45th Academy Awards

The 45th Academy Awards were presented Tuesday, March 27, 1973, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, honoring the best films of 1972. The ceremonies were presided over by Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston, and Rock Hudson.

The ceremony was marked by Marlon Brando's boycott of the Oscars, and his sending of Sacheen Littlefeather to explain why he could not show up to collect his Best Actor award for The Godfather; and by Charlie Chaplin's only competitive Oscar win, for Best Original Dramatic Score for his 20-year-old film Limelight, which was eligible because it did not screen in Los Angeles until 1972. Prior to this ceremony, Chaplin had received 2 Academy Honorary Awards: in 1972 for his lifetime of work; and in 1929 (after having revoked his nominations for Best Director, Actor, and Writing (Original), thereby presenting him with a special award celebrating his multifaceted achievements).

Cabaret, Bob Fosse's adaptation of the Broadway stage musical, set a record for the most Oscars won without winning Best Picture winning 8. Best Picture winner The Godfather received only three Academy Awards.

This year was the first time that two African American women received nominations for Best Actress: Cicely Tyson and Diana Ross. Minnelli accepted her Oscar despite a slight scrape she had incurred while riding a motorcycle. Ross was criticized for running a promotional ad campaign demanding that she win the Best Actress Oscar. Meanwhile, Edward G. Robinson, who died two months before the ceremony, became the second actor to receive his honorary Oscar posthumously, after Douglas Fairbanks (d. 1939) in 1940.

This was also the first year when all the Oscar winners were brought out on stage at the end of the ceremony. The show drew a television audience of 85 million viewers.