The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded an Academy Award for Best Picture annually since 1928. This is the most prestigious award that a film can receive.
Originally the award was called "Best Production." Originally the award was presented to a production company (i.e., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), but since 1951 the Best Picture Academy Award has been awarded to the producer(s) of the winning film. The table below also lists the director of each winning film, although the Best Picture Academy Award is not presented to a film's director. Sometimes a director also served as one of the producer, and hence wins the award anyway. Often the director of a Best Picture Oscar winner will receive that year's Best Director Academy Award.
| Film (Year) | Director | Religious Affiliation of Director | Producers/ Academy Award Recipents | Religious Affiliation of Producers/ Award Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Million Dollar Baby (2004) | Clint Eastwood | raised Protestant; agnostic | Clint Eastwood Albert S. Ruddy Tom Rosenberg | raised Protestant; agnostic ? ? | |||
| The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) | Peter Jackson | Barrie M. Osborne Peter Jackson Fran Walsh | |||||
| Chicago (2002) | Rob Marshall | Martin Richards | |||||
| A Beautiful Mind (2001) | Ron Howard | Protestant (Methodist?) | Brian Grazer Ron Howard | ? Protestant (Methodist?) | |||
| Gladiator (2000) | Ridley Scott | David Franzoni Branko Lustig Douglas Wick | |||||
| American Beauty (1999) | Sam Mendes | Bruce Cohen Dan Jinks | |||||
| Shakespeare in Love (1998) | John Madden | David Parfitt Donna Gigliotti Harvey Weinstein Edward Zwick Marc Norman | ? ? Jewish ? ? | ||||
| Titanic (1997) | James Cameron | vaguely Protestant background | James Cameron Jon Landau | vaguely Protestant background ? | |||
| The English Patient (1996) | Anthony Minghella | Saul Zaentz | |||||
| Braveheart (1995) | Mel Gibson | traditionalist Catholic | Bruce Davey Mel Gibson Alan Ladd Jr. | ? traditionalist Catholic ? | |||
| Forrest Gump (1994) | Robert Zemeckis | Jewish | Wendy Finerman Steve Starkey Steve Tisch | ||||
| Schindler's List (1993) | Steven Spielberg | Judaism | Branko Lustig Gerald R. Molen Steven Spielberg | ? Latter-day Saint Judaism | |||
| Unforgiven (1992) | Clint Eastwood | raised Protestant; agnostic | Clint Eastwood | raised Protestant; agnostic | |||
| The Silence of the Lambs (1991) | Jonathan Demme | Ron Bozman Edward Saxon Kenneth Utt | |||||
| Dances with Wolves (1990) | Kevin Costner | Baptist | Kevin Costner Jim Wilson | Baptist ? | |||
| Driving Miss Daisy (1989) | Bruce Beresford | Lili Fini Zanuck Richard D. Zanuck | |||||
| Rain Man (1988) | Barry Levinson | Jewish | Mark Johnson | ||||
| The Last Emperor (1987) | Bernardo Bertolucci | Catholic (lapsed); Freudian | Jeremy Thomas | ||||
| Platoon (1986) | Oliver Stone | Jewish father; Catholic mother; raised Episcopalian; Tibetan Buddhism (convert) | Arnold Kopelson | ||||
| Out of Africa (1985) | Sydney Pollack | Jewish | Sydney Pollack | Jewish | |||
| Amadeus (1984) | Milos Forman | Jewish father; Protestant mother | Saul Zaentz | ||||
| Terms of Endearment (1983) | James L. Brooks | Jewish | James L. Brooks | Jewish | |||
| Gandhi (1982) | Richard Attenborough | Richard Attenborough | |||||
| Chariots of Fire (1981) | Hugh Hudson | David Puttnam | |||||
| Ordinary People (1980) | Robert Redford | Ronald L. Schwary | |||||
| Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) | Robert Benton | Stanley R. Jaffe | |||||
| The Deer Hunter (1978) | Michael Cimino | Catholic | Michael Cimino Michael Deeley John Peverall Barry Spikings | Catholic ? ? ? | |||
| Annie Hall (1977) | Woody Allen | Jewish (raised Orthodox); agnostic | Charles H. Joffe | ||||
| Rocky (1976) | John G. Avildsen | Robert Chartoff Irwin Winkler | |||||
| One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) | Milos Forman | Jewish father; Protestant mother | Michael Douglas Saul Zaentz | half-Jewish ? | |||
| The Godfather Part II (1974) | Francis Ford Coppola | Catholic (non-practicing) | Francis Ford Coppola Gray Frederickson Fred Roos | Catholic (non-practicing) ? ? | |||
| The Sting (1973) | George Roy Hill | Tony Bill Julia Phillips Michael Phillips | |||||
| The Godfather (1972) | Francis Ford Coppola | Catholic (non-practicing) | Albert S. Ruddy | ||||
| The French Connection (1971) | William Friedkin | Jewish | Philip D'Antoni | ||||
| Patton (1970) | Franklin J. Schaffner | Frank McCarthy | |||||
| Midnight Cowboy (1969) | John Schlesinger | Jewish | Jerome Hellman | ||||
| Oliver! (1968) | Carol Reed | John Woolf | |||||
