1959 Film Year: Oscar Winners & Nominees
The AwardWentTo archive contains 116 Academy Award records for the 1959 film year, covering 49 films and including 25 wins.
Years follow the source film eligibility/dataset year, which may differ from the ceremony calendar year. Counts describe film-linked archive records, including historical and special-award context where supplied.
Best Picture result
- ★ Ben-HurSam Zimbalist, Producer
5 Best Picture award records for this film year. See the full result · Best Picture history
Acting category results
Leading winning films
Ranked by winning records in this film-year selection.
- Ben-Hur
11 wins from 12 award records
- The Diary of Anne Frank
3 wins from 8 award records
- Room at the Top
2 wins from 6 award records
- Some Like It Hot
1 win from 6 award records
- Pillow Talk
1 win from 5 award records
- Porgy and Bess
1 win from 4 award records
Category winners
Select a category to explore its history, or jump to this year's full records.
Nominations and award records by category
Showing 116 of 116 archive records. Gold stars mark winning records.
Best Picture
- ★ Ben-Hur IMDB — Sam Zimbalist, Producer
- Anatomy of a Murder IMDB — Otto Preminger, Producer
- The Diary of Anne Frank IMDB — George Stevens, Producer
- The Nun's Story IMDB — Henry Blanke, Producer
- Room at the Top IMDB — John Woolf and James Woolf, Producers
Best Actor
- ★ Ben-Hur IMDB — Charlton HestonJudah Ben-Hur
- Room at the Top IMDB — Laurence HarveyJoe Lampton
- Some Like It Hot IMDB — Jack LemmonJerry/Daphne
- The Last Angry Man IMDB — Paul MuniDr. Sam Abelman
- Anatomy of a Murder IMDB — James StewartPaul Biegler
Best Supporting Actor
- ★ Ben-Hur IMDB — Hugh GriffithSheik Ilderim
- Anatomy of a Murder IMDB — Arthur O'ConnellParnell McCarthy
- Anatomy of a Murder IMDB — George C. ScottClaude Dancer
- The Young Philadelphians IMDB — Robert VaughnChester Gwynn
- The Diary of Anne Frank IMDB — Ed WynnMr. Dussell
Best Actress
- ★ Room at the Top IMDB — Simone SignoretAlice Aisgill
- Pillow Talk IMDB — Doris DayJan Morrow
- The Nun's Story IMDB — Audrey HepburnSister Luke
- Suddenly, Last Summer IMDB — Katharine HepburnMrs. Venable
- Suddenly, Last Summer IMDB — Elizabeth TaylorCatherine Holly
Best Supporting Actress
- ★ The Diary of Anne Frank IMDB — Shelley WintersMrs. Van Daan
- Room at the Top IMDB — Hermione BaddeleyElspeth
- Imitation of Life IMDB — Susan KohnerSarah Jane (age 18)
- Imitation of Life IMDB — Juanita MooreAnnie Johnson
- Pillow Talk IMDB — Thelma RitterAlma
Art Direction (Black-and-White)
- ★ The Diary of Anne Frank IMDB — Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler, George W. Davis; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Stuart A. Reiss
- Career IMDB — Art Direction: Hal Pereira, Walter Tyler; Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Arthur Krams
- The Last Angry Man IMDB — Art Direction: Carl Anderson; Set Decoration: William Kiernan
- Some Like It Hot IMDB — Art Direction: Ted Haworth; Set Decoration: Edward G. Boyle
- Suddenly, Last Summer IMDB — Art Direction: Oliver Messel, William Kellner; Set Decoration: Scot Slimon
Art Direction (Color)
- ★ Ben-Hur IMDB — Art Direction: William A. Horning, Edward Carfagno; Set Decoration: Hugh Hunt
- The Big Fisherman IMDB — Art Direction: John DeCuir; Set Decoration: Julia Heron
- Journey to the Center of the Earth IMDB — Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler, Franz Bachelin, Herman A. Blumenthal; Set Decoration: Walter M. Scott, Joseph Kish
- North by Northwest IMDB — Art Direction: William A. Horning, Robert Boyle, Merrill Pye; Set Decoration: Henry Grace, Frank McKelvy
- Pillow Talk IMDB — Art Direction: Richard H. Riedel; Set Decoration: Russell A. Gausman, Ruby R. Levitt
Cinematography (Black-and-White)
Cinematography (Color)
Costume Design (Black-and-White)
- ★ Some Like It Hot IMDB — Orry-Kelly
- Career IMDB — Edith Head
- The Diary of Anne Frank IMDB — Charles LeMaire, Mary Wills
- The Gazebo IMDB — Helen Rose
- The Young Philadelphians IMDB — Howard Shoup
Costume Design (Color)
Best Director
Documentary Feature
- ★ Serengeti Shall Not Die IMDB — Bernhard Grzimek, Producer
- The Race for Space IMDB — David L. Wolper, Producer
Documentary Short Subject
- ★ Glass IMDB — Bert Haanstra, Producer
- Donald in Mathmagic Land IMDB — Walt Disney, Producer
- From Generation to Generation IMDB — Edward F. Cullen, Producer
Film Editing
- ★ Ben-Hur IMDB — Ralph E. Winters, John D. Dunning
- Anatomy of a Murder IMDB — Louis R. Loeffler
- North by Northwest IMDB — George Tomasini
- The Nun's Story IMDB — Walter Thompson
- On the Beach IMDB — Frederic Knudtson
International Feature Film
- ★ Black Orpheus IMDB — France
- The Bridge IMDB — West Germany
- The Great War IMDB — Italy
- Paw IMDB — Denmark
- The Village on the River IMDB — The Netherlands
Original Score
Original Song
