The 73rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best of 2000 in film and took place on March 25, 2001, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 23 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and was directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Steve Martin hosted the show for the first time. Three weeks earlier in a ceremony at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California held on March 3, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Renée Zellweger.
Gladiator won five awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Traffic with four awards and Almost Famous, Big Mama, Erin Brockovich, Father and Daughter, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, Pollock, Quiero Ser, U-571, and Wonder Boys with one. The telecast garnered almost 43 million viewers in the United States.
Winners and nominees The nominees for the 73rd Academy Awards were announced on February 13, 2001, by Robert Rehme, president of the academy, and Academy Award-winning actress Kathy Bates. Gladiator received the most nominations with twelve. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came in second with ten.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 25, 2001. Gladiator became the first film to win Best Picture without a directing or screenwriting win since 1949's All the King's Men. Best Director winner Steven Soderbergh, who received nominations for both Erin Brockovich and Traffic (for which he won the award), was the second person to receive double directing nominations in the same year. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became the third film nominated simultaneously for Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film in the same year. With four wins, the film tied with Fanny and Alexander as the most awarded foreign language film in Academy Awards history By virtue of his brother's Best Supporting Actor nomination for 1988's Running on Empty, Best Supporting Actor nominee Joaquin Phoenix and River became the first pair of brothers to earn acting nominations.
Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().
{| class=wikitable role="presentation" |- | valign="top" width="50%"| Gladiator – Douglas Wick, David Franzoni, and Branko Lustig, producersChocolat – David Brown, Kit Golden, and Leