The 58th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 24, 1986, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 23 categories honoring films released in 1985. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Stanley Donen and directed by Marty Pasetta. Actors Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, and Robin Williams co-hosted the show. Fonda hosted the gala for the second time, having previously been a co-host of the 49th ceremony held in 1977. Meanwhile, this was Alda and Williams's first Oscars hosting stint. Eight days earlier, in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on March 16, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Macdonald Carey.
Out of Africa won seven awards, including Best Picture. Meanwhile, fellow Best Picture nominee The Color Purple failed to win any of its eleven nominations. Other winners included Cocoon and Witness with two awards and Anna & Bella, Back to the Future, Broken Rainbow, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Mask, Molly's Pilgrim, The Official Story, Prizzi's Honor, Ran, The Trip to Bountiful, White Nights, and Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements with one. The telecast received mixed reviews, and it garnered 37.8 million viewers in the United States.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 58th Academy Awards were announced on February 4, 1986, by Academy president Robert Wise and actress Patty Duke. The Color Purple and Out of Africa led all nominees with eleven each. Winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 24, 1986. With its 11 nominations and zero wins, The Color Purple joined 1977's The Turning Point as the most nominated films in Oscar history without a single win. By virtue of her father John and grandfather Walter's wins for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor respectively for 1948's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Best Supporting Actress winner Anjelica Huston made them the first three-generation Oscar winning family. For the first time in Oscars history, all lead acting nominees were born in the United States. Argentina's The Official Story became the first Latin American film to win the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Awards Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger ().
{| role="presentation" class=wikitable |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|
Out of Africa – Sydney Pollack, producerThe Color Purple – Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Quincy Jones, producers Kiss of the Spider Woman – David Weisman, producer Prizzi's Honor – John Foreman, producer Witness – Edward S. Feldman, producer | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Sydney Pollack – Out of Africa Héctor Babenco – Kiss of the Spider Woman John Huston – Prizzi's Honor Akira Kurosawa – Ran Peter Weir – Witness |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|
William Hurt – Kiss of the Spider Woman as Luis Molina Harrison Ford – Witness as Detective Sergeant John Book James Garner – Murphy's Romance as Murphy Jones Jack Nicholson – Prizzi's Honor as Charley Partanna Jon Voight – Runaway Train as Oscar "Manny" Manheim | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|
Geraldine Page – The Trip to Bountiful as Carrie Watts Anne Bancroft – Agnes of God as Miriam Ruth Whoopi Goldberg – The Color Purple as Celie Harris Johnson Jessica Lange – Sweet Dreams as Patsy Cline Meryl Streep – Out of Africa as Karen Blixen |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|
Don Ameche – Cocoon as Arthur Selwyn Klaus Maria Brandauer – Out of Africa as Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke William Hickey – Prizzi's Honor as Don Corrado Prizzi Robert Loggia – Jagged Edge as Sam Ransom Eric Roberts – Runaway Train as Buck | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|
Anjelica Huston – Prizzi's Honor as Maerose Prizzi Margaret Avery – The Color Purple as Shug Avery Amy Madigan – Twice in a Lifetime as Sunny Sobel Meg Tilly – Agnes of God as Sister Agnes Oprah Winfrey – The Color Purple as Sofia Johnson |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|
Witness – Screenplay by Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley; Story by William Kelley, Pamela Wallace and Earl W. WallaceBack to the Future – Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale Brazil – Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown The Official Story – Luis Puenzo and Aída Bortnik The Purple Rose of Cairo – Woody Allen | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Out of Africa – Kurt Luedtke based on the memoir by Isak Dinesen and the books Silence Will Speak by Errol Trzebinski and Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller by Judith ThurmanThe Color Purple – Menno Meyjes based on the novel by Alice Walker Kiss of the Spider Woman – Leonard Schrader based on the novel by Manuel Puig Prizzi's Honor – Richard Condon and Janet Roach based on the novel by Richard Condon The Trip to Bountiful – Horton Foote based on his teleplay |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|The Official Story (Argentina) in Spanish – Luis PuenzoAngry Harvest (Federal Republic of Germany) in German – Agnieszka Holland Colonel Redl (Hungary) in German – István Szabó Three Men and a Cradle (France) in French – Coline Serreau When Father Was Away on Business (Yugoslavia) in Serbo-Croatian – Emir Kusturica | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Broken Rainbow – Maria Florio and Victoria MuddThe Mothers of Plaza de Mayo – Susana Muñoz and Lourdes Portillo Soldiers in Hiding – Japhet Asher The Statue of Liberty – Ken Burns and Buddy Squires Unfinished Business – Steven Okazaki |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements – David GoodmanThe Courage to Care – Robert H. Gardner Keats and His Nightingale: A Blind Date – Michael Crowley and James Wolpaw Making Overtures: The Story of a Community Orchestra – Barbara Willis Sweete The Wizard of the Strings – Alan Edelstein | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Molly's Pilgrim – Jeffrey D. Brown and Chris PelzerGraffiti – Dianna Costello Rainbow War – Bob Rogers |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Anna & Bella – Cilia van DijkThe Big Snit – Richard Condie and Michael J. F. Scott Second Class Mail – Alison Snowden | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Out of Africa – John BarryAgnes of God – Georges Delerue The Color Purple – Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rod Temperton, Caiphus Semenya, Andraé Crouch, Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Joel Rosenbaum, Fred Steiner, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey and Randy Kerber Silverado – Bruce Broughton Witness – Maurice Jarre |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|"Say You, Say Me" from White Nights – Music and Lyrics by Lionel Richie"Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)" from The Color Purple – Music by Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton; Lyrics by Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton and Lionel Richie "The Power of Love" from Back to the Future – Music by Chris Hayes and Johnny Colla; Lyrics by Huey Lewis "Separate Lives" from White Nights – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Bishop "Surprise Surprise" from A Chorus Line – Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics by Edward Kleban | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Out of Africa – Chris Jenkins, Gary Alexander, Larry Stensvold and Peter HandfordBack to the Future – Bill Varney, B. Tennyson Sebastian II, Robert Thirlwell and William B. Kaplan A Chorus Line – Donald O. Mitchell, Michael Minkler, Gerry Humphreys and Christopher Newman Ladyhawke – Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore and Bud Alper Silverado – Donald O. Mitchell, Rick Kline, Kevin O'Connell and David M. Ronne |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Back to the Future – Charles L. Campbell and Robert RutledgeLadyhawke – Robert G. Henderson and Alan Robert Murray Rambo: First Blood Part II – Frederick Brown | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Out of Africa – Art Direction: Stephen B. Grimes; Set Decoration: Josie MacAvinBrazil – Art Direction: Norman Garwood; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray The Color Purple – Art Direction: J. Michael Riva and Robert W. Welch; Set Decoration: Linda DeScenna Ran – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Yoshirō Muraki and Shinobu Muraki Witness – Art Direction: Stan Jolley; Set Decoration: John H. Anderson |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Out of Africa – David WatkinThe Color Purple – Allen Daviau Murphy's Romance – William A. Fraker Ran – Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda and Asakazu Nakai Witness – John Seale | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Mask – Michael Westmore and Zoltan ElekThe Color Purple – Ken Chase Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins – Carl Fullerton |- | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Ran – Emi WadaThe Color Purple – Aggie Guerard Rodgers The Journey of Natty Gann – Albert Wolsky Out of Africa – Milena Canonero Prizzi's Honor – Donfeld | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|Witness – Thom NobleA Chorus Line – John Bloom Out of Africa – Fredric Steinkamp, William Steinkamp, Pembroke J. Herring and Sheldon Kahn Prizzi's Honor – Rudi Fehr and Kaja Fehr Runaway Train – Henry Richardson |- | colspan="2" style="vertical-align:top" width="50%"|Cocoon – Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar and David Berry'''Return to Oz – Will Vinton, Ian Wingrove, Zoran Perisic and Michael LloydYoung Sherlock Holmes – Dennis Muren, Kit West, John R. Ellis and David W. Allen
Honorary Awards To Paul Newman, in recognition of his many and memorable compelling screen performances and for his personal integrity and dedication to his craft. To Alex North, in recognition of his brilliant artistry in the creation of memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures.
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award The award recognizes individuals whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the motion picture industry.
Charles "Buddy" Rogers
Multiple nominations and awards
+ Films with multiple nominations Nominations Film 11 The Color Purple Out of Africa 8 Prizzi's Honor Witness 4 Back to the Future Kiss of the Spider Woman Ran 3 Agnes of God A Chorus Line Runaway Train 2 Brazil Cocoon Ladyhawke Murphy's Romance The Official Story Silverado The Trip to Bountiful White Nights
+ Films with multiple wins Awards Film 7 Out of Africa 2 Cocoon Witness
Presenters and performers The following individuals, in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.
+ Presenters Name(s) Role Announcer of the 58th Academy Awards Marsha Mason Presenters of the award for Best Supporting Actress Presenter of the award for Best Visual Effects Kermit the FrogScooter Presentation of the award for Best Animated Short Film Presenter of the award for Best Costume Design Presenter of the award for Best Documentary Feature Presenter of the award for Best Makeup Presenter of the award for Best Sound Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor Presenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Charles "Buddy" Rogers Ally Sheedy Presenters of the award for Best Documentary Short Subject Michael J. Fox Presenters of the award for Best Art Direction Presenter of the Honorary Award to Paul Newman Presenter of the award for Best Sound Effects Editing Presenter of the Honorary Award to Alex North Chuck McCann Presenters of the award for Best Live Action Short Film Presenter of the award for Best Actress Presenter of the award for Best Cinematography Jack Valenti Presenters of the award for Best Foreign Language Film Presenter of the award for Best Film Editing Donald O'ConnorDebbie Reynolds Presenters of the awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song Presenter of the Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Presenter of the award for Best Director Presenter of the award for Best Actor Akira KurosawaBilly Wilder Presenters of the award for Best Picture