- ★ A Hole in the Head IMDB — Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Sammy CahnHigh Hopes
- The Best of Everything IMDB — Music by Alfred Newman; Lyrics by Sammy CahnThe Best Of Everything
- The Five Pennies IMDB — Music and Lyrics by Sylvia FineThe Five Pennies
- The Hanging Tree IMDB — Music by Jerry Livingston; Lyrics by Mack DavidThe Hanging Tree
- The Young Land IMDB — Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyrics by Ned WashingtonStrange Are The Ways Of Love
Music (Original Song Score or Adaptation Score)
- ★ Porgy and Bess IMDB — Andre Previn, Ken Darby
- The Five Pennies IMDB — Leith Stevens
- Li'l Abner IMDB — Nelson Riddle, Joseph J. Lilley
- Say One for Me IMDB — Lionel Newman
- Sleeping Beauty IMDB — George Bruns
Animated Short Film
- ★ Moonbird IMDB — John Hubley, Producer
- Mexicali Shmoes IMDB — John W. Burton, Producer
- Noah's Ark IMDB — Walt Disney, Producer
- The Violinist IMDB — Ernest Pintoff, Producer
Live Action Short Film
- ★ The Golden Fish IMDB — Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Producer
- Between the Tides IMDB — Ian Ferguson, Producer
- Mysteries of the Deep IMDB — Walt Disney, Producer
- The Running, Jumping and Standing-Still Film IMDB — Peter Sellers, Producer
- Skyscraper IMDB — Shirley Clarke, Willard Van Dyke and Irving Jacoby, Producers
Sound Mixing
- ★ Ben-Hur IMDB — Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Sound Department, Franklin E. Milton, Sound Director
- Journey to the Center of the Earth IMDB — 20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Carl Faulkner, Sound Director
- Libel! IMDB — Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer London Studio Sound Department, A. W. Watkins, Sound Director
- The Nun's Story IMDB — Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department, George R. Groves, Sound Director
- Porgy and Bess IMDB — Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director; and Todd-AO Sound Department, Fred Hynes, Sound Director
Visual Effects
- ★ Ben-Hur IMDB — Visual Effects by A. Arnold Gillespie, Robert MacDonald; Audible Effects by Milo Lory
- Journey to the Center of the Earth IMDB — Visual Effects by L. B. Abbott, James B. Gordon; Audible Effects by Carl Faulkner
Adapted Screenplay
- ★ Room at the Top IMDB — Neil Paterson
- Anatomy of a Murder IMDB — Wendell Mayes
- Ben-Hur IMDB — Karl Tunberg
- The Nun's Story IMDB — Robert Anderson
- Some Like It Hot IMDB — Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond
Original Screenplay
- ★ Pillow Talk IMDB — Story by Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene; Screenplay by Stanley Shapiro, Maurice Richlin
- The 400 Blows IMDB — Francois Truffaut, Marcel Moussy
- North by Northwest IMDB — Ernest Lehman
- Operation Petticoat IMDB — Story by Paul King, Joseph Stone; Screenplay by Stanley Shapiro, Maurice Richlin
- Wild Strawberries IMDB — Ingmar Bergman
Nominated films and other recorded entries
49 films represented in the 1959 archive selection.
- A Hole in the Head
- Anatomy of a Murder
- Ben-Hur
- Between the Tides
- Black Orpheus
- Career
- Donald in Mathmagic Land
- From Generation to Generation
- Glass
- Imitation of Life
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Li'l Abner
- Libel!
- Mexicali Shmoes
- Moonbird
- Mysteries of the Deep
- Noah's Ark
- North by Northwest
- On the Beach
- Operation Petticoat
- Paw
- Pillow Talk
- Porgy and Bess
- Room at the Top
- Say One for Me
- Serengeti Shall Not Die
- Skyscraper
- Sleeping Beauty
- Some Like It Hot
- Suddenly, Last Summer
- The 400 Blows
- The Best of Everything
- The Big Fisherman
- The Bridge
- The Diary of Anne Frank
- The Five Pennies
- The Gazebo
- The Golden Fish
- The Great War
- The Hanging Tree
- The Last Angry Man
- The Nun's Story
- The Race for Space
- The Running, Jumping and Standing-Still Film
- The Village on the River
- The Violinist
- The Young Land
- The Young Philadelphians
- Wild Strawberries
About these award records
This independent archive groups film-linked award records by film, credited name, category and eligibility year. The film year can differ from the year the ceremony took place. Ceremony numbers are shown where supplied by the records.
Each distinct performance, song or award credit remains a separate record, even when it belongs to the same film. Shared credits stay together. A person's page covers the name shown, without combining aliases or shared credits into a complete career total.
Totals can include honorary, special and historical awards alongside competitive nominations. Awards without a linked film are outside these page totals. Source notes and uncertain records are retained; category comparisons omit groups with unresolved notes, ties or conflicting identities.
For the official record, search the Academy Awards Database (opens in a new tab). Award Went To is an independent exploration tool and is not affiliated with the Academy.