robert Redford's awards What won Best Picture at the 1981 Oscars?
Ordinary People (1980) won Best Picture at the 53rd Academy Awards (1981) on March 31, 1981.
1981 Oscar winners Which award ceremonies took place in 1981?
The database has 6 ceremonies for 1981: 38th Golden Globe Awards, 33rd Directors Guild of America Awards, 34th British Academy Film Awards, 53rd Academy Awards, 8th Saturn Awards and 6th Toronto International Film Festival.