# 74th Academy Awards

The 74th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 24, 2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories honoring films released in 2001. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Laura Ziskin and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actress Whoopi Goldberg hosted the show for the fourth time. She first hosted the 66th ceremony held in 1994 and had last hosted the 71st ceremony in 1999. Three weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on March 2, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Charlize Theron.
A Beautiful Mind won four awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring with four awards, Black Hawk Down and Moulin Rouge! with two, and The Accountant, For the Birds, Gosford Park, Iris, Monster's Ball, Monsters, Inc., Murder on a Sunday Morning, No Man's Land, Pearl Harbor, Shrek, Thoth, and Training Day with one. Despite a record length of four hours and twenty-three minutes, the telecast garnered nearly 42 million viewers in the United States.

## Winners and nominees

The nominees for the 74th Academy Awards were announced on February 12, 2002, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Frank Pierson, president of the academy, and the actress Marcia Gay Harden. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring earned the most nominations with thirteen. It was the seventh film to earn that many nominations. A Beautiful Mind and Moulin Rouge! tied for second place with eight apiece.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 24, 2002. By virtue of its latest Best Picture victory for A Beautiful Mind, DreamWorks became the second film studio to release three consecutive Best Picture winners; the studio had previously released American Beauty and Gladiator. Denzel Washington was the second African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, following Sidney Poitier for 1963's Lilies of the Field. Halle Berry became the first, and as of 2023, only, African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Nominated for their performances as the title character in Iris, Best Actress nominee Judi Dench and Best Supporting Actress nominee Kate Winslet became the second pair of actresses nominated for portraying the same character in the same film, following Best Actress nominee Winslet and Best Supporting Actress nominee Gloria Stuart as Rose in 1997's Titanic.

### Awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).
| Best Picture A Beautiful Mind – Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, producers‡ Gosford Park – Robert Altman, Bob Balaban and David Levy, producers In the Bedroom – Graham Leader, Ross Katz and Todd Field, producers The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Barrie M. Osborne, producers Moulin Rouge! – Martin Brown, Baz Luhrmann and Fred Baron, producers | Best Directing Ron Howard – A Beautiful Mind‡ Ridley Scott – Black Hawk Down Robert Altman – Gosford Park Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring David Lynch – Mulholland Drive |
| Best Actor in a Leading Role Denzel Washington – Training Day as Alonzo Harris‡ Russell Crowe – A Beautiful Mind as John Forbes Nash Jr. Sean Penn – I Am Sam as Sam Dawson Will Smith – Ali as Muhammad Ali Tom Wilkinson – In the Bedroom as Dr. Matthew Fowler | Best Actress in a Leading Role Halle Berry – Monster's Ball as Leticia Musgrove‡ Judi Dench – Iris as Iris Murdoch Nicole Kidman – Moulin Rouge! as Satine Sissy Spacek – In the Bedroom as Ruth Fowler Renée Zellweger – Bridget Jones's Diary as Bridget Jones |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role Jim Broadbent – Iris as John Bayley‡ Ethan Hawke – Training Day as Officer Jake Hoyt Ben Kingsley – Sexy Beast as Don Logan Ian McKellen – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring as Gandalf Jon Voight – Ali as Howard Cosell | Best Actress in a Supporting Role Jennifer Connelly – A Beautiful Mind as Alicia de Lardé-Nash‡ Helen Mirren – Gosford Park as Jane Wilson Maggie Smith – Gosford Park as Constance Trentham Marisa Tomei – In the Bedroom as Natalie Strout Kate Winslet – Iris as Iris Murdoch |
| Best Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) Gosford Park – Julian Fellowes‡ Amélie – Guillaume Laurant and Jean-Pierre Jeunet Memento – Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan Monster's Ball – Milo Addica and Will Rokos The Royal Tenenbaums – Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson | Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published) A Beautiful Mind – Akiva Goldsman based on the book by Sylvia Nasar‡ Ghost World – Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff based on the comic book by Daniel Clowes In the Bedroom – Rob Festinger and Todd Field based on the story "Killings" by Andre Dubus The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien Shrek – Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman based on the book by William Steig |
| Best Animated Feature Film Shrek – Aron Warner‡ Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius – Steve Oedekerk and John A. Davis Monsters, Inc. – Pete Docter and John Lasseter | Best Foreign Language Film No Man's Land (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in Bosnian – Danis Tanović‡ Amélie (France) in French – Jean-Pierre Jeunet Elling (Norway) in Norwegian – Petter Næss Lagaan (India) in Hindi – Ashutosh Gowariker Son of the Bride (Argentina) in Spanish – Juan José Campanella |
| Best Documentary (Feature) Murder on a Sunday Morning – Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and Denis Poncet‡ Children Underground – Edet Belzberg LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton – Susan Froemke and Deborah Dickson Promises – Justine Shapiro and B.Z. Goldberg War Photographer – Christian Frei | Best Documentary (Short Subject) Thoth – Sarah Kernochan and Lynn Appelle‡ Artists and Orphans: A True Drama – Lianne Klapper McNally Sing! – Freida Lee Mock and Jessica Sanders |
| Best Short Film (Live Action) The Accountant – Ray McKinnon and Lisa Blount‡ Copy Shop – Virgil Widrich Gregor's Greatest Invention – Johannes Kiefer A Man Thing (Meska Sprawa) – Sławomir Fabicki and Bogumil Godfrejow Speed for Thespians – Kalman Apple and Shameela Bakhsh | Best Short Film (Animated) For the Birds – Ralph Eggleston‡ Fifty Percent Grey – Ruairí Robinson and Seamus Byrne Give Up Yer Aul Sins – Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O'Connell Strange Invaders – Cordell Barker Stubble Trouble – Joseph E. Merideth |
| Best Music (Original Score) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — Howard Shore‡ A.I. Artificial Intelligence — John Williams A Beautiful Mind — James Horner Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone — John Williams Monsters, Inc. — Randy Newman | Best Music (Original Song) "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc. – Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman‡ "May It Be" from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Music and Lyrics by Enya, Nicky Ryan, and Roma Ryan "There You'll Be" from Pearl Harbor – Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren "Until..." from Kate & Leopold – Music and Lyrics by Sting "Vanilla Sky" from Vanilla Sky – Music and Lyrics by Paul McCartney |
| Best Sound Editing Pearl Harbor – George Watters II and Christopher Boyes‡ Monsters, Inc. – Gary Rydstrom and Michael Silvers | Best Sound Black Hawk Down – Michael Minkler, Myron Nettinga and Chris Munro‡ Amélie – Vincent Arnardi, Guillaume Leriche and Jean Umansky The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Gethin Creagh and Hammond Peek Moulin Rouge! – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Roger Savage and Guntis Sics Pearl Harbor – Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, and Peter J. Devlin |
| Best Art Direction Moulin Rouge! – Art Direction: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Brigitte Broch‡ Amélie – Art Direction: Aline Bonetto; Set Decoration: Marie-Laure Valla Gosford Park – Art Direction: Stephen Altman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone – Art Direction: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah | Best Cinematography The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Andrew Lesnie‡ Amélie – Bruno Delbonnel Black Hawk Down – Sławomir Idziak The Man Who Wasn't There – Roger Deakins Moulin Rouge! – Donald M. McAlpine |
| Best Makeup The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Peter Owen and Richard Taylor‡ A Beautiful Mind – Greg Cannom and Colleen Callaghan Moulin Rouge! – Maurizio Silvi and Aldo Signoretti | Best Costume Design Moulin Rouge! – Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie‡ The Affair of the Necklace – Milena Canonero Gosford Park – Jenny Beavan Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone – Judianna Makovsky The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor |
| Best Film Editing Black Hawk Down – Pietro Scalia‡ A Beautiful Mind – Mike Hill and Dan Hanley The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – John Gilbert Memento – Dody Dorn Moulin Rouge! – Jill Bilcock | Best Visual Effects The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor and Mark Stetson‡ A.I. Artificial Intelligence – Dennis Muren, Scott Farrar, Stan Winston and Michael Lantieri Pearl Harbor – Eric Brevig, John Frazier, Ed Hirsh and Ben Snow |

### Honorary Awards

* To Sidney Poitier in recognition of his remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being.
* To Robert Redford: actor, director, producer, creator of Sundance, inspiration to independent and innovative filmmakers everywhere.

### Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

* Arthur Hiller

### Films with multiple nominations and awards

Films with multiple nominations :
| Nominations | Film |
| 13 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
| 8 | A Beautiful Mind |
| 8 | Moulin Rouge! |
| 7 | Gosford Park |
| 5 | Amélie |
| 5 | In the Bedroom |
| 4 | Black Hawk Down |
| 4 | Monsters, Inc. |
| 4 | Pearl Harbor |
| 3 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone |
| 3 | Iris |
| 2 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence |
| 2 | Ali |
| 2 | Memento |
| 2 | Monster's Ball |
| 2 | Shrek |
| 2 | Training Day |
Films with multiple awards :
| Awards | Film |
| 4 | A Beautiful Mind |
| 4 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
| 2 | Black Hawk Down |
| 2 | Moulin Rouge! |

## Presenters and performers

The following individuals (in order of appearance) presented awards or performed musical numbers.

### Presenters

| Name(s) | Role |
| Donald Sutherland Glenn Close | Announcers for the 74th annual Academy Awards |
| Tom Cruise | Presenter of the Errol Morris montage on movie memories |
| Benicio del Toro | Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress |
| Frank Pierson (AMPAS President) | Giver of remarks welcoming guests to the awards ceremony |
| Will Smith | Presenter the award for Best Film Editing |
| Ryan Phillippe Reese Witherspoon | Presenters of the award for Best Makeup |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Presenter of the film In the Bedroom on the Best Picture segment |
| Ben Stiller Owen Wilson | Presenters of the award for Best Costume Design |
| Woody Allen | Presenter of the New York City films tribute montage directed by Nora Ephron |
| Jodie Foster | Presenter of the award for Best Cinematography |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Presenter of the film Gosford Park on the Best Picture segment |
| Helen Hunt | Presenter of the Documentary films tribute montage directed by Penelope Spheeris |
| Samuel L. Jackson | Presenter of the awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short Subject |
| Cameron Diaz | Presenter of the award for Best Art Direction |
| Charlize Theron (pre-recorded footage) | Presenter of the award for Academy Scientific and Technical Award and the Gordon E. Sawyer Award |
| Nathan Lane | Presenter of the award for Best Animated Feature Film |
| Halle Berry | Presenter of the award for Best Sound and Best Sound Editing |
| Marcia Gay Harden | Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Presenter of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring on the Best Picture segment |
| Ian McKellen Maggie Smith | Introducers of the performance by Cirque du Soleil |
| Kirsten Dunst Tobey Maguire | Presenters of the award for Best Visual Effects |
| Ali MacGraw Ryan O'Neal | Presenters of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Arthur Hiller |
| Ben Kingsley | Presenter of the tribute to musical scores in films conducted by John Williams |
| Sandra Bullock Hugh Grant | Presenters of the award for Best Original Score |
| Walter Mirisch Denzel Washington | Presenters of the Academy Honorary Award to Sidney Poitier |
| Hugh Jackman Naomi Watts | Presenters of the award for Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film |
| Josh Hartnett | Introducer of the performances of the Best Original Song nominees |
| Jennifer Lopez | Presenter of the award for Best Original Song |
| Ethan Hawke Gwyneth Paltrow | Presenters of the award for Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published/Adapted Screenplay and Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen/Original Screenplay |
| Sharon Stone John Travolta | Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film |
| Kevin Spacey | Presenter of the In Memoriam Tribute |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Presenter of the film Moulin Rouge! on the Best Picture segment |
| Barbra Streisand | Presenter of the Academy Honorary Award to Robert Redford |
| Russell Crowe | Presenter of the award for Best Actress |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Presenter of the film A Beautiful Mind on the Best Picture segment |
| Julia Roberts | Presenter of the award for Best Actor |
| Mel Gibson | Presenter of the award for Best Director |
| Tom Hanks | Presenter of the award for Best Picture |

