The 1961 Academy Awards were presented April 9, 1962 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
| Best Motion Picture | Fanny, Joshua Logan, producer (Warner Bros.) |
| The Guns of Navarone, Carl Foreman, producer (Columbia) |
| The Hustler, Robert Rossen, producer (Twentieth Century-Fox) |
| Judgment at Nuremberg, Stanley Kramer, producer (United Artists) |
| West Side Story, Robert Wise, producer (United Artists) |
| Best Actor | Charles Boyer, Fanny |
| Paul Newman, The Hustler |
| Maximilian Schell, Judgment at Nuremberg |
| Spencer Tracy, Judgment at Nuremberg |
| Stuart Whitman, The Mark |
| Best Actress | Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's |
| Piper Laurie, The Hustler |
| Sophia Loren, Two Women |
| Geraldine Page, Summer and Smoke |
| Natalie Wood, Splendor in the Grass |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | George Chakiris, West Side Story |
| Montgomery Clift, Judgment at Nuremberg |
| Peter Falk, Pocketful of Miracles |
| Jackie Gleason, The Hustler |
| George C. Scott, The Hustler |
| Actress in a Supporting Role | Fay Bainter, The Children's Hour |
| Judy Garland, Judgment at Nuremberg |
| Lotte Lenya, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone |
| Una Merkel, Summer and Smoke |
| Rita Moreno, West Side Story |
|
 Rita Moreno, West Side Story Archive Photos |
|
| Directing | Federico Fellini, La Dolce Vita |
| Stanley Kramer, Judgment at Nuremberg |
| Robert Rossen, The Hustler |
| J. Lee Thompson, The Guns of Navarone |
| Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, West Side Story |
| Writing | | Screenplay Based on Material From Another Medium | George Axelrod, Breakfast at Tiffany's | | Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen, The Hustler | | Carl Foreman, The Guns of Navarone | | Ernest Lehman, West Side Story | | Abby Mann, Judgment at Nuremberg | | Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen | Sergio Amidei, Diego Fabbri and Indro Montanelli, General Della Rovere | | Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano and Brunello Rondi, La Dolce Vita | | William Inge, Splendor in the Grass | | Stanley Shapiro and Paul Henning, Lover Come Back | | Valentin Yoshov and Grigori Chukhrai, Ballad of a Soldier |
|
| Cinematography | | Black-and-White | Edward Colman, The Absent-Minded Professor | | Daniel L. Fapp, One, Two, Three | | Ernest Laszlo, Judgment at Nuremberg | | Franz F. Planer, The Children's Hour | | Eugen Shuftan, The Hustler | | Color | Jack Cardiff, Fanny | | Daniel L. Fapp, West Side Story | | Charles Lang, Jr., One-Eyed Jacks | | Russell Metty, Flower Drum Song | | Harry Stradling, Sr., A Majority of One |
|
| Art Direction | | Black-and-White | Fernando Carrere, art direction; Edward G. Boyle, set decoration, The Children's Hour | | Carroll Clark, art direction; Emile Kuri and Hal Gausman, set decoration, The Absent-Minded Professor | | Piero Gherardi, art direction and set decoration, La Dolce Vita | | Harry Horner, art direction; Gene Callahan, set decoration, The Hustler | | Rudolph Sternad, art direction; George Milo, set decoration, Judgment at Nuremberg | | Color | Veniero Colasanti and John Moore, art direction and set decoration, El Cid | | Alexander Golitzen and Joseph Wright, art direction; Howard Bristol, set decoration, Flower Drum Song | | Boris Leven, art direction; Victor Gangelin, set decoration, West Side Story | | Hal Pereira and Roland Anderson, art direction; Sam Comer and Ray Moyer, set decoration, Breakfast at Tiffany's | | Hal Pereira and Walter Tyler, art direction; Sam Comer and Arthur Krams, set decoration, Summer and Smoke |
|
| Sound | Revue Studio Sound Dept., Waldon O. Watson, sound director, Flower Drum Song |
| Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Dept., Gordon E. Sawyer, sound director, The Children's Hour |
| Shepperton Studio Sound Dept., John Cox, sound director, The Guns of Navarone |
| Todd-AO Sound Dept., Fred Hynes, sound director and Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Dept., Gordon E. Sawyer, sound director, West Side Story |
| Walt Disney Studio Sound Dept., Robert O. Cook, sound director, The Parent Trap |
