Goldberg, Pesci Win Supporting Role Oscars : Academy Awards: 'Dances With Wolves' earns statuette for sound. 'Dick Tracy' honored for makeup.

L.A. Times Archives

March 26, 1991 12 AM PT

From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Whoopi Goldberg and Joe Pesci won Oscars for best supporting actress and actor Monday night as the 63rd Annual Academy Awards program got under way in Los Angeles.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve wanted this,” the 41-year-old actress-comedienne said in accepting the statuette for her portrayal of a sharp-talking medium helping to find the killer of a New York banker in the box office blockbuster “Ghost.”

“I want to thank everybody who makes movies. I come from New York. As a little kid I lived in the projects, and you’re the people I watched, Goldberg said.

“You’re the people that made me want to be an actor. I’m so proud to be here. I’m proud to be an actor. And I’m going to keep on acting.”

She was the first black woman to win since 1939 when Hattie McDaniel won as Mammy in “Gone With the Wind.”

Goldberg, a founding member of the Comic Relief benefits and a School for the Performing Arts alumna, played Oda Mae Brown, a con-woman, spiritual adviser in tune--if out of sync--with the “Ghost” of Sam Wheat, played by Patrick Swayze.

Pesci was honored for his chilling portrayal of Tommy DeVito, a murderous thug with a gruff sense of humor in the Mafia film “GoodFellas.”

Pesci’s acceptance speech was brief. “It’s my privilege. Thank you,” he said.

“Dances With Wolves,” the Western epic nominated in 12 categories won its first Oscar for best achievement in sound. Russell Williams II, Jeffrey Perkins, Bill W. Benton and Greg Watkins accepted the award.

“Dick Tracy” earned a statuette for best achievement in makeup. The artists were John Caglione Jr. and Doug Drexler.

Monday night’s awards show had as its theme a centennial celebration of movies. And the films vying for best picture mirrored a diversified and creative industry.

Comedian Billy Crystal returned as emcee for the ceremonies at the Shrine Auditorium near downtown Los Angeles.

The show, produced by Gilbert Cates, was televised by ABC-TV, and featured an opening dance sequence by choreographer Debbie Allen. Presenters included Whoopi Goldberg, Barbra Streisand, Robert De Niro and Tom Cruise.

With its 12 nominations, the early favorite was “Wolves,” Kevin Costner’s panoramic saga of a cavalry officer whose solitary life at a remote frontier outpost is forever changed when he encounters a band of Lakota Sioux.

The film could bring Costner Oscars for best actor, best director (in his debut) and best picture.

The Western epic’s chances were bolstered recently by the Directors Guild of America award to Costner and the Writers Guild selection of Michael Blake for best screenplay adaptation. In January, “Dances With Wolves” won Golden Globe awards for best dramatic picture, direction and screenplay.

Martin Scorsese’s searing gangster epic, “GoodFellas,” dominated the critics’ awards this season and was nominated for six Oscars, including best picture and direction. Scorsese, who received a best-director nomination for 1980’s “Raging Bull,” has never won the prize.

Other best-picture nominees were “The Godfather Part III,” “Awakenings” and “Ghost.”

While Costner was expected to win as director and co-producer (with Jim Wilson), he was not the favorite for his third personal nomination--as best actor. The leading contender was considered to be Jeremy Irons, the silky Claus von Bulow of “Reversal of Fortune.”

Other nominees for best actor were Richard Harris for “The Field”; Gerard Depardieu, “Cyrano de Bergerac,” and Robert De Niro, “Awakenings.”

Depardieu, who is making a movie in Mauritius, was staying away from the ceremonies amid controversy over a magazine interview that quoted him as saying he had participated in rapes as a youth. He said the statement was untrue, and categorically denied saying that he had participated in rape.

For the ninth time in a dozen years, Meryl Streep was nominated as best actress, this time for “Postcards From the Edge.” Other best-actress nominees: Kathy Bates, “Misery”; Anjelica Huston, “The Grifters”; Julia Roberts, “Pretty Woman,” and Joanne Woodward, “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge.”

Besides Goldberg, the nominees for best supporting actress were Annette Bening, “The Grifters”; Lorraine Bracco, “GoodFellas”; Diane Ladd, “Wild at Heart,” and Mary McDonnell, “Dances With Wolves.”

Besides Pesci, nominees for best supporting actor were Graham Greene, “Dances With Wolves”; Bruce Davison, “Longtime Companion”; Andy Garcia, “The Godfather Part III,” and Al Pacino, “Dick Tracy.”

Several special Academy Awards were to be presented: the Irving G. Thalberg award to producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown, an honorary award to actress Myrna Loy and a special achievement Oscar to actress Sophia Loren.

Presentation of the best original song had a tragic overtone.

Country singer Reba McEntire was scheduled to sing one nominated song, “I’m Checkin’ Out” from “Postcards From the Edge.” She withdrew from the show after seven members of her band and her road manager were killed in a private plane crash outside San Diego on March 16.

But the widow of her road manager, Jim Hammon, persuaded the singer to perform as scheduled, reasoning, “Jim worked all these years to get you where you would sing on the Oscars.”

Reacting to terrorism jitters in the wake of the Persian Gulf War, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invoked stringent security inside and outside the Shrine Auditorium. Fans in the bleachers outside were not allowed to bring cameras, binoculars or electronic equipment. They also were kept away from the bleachers until 8 a.m. About 50 die-hard fans endured a steady downpour overnight waiting for the bleachers to open.

For nominations, each of the Academy’s branches votes for its peers. Actors nominate actors, directors nominate directors, and so on. All members vote for best picture nominations.

After the nominations, a final ballot is sent to the entire voting membership to vote for final awards in every category except documentary, short and foreign language films. Voting in those categories is done immediately after screenings.