### Performers

| Name(s) | Role | Performed |
| John Williams | Musical arranger and conductor | Orchestral medley of themes from various film scores. |
| Cirque du Soleil | Performers | Special performance in a tribute to movie visual effects |
| Sting | Performer | "Until" from Kate & Leopold |
| Enya | Performer | "May it Be" from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
| John Goodman Randy Newman | Performers | "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc. |
| Faith Hill | Performer | "There You'll Be" from Pearl Harbor |
| Paul McCartney | Performer | "Vanilla Sky" from Vanilla Sky |

## Ceremony information

The academy wanted to find a new venue for the festivities amid limited seating and rehearsal time concerns with the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. In addition, problems arose regarding staging the Oscars at the Shrine Auditorium because there was difficulty of directing guests from the auditorium where the main event took place to the adjacent Exhibition Hall for the Governor's Ball. In August 1997, AMPAS and Canadian development firm TrizecHahn went into negotiations over the development of an entertainment complex located on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue adjacent to the Mann's Chinese Theatre. Seven months later, both the academy and TrizecHahn agreed on a twenty-year lease that allowed for the ceremony to be staged at a new venue, which would later be called the Kodak Theatre, located within the property which was also situated near the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel site of the inaugural awards ceremony in 1929. This was the first time the ceremony was held in Hollywood since the 32nd ceremony took place at the Pantages Theatre in 1960.
In view of the return of the Oscars to Hollywood, the academy hired film producer and Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Laura Ziskin in September 2001 to oversee production of the telecast. Pierson explained the decision to hire Ziskin saying, "This show is one of the most difficult—if not the most difficult—producing jobs in show business. Laura Ziskin brings intelligence, experience and wit expressed in everything she has done." This marked the first occurrence that a woman produced the Oscars solo. Four months later, Whoopi Goldberg was selected as host of the 2002 ceremony. In an article in the Los Angeles Times, Ziskin justified her choice of Goldberg commenting that she has "great warmth, with humor, humanity and social conscience, all qualities that I feel are essential for this year's show. I look forward to collaborating with Whoopi to put on a meaningful and entertaining evening."
Furthermore, the September 11 attacks affected the telecast and its surrounding events. Despite speculation and suggestions that the festivities be postponed or canceled, AMPAS President Pierson wrote in a Variety column refusing to take such action stating that it would send the message that "the terrorists have won". However, due to security concerns the academy announced that red carpet bleacher seats would now be limited on a reservation basis based on a random selection and a background check.
On Oscar night, Tom Cruise opened the show and stated that it was the job of filmmakers to make films during troubling times. In addition, later in the evening Goldberg introduced a "New York icon" to the stage and filmmaker and director Woody Allen, who had previously refused to attend a ceremony, made a surprise appearance. He was greeted with a hearty standing ovation from audience members including Baz Luhrmann, Ron Howard, Jennifer Connelly, Washington, and Ethan Hawke. He explained after the events that happened that September he was there to represent the city he so loved and to plead filmmakers to continue to film in New York City. Woody then presented a film montage created by fellow New Yorker and screenwriter Nora Ephron saluting New York City in film.
Several other people participated in the production of the ceremony. Actors Glenn Close and Donald Sutherland served as announcers during the show. The orchestra led by film composer and telecast musical supervisor John Williams, performed selections of film scores during a montage saluting film composers produced by Kyle Cooper. Filmmaker Errol Morris filmed a vignette featuring several famous people discuss movie memories. Director Penelope Spheeris produced a montage saluting 60 years of Oscar-winning documentary feature films. Cirque du Soleil performed a dance number inspired by movies and visual effects.

### Introduction of Best Animated Feature award

Beginning with this ceremony, AMPAS introduced a new competitive award that would honor animated feature films. According to Academy communications director John Pavlik, the film must be at least 70 minutes in length, have a significant amount of animated characters, and be at least 75 percent animated in order to be qualified for consideration. A minimum of eight qualifying films must be released within the calendar year to permit a slate of three nominees. If the number of films exceeds twelve, the nominee roster increases to five. Prior to the introduction of this category, three Disney films (1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and 1995's Toy Story) were all given Special Achievement Academy Awards.

