The forty-fifth Academy Awards ceremony was held on Tuesday, March 27, 1973 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles Music Center. One of the Academy Awards' most memorable moments occurred when Marlon Brando won the best actor award for his role in The Godfather. Though Brando rejected the award, he sent Sacheen Littlefeather, a young woman dressed in Native American garb, in his place to read the reasons he was rejecting the award.


It was explained that Brando was refusing the award primarily in protest for the treatment of Native Americans in movies and television. It was later discovered that Sacheen Littlefeather was not Native American; she was actually an actress, Maria Cruz, dressed as one.

The Awards ceremony was hosted by Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston, and Rock Hudson.

The 1972 Academy Award Winners

Picture: The Godfather
Actor: Marlon Brando (The Godfather)
Actress: Liza Minnelli (Cabaret)
Supporting Actor: Joel Gray (Cabaret)
Supporting Actress: Eileen Heckart (Butterflies Are Free)
Director: Bob Fosse (Cabaret)
Adapted Screenplay: Mario Puzo and Francis Fort Coppola (The Godfather)
Original Screenplay: Jeremy Larner (The Candidate)
Song: "The Morning After" (The Poseidon Adventure)
Score: Limelight (Dramatic) / Cabaret (Adapted)
Cinematography: Cabaret
Costume Design: Travels With My Aunt
Art / Set Decoration: Cabaret
Film Editing: Cabaret
Foreign Language Film: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (France)
Sound: Cabaret
Short Films: A Christmas Carol (Animated) / Norman Rockwell's World...An American Dream (Live Action)
Documentaries: This Tiny World (Short) / Marjoe (Feature)
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