The 46th Academy Awards were presented on Tuesday, April 2, 1974, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Burt Reynolds, Diana Ross, John Huston, and David Niven.
The Sting won 7 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for George Roy Hill. The Exorcist and The Way We Were were the only other films to win multiple awards. Marvin Hamlisch won 3 awards, the third person to achieve this feat and, to date, the only person who has won 3 Oscars in one year without winning Best Picture. As of 2023, it is the most recent ceremony in which the 3 highest-grossing films of the year were nominated for Best Picture (The Exorcist, The Sting and American Graffiti).
Winners and nominees
Nominations announced on February 19, 1974. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger (). { | class=wikitable |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Picture ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%" | Best Director |- | valign="top" | The Sting – Tony Bill, Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips, producers American Graffiti – Francis Ford Coppola, producer; Gary Kurtz, co-producer Cries and Whispers – Ingmar Bergman, producer The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty, producer A Touch of Class – Melvin Frank, producer | valign="top" | George Roy Hill – The Sting George Lucas – American Graffiti Ingmar Bergman – Cries and Whispers William Friedkin – The Exorcist Bernardo Bertolucci – Last Tango in Paris |- ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Actor ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Actress |- | valign="top" | Jack Lemmon – Save the Tiger as Harry Stoner Marlon Brando – Last Tango in Paris as Paul Jack Nicholson – The Last Detail as Billy "Badass" Buddusky Al Pacino – Serpico as Frank Serpico Robert Redford – The Sting as Johnny Hooker | valign="top" | Glenda Jackson – A Touch of Class as Vicki Allessio Ellen Burstyn – The Exorcist as Chris MacNeil Marsha Mason – Cinderella Liberty as Maggie Paul Barbra Streisand – The Way We Were as Katie Morosky Joanne Woodward – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams as Rita Pritchett-Walden |- ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Supporting Actor ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Supporting Actress |- | valign="top" | John Houseman – The Paper Chase as Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. Vincent Gardenia – Bang the Drum Slowly as Dutch Jack Gilford – Save the Tiger as Phil Jason Miller – The Exorcist as Damien Karras Randy Quaid – The Last Detail as Larry Meadows | valign="top" | Tatum O'Neal – Paper Moon as Addie Loggins Linda Blair – The Exorcist as Regan MacNeil Candy Clark – American Graffiti as Debbie Dunham Madeline Kahn – Paper Moon as Trixie Delight Sylvia Sidney – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams as Mrs. Pritchett |- ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Produced or Published ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium |- | valign="top" | The Sting – David S. WardAmerican Graffiti – George Lucas, Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck Cries and Whispers – Ingmar Bergman Save the Tiger – Steve Shagan A Touch of Class – Melvin Frank and Jack Rose | valign="top" |The Exorcist – 'William Peter Blatty based on his novel The Last Detail – Robert Towne based on the novel by Darryl Ponicsan The Paper Chase – James Bridges based on the novel by John Jay Osborn Jr. Paper Moon – Alvin Sargent based on the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown Serpico – Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler based on the book by Peter Maas |- ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Foreign Language Film ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Documentary Feature |- | valign="top" |Day for Night – FranceThe House on Chelouche Street – Israel L'Invitation – Switzerland The Pedestrian – Germany (West) Turkish Delight – Netherlands | valign="top" | The Great American Cowboy – Kieth MerrillAlways a New Beginning – John D. Goodell Battle of Berlin (Schlacht um Berlin) – Franz Baake and Jost von Morr Journey to the Outer Limits – Alexander Grasshoff Walls of Fire – Herbert Kline and Edmund Penney |- ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Documentary Short Subject ! style="background:#EEDD82" | Best Live Action Short Subject |- | valign="top" | Princeton: A Search for Answers – Julian Krainin and DeWitt L.