### Box office performance of nominated films

At the time of the nominations announcement on February 12, the combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees at the US box office was $484 million, with an average of $96.9 million per film. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $271 million in domestic box office receipts. The film was followed by A Beautiful Mind ($113 million), Moulin Rouge! ($57.1 million), Gosford Park ($22.2 million), and finally In the Bedroom ($19.5 million).
Of the top 50 grossing movies of the year, 46 nominations went to 14 films on the list. Only The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2nd), Shrek (3rd), Monsters, Inc. (4th), A Beautiful Mind (15th), Black Hawk Down (25th), Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (27th), Training Day (29th), Bridget Jones's Diary (31st), Ali (41st), and Moulin Rouge! (44th) were nominated for Best Picture, Best Animated Feature, or any of the directing, acting, or screenwriting awards. The other top-50 box office hits that earned nominations were Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1st), Pearl Harbor (7th), Vanilla Sky (19th), and AI: Artificial Intelligence (28th).

### Critical reviews

The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Some media outlets were more critical of the show. Television critic Robert Bianco of USA Today complained that the awards ceremony was "intensely narcissistic and characteristically, almost unrelievedly, dull." Columnist Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe bemoaned that "TV's most-watched slug crawled back into town last night." He also sniped, "As usual, the technical awards formed a Bermuda Triangle in the middle of the show, and the film-clip fests and production numbers numbed our brains." The Sacramento Bee's Rick Kishman lamented that "It was the first time both best-acting Oscars went to African Americans...yet viewers had to fight hours and hours of boredom to care." He also quipped that the excessive amount of montage and tributes dragged down the proceedings.
Other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. Orange County Register film critic Henry Sheehan praised Goldberg's performance as hosting writing that her "ensuing entrance a la Moulin Rouge was a comparative triumph and her boom-boom-boom succession of jokes put the show right on track." Television columnist Joanne Ostrow of The Denver Post raved, "The nearly five-hour telecast was stunning, historic, slick, efficient, and helped along by some knockout clothes." She also commented that Washington and Berry's acceptance speeches and the Sidney Poitier tribute added to the historic and emotional mood of the festivities. John Levesque of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer commended producer Ziskin for producing "the best Oscar telecast this TV watcher can remember." In addition, he wrote that "It was clear the 74th Academy Awards ceremony was something special: fresh, crisp, different from its predecessors."

### Ratings and reception

At four hours and 23 minutes, the ceremony was as of 2022 the longest in history. The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 41.82 million people over its length, which was a 3% decrease from the previous year's ceremony. The show also earned lower Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 25.54% of households watching over a 40.34 share. In addition, it garnered a lower 18–49 demo rating with a 16.13 rating over a 36.46 share among viewers in that demographic.
In July 2002, the ceremony presentation received seven nominations at the 54th Primetime Emmys. Two months later, the ceremony won one of those nominations for Debra Brown's choreography during the telecast.

## "In Memoriam"

The annual "In Memoriam" tribute, presented by actor Kevin Spacey, honored the following people.
* Jack Lemmon – Actor
* Nigel Hawthorne – Actor
* Beatrice Straight – Actress
* Eileen Heckart – Actress
* Jason Miller – Actor, writer
* Ann Sothern – Actress
* Harold Russell – Actor
* Kim Stanley – Actress
* Michael Ritchie – Director
* Ted Demme – Director
* Budd Boetticher – Director
* Hiroshi Teshigahara – Director
* Herbert Ross – Director
* Julia Phillips – Producer
* Jay Livingston – Composer
* William Hanna – Producer
* Chuck Jones – Animator
* Samuel Z. Arkoff – Producer
* Danilo Donati – Costume designer
* Sacha Vierny – Cinematographer
* John A. Alonzo – Cinematographer
* Carroll O'Connor – Actor
* Aaliyah – Actress
* George Harrison – Producer, composer, actor
* Anthony Quinn – Actor
Before the In Memoriam montage was shown, Spacey requested a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the September 11 attacks.