19th Academy Awards

The 19th Academy Awards were held on March 13, 1947, honoring the films of 1946. The top awards portion of the ceremony was hosted by Jack Benny.

The Best Years of Our Lives won seven of its eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and both male acting Oscars. The Academy awarded Harold Russell—a World War II veteran who had lost both hands in the war—an Honorary Academy Award for "bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans" for his role as Homer Parrish, believing that, as a non-actor, he would not win the Best Supporting Actor award for which he was nominated. Russell also won the competitive award, making him the only person in Academy history to receive two Oscars for the same performance.

When Olivia de Havilland won the Best Actress Oscar, her sister, Joan Fontaine, attempted to shake her hand, but she refused the handshake, saying "I don't know why she does that when she knows how I feel."

This was the first time since the 2nd Academy Awards that every category had, at most, five nominations.

Awards
Nominees were announced on February 9, 1947. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Academy Honorary Awards

 * Laurence Olivier "for his outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director in bringing Henry V to the screen".
 * Harold Russell "for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans through his appearance in The Best Years of Our Lives".
 * Ernst Lubitsch "for his distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture".

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

 * Samuel Goldwyn

Academy Juvenile Award

 * Claude Jarman Jr.

Presenters
(in order of appearance)


 * Jean Hersholt (Presenter: Academy Honorary Award to Laurence Olivier)
 * Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Presenter: Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Live Action Short Subject-One-Reel, Best Live Action Short Subject-Two-Reel, Best Short Subject-Cartoons, and Scientific & Technical Awards)
 * Rex Harrison (Presenter: Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, and Best Special Effects)
 * Lana Turner (Presenter: Best Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)
 * Greer Garson (Presenter: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration-Black-and-White and Best Art Direction–Interior Decoration-Color)
 * Ann Sheridan (Presenter: Best Cinematography-Black-and-White and Best Cinematography-Color)
 * Van Johnson (Presenter: Best Original Song)
 * Robert Montgomery (Presenter: Best Motion Picture Story, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Screenplay)
 * Shirley Temple (Presenter: Academy Juvenile Award to Claude Jarman Jr. and Academy Honorary Award to Harold Russell)
 * Mervyn LeRoy (Presenter: Academy Honorary Award to Ernst Lubitsch)
 * Ronald Reagan (Presenter: Academy Cavalcade of Past Oscar Winners and Academy Parade of Stars)
 * Billy Wilder (Presenter: Best Director)
 * Eric Johnston (Presenter: Best Motion Picture)
 * Donald Nelson (Presenter: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to Samuel Goldwyn)
 * Anne Revere (Presenter: Best Supporting Actor)
 * Lionel Barrymore (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress)
 * Joan Fontaine (Presenter: Best Actor)
 * Ray Milland (Presenter: Best Actress)

Performers

 * Hoagy Carmichael (who was accidentally introduced by Sam Goldwyn as Hugo Carmicheal )
 * Dick Haymes
 * Andy Russell
 * Dinah Shore