| In the Heat of the Night (1967) | Norman Jewison | Walter Mirisch | |||||
| A Man for All Seasons (1966) | Fred Zinnemann | Jewish | Fred Zinnemann | Jewish | |||
| The Sound of Music (1965) | Robert Wise | Robert Wise | |||||
| My Fair Lady (1964) | George Cukor | Jewish | Jack L. Warner | Jewish | |||
| Tom Jones (1963) | Tony Richardson | Tony Richardson | |||||
| Lawrence of Arabia (1962) | David Lean | Quaker | Sam Spiegel | ||||
| West Side Story (1961) | Robert Wise Jerome Robbins | Jewish | Robert Wise | ||||
| The Apartment (1960) | Billy Wilder | Jewish | Billy Wilder | Jewish | |||
| Ben-Hur (1959) | William Wyler | Jewish | Sam Zimbalist | ||||
| Gigi (1958) | Vincente Minnelli | Catholic | Arthur Freed | ||||
| The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) | David Lean | Quaker | Sam Spiegel | ||||
| Around the World in 80 Days (1956) | Michael Anderson | Mike Todd | Judaism | ||||
| Marty (1955) | Delbert Mann | Harold Hecht | |||||
| On The Waterfront (1954) | Elia Kazan | Greek Orthodox (lapsed); Communist | Sam Spiegel | ||||
| From Here to Eternity (1953) | Fred Zinnemann | Jewish | Buddy Adler | ||||
| The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) | Cecil B. DeMille | Episcopalian | Cecil B. DeMille | Episcopalian | |||
| An American In Paris (1951) | Vincente Minnelli | Catholic | Arthur Freed | ||||
| NOTE: Prior to 1951, the Best Picture Award was awarded to the production company, not the producer. We have noted the names of producers here (in parentheses) to provide information. | |||||||
| All About Eve (1950) | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Jewish parents; atheist father | (Darryl F. Zanuck) 20th Century-Fox | Methodist | |||
| All the King's Men (1949) | Robert Rossen | Jewish | Robert Rossen | Jewish | |||
| Hamlet (1948) | Laurence Olivier | Anglican | J. Arthur Rank Two Cities Films | ||||
| Gentleman's Agreement (1947) | Elia Kazan | Greek Orthodox (lapsed); Communist | (Darryl F. Zanuck) 20th Century-Fox | Methodist | |||
| The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) | William Wyler | Jewish | Samuel Goldwyn | Jewish | |||
| The Lost Weekend (1945) | Billy Wilder | Jewish | (Charles Brackett) Paramount | ||||
| Going My Way (1944) | Leo McCarey | Catholic | (Leo McCarey) Paramount | Catholic | |||
| Casablanca (1943) | Michael Curtiz | Jewish | Warner Bros. | ||||
| Mrs. Miniver (1942) | William Wyler | Jewish | (Sidney Franklin) (William Wyler) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ? Jewish | |||
| How Green Was My Valley (1941) | John Ford | Catholic | (Darryl F. Zanuck) 20th Century-Fox | Methodist | |||
| Rebecca (1940) | Alfred Hitchcock | Catholic | (David O. Selznick) Selznick International Pictures | Jewish | |||
| Gone With The Wind (1939) | Victor Fleming | Christianity | (David O. Selznick) Selznick International Pictures | Jewish | |||
| You Can't Take It With You (1938) | Frank Capra | Catholic; Christian Science | (Frank Capra) Columbia | Catholic; Christian Science | |||
| The Life of Emile Zola (1937) | William Dieterle | (Henry Blanke) Warner Bros. | |||||
| The Great Ziegfeld (1936) | Robert Z. Leonard | Jewish | (Hunt Stromberg) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||||
| Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) | Frank Lloyd | (Albert Lewin) (Irving Thalberg) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ? Jewish | ||||
| It Happened One Night (1934) | Frank Capra | Catholic; Christian Science | (Frank Capra) (Harry Cohn) Columbia | Jewish | |||
| Cavalcade (1932-33) | Frank Lloyd | (Frank Lloyd) (Winfield R. Sheehan) Fox | |||||
| Grand Hotel (1931-32) | Edmund Goulding | (Paul Bern) (Irving Thalberg) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ? Jewish | ||||
| Cimarron (1930-31) | Wesley Ruggles | (William LeBaron) (Wesley Ruggles) RKO Radio | |||||
| All Quiet on the Western Front (1929-30) | Lewis Milestone | Jewish | (Carl Laemmle Jr.) Universal | Jewish | |||
| The Broadway Melody (1928-29) | Harry Beaumont | (Irving Thalberg) (Lawrence Weingarten) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Jewish ? | ||||
| Wings (1927-28) | William A. Wellman | (Lucien Hubbard) Paramount Famous Lasky | |||||
| Sunrise (1927-28)* | F.W. Murnau | (William Fox) Fox | Jewish | ||||
* In the very first year of the Academy Awards, there were two awards giving for outstanding productions. An award for "Best Production" went to "Wings." Additionally, "Sunrise" won for the award for "Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production." The "Unique and Artistic Production" award was dropped the next year.