| Music | | Song | “Bachelor in Paradise,” Bachelor in Paradise, Henry Mancini, music; Mack David, lyrics | | “Love Theme From El Cid” (The Falcon and the Dove), El Cid, Miklos Rozsa, music; Paul Francis Webster, lyrics | | “Moon River,” Breakfast at Tiffany's, Henry Mancini, music; Johnny Mercer, lyrics | | “Pocketful of Miracles,” Pocketful of Miracles, James Van Heusen, music; Sammy Cahn, lyrics | | “Town Without Pity,” Town Without Pity, Dimitri Tiomkin, music; Ned Washington, lyrics | | Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture | Elmer Bernstein, Summer and Smoke | | Henry Mancini, Breakfast at Tiffany's | | Miklos Rozsa, El Cid | | Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman, Fanny | | Dimitri Tiomkin, The Guns of Navarone | | Scoring of a Musical Picture | George Bruns, Babes in Toyland | | Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, West Side Story | | Duke Ellington, Paris Blues | | Alfred Newman and Ken Darby, Flower Drum Song | | Dimitri Shostakovich, Khovanshchina |
|
| Film Editing | Philip W. Anderson, The Parent Trap |
| Frederic Knudtson, Judgment at Nuremberg |
| Alan Osbiston, The Guns of Navarone |
| William H. Reynolds, Fanny |
| Thomas Stanford, West Side Story |
| Costume Design | | Black-and-White | Piero Gherardi, La Dolce Vita | | Dorothy Jeakins, The Children's Hour | | Jean Louis, Judgment at Nuremberg | | Yoshiro Muraki, Yojimbo | | Howard Shoup, Claudelle Inglish | | Color | Edith Head and Walter Plunkett, Pocketful of Miracles | | Jean Louis, Back Street | | Irene Sharaff, Flower Drum Song | | Irene Sharaff, West Side Story | | Bill Thomas, Babes in Toyland |
|
| Special Effects | Robert A. Mattey and Eustace Lycett, visual, The Absent-Minded Professor |
| Bill Warrington, visual; Vivian C. Greenham, audible, The Guns of Navarone |
| Short Subjects | | Cartoon | Aquamania (Walt Disney Productions; Buena Vista) | | Beep Prepared (Roadrunner and Coyote Series) (Chuck Jones, producer; Warner Bros.) | | Ersatz (The Substitute) (Zagreb Film; Herts-Lion International Corp.) | | Nelly's Folly (Nelly the Giraffe Series) (Chuck Jones, producer; Warner Bros.) | | Pied Piper of Guadalupe (Speedy Gonzalez and Sylvester Series) (Friz Freleng, producer; Warner Bros.) | | Live Action | Ballon Vole (Play Ball!) (Ciné-Documents; Kingsley International) | | The Face of Jesus (Jenga Productions; Harry Stern, Inc.) | | Rooftops of New York (Musical Travelbook Series) (McCarty-Rush Production in association with Robert Gaffney; Columbia) | | Seawards the Great Ships (Templar Film Studios; Lester A. Schoenfeld Films) | | Very Nice, Very Nice (National Film Board of Canada; Kingsley International) |
|
| Documentary | | Short Subject | Breaking the Language Barrier (Travel Adventure Series) (U.S. Air Force) | | Cradle of Genius (Plough Productions; Irving M. Lesser Film Presentation) | | Kahl (Dido Film GmbH; AEG-Filmdienst) | | L'Uomo in Grigio (The Man in Gray) (Benedetto Benedetti, producer; Benedetto Benedetti Production) | | Project Hope (MacManus, John and Adams, Inc./Klaeger Film Production; Ex-Cell-O Corp.) | | Feature | La Grande Olimpiade (Olympic Games 1960) (Dell Istituto Nationale Luce, Comitato Organizzatore Del Giochi Della XVII Olimpiade; Cineriz) | | Le Ciel et la Boue (Sky Above and Mud Beneath) (Ardennes Films and Michael Arthur Film Productions; Rank Films) |
|
| Foreign Language Film | Harry and the Butler, Denmark |
| Immortal Love, Japan |
| The Important Man, Mexico |
| Placido, Spain |
| Through a Glass Darkly, Sweden |
| Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award | Stanley Kramer |
| Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | George Seaton |
| Honorary Awards | To William L. Hendricks for his outstanding patriotic service in the conception, writing and production of the Marine Corps film, A Force in Readiness, which has brought honor to the Academy and the motion picture industry |
| To Fred L. Metzler for his dedication and outstanding service to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
| To Jerome Robbins for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film |
