The 53rd Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1980, were presented March 31, 1981, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies, which were presided over by Johnny Carson, were originally scheduled for the previous day but were postponed due to the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
David Lynch's The Elephant Man and Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull, with 8 nominations each, had the most nominations of this year's films. Their nominations included Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director. Michael Apted's Coal Miner's Daughter received 7 nominations while Ordinary People and The Stunt Man were also nominated.
The year's winner of acting categories also marked as the closest span ever between the four winners, all of whom were under 40 when they won the award. Robert De Niro was aged 37 when awarded Best Actor, Sissy Spacek was aged 31 when awarded Best Actress, Timothy Hutton was aged 20 when awarded Best Supporting Actor, and Mary Steenburgen was aged 28 when awarded Best Supporting Actress. In addition, Hutton was the youngest ever Best Supporting Actor winner.
Best Supporting Actress nominee Eva Le Gallienne was born in 1899, which made her the last acting nomination to ever happen at the Oscars for someone born in the 19th century.
Read more about 53rd Academy Awards: Awards
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