69th Academy Awards 69th Academy Awards The 69th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) took place on March 24, 1997, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented the Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories honoring films released in 1996. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates, and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Billy Crystal hosted the show for the fifth time. He first presided over the 62nd ceremony held
34th Academy Awards supporting actor and actress. However, they were defeated by George Chakiris and Rita Moreno as part of the "West Side Story" sweep. The musical film wound up winning a total of ten Academy Awards including Best Picture. For the first time, two directors shared the award in the Directing category (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for "West Side Story"). These films had multiple nominations: The following films received multiple awards. 34th Academy Awards The 34th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1961, were held on April 9, 1962, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California.