68th Academy Awards

The 68th Academy Awards was held on March 25, 1996 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The show was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. The ceremony was watched 44.48 million viewers, with 30.5% households watching. Despite controversy from the NAACP concerning what was deemed as a lack of attention to African-American actors by the Academy, this show was the one and only time an African-American was hired to produce the show to date. Key moments in this presentation included Christopher Reeve making his first public appearance onstage after becoming paralyzed, the performance of the troupe Stomp, the sextet Take 6, and a lifetime achievement award to Kirk Douglas recovering from a stroke. A special tribute to Gene Kelly was also produced. Braveheart won five Oscar including Best Picture. Presented by Sharon Stone, a tribute honoring those members in the motion picture industry that died in the previous year: Ginger Rogers, composer Miklós Rózsa, Maxine Andrews,... full article at wikipedia