Academy Awards of 1968
 

The Best Picture of the Academy Awards of 1968 was Oliver! the musical adaptation of the famous classic Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. This came as a surprise to many, who may have expected either the Lion in Winter, a story of 12th century English royalty with classic performances by Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn, or Funny Girl, the movie which put Barbara Streisand on the map, to take home the statue.

Despite Peter O’Toole’s all time legendary performance as the King of England in the Lion in Winter, the upset pick, Cliff Robertson, nailed the Academy Awards of 1968 Best Picture Oscar with his performance as Charly, a mentally retarded man who suddenly becomes a genius and then regresses back to his original state. The movie, based on the book Flowers for Algernon, took no other awards, and may have inspired a spate of top actors taking on roles as mentally or physically challenged individuals in order to win the Academy’s notice.

Another unusual feature of the Academy Awards of 1968 came in the Best Actress category, when there was an exact tie, between Barbara Streisand in her film debut for Funny Girl, and Katherine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter. Ironically, Ms. Hepburn, who had to wait over 30 years for her second Oscar, after winning in 1922/1923 for Morning Glory, only had to wait one year for her third, as she had won the prior year, 1967, for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

All of the excitement in the big categories may have overshadowed Jack Albertson’s win for the Academy Awards of 1968 Best Supporting Actor. Albertson played the father of Tim Cleary, a veteran coming home from World War II (played by Martin Sheen) in The Subject Was Roses. This was Albertson’s only Oscar nomination, and he made it count.

The Best Supporting Actress came at long last to Hollywood Veteran Ruth Gordon, who at 72 collected the award for her portrayal of the devil worshipping Minnie Castevet in the chilling Rosemary’s Baby. Gordon had only been nominated once before, and this would be her last nomination and only Oscar win.

The Best Director award of this year went to Sir Carol Reed for directing the Best Picture winner, Oliver! Many may have felt at the time that some very talented directors were overlooked, both for nominations and for the Oscar itself. One of the most interesting of these was nominee Stanley Kubrick, who was in contention for his space epic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which many feel redefined the sci-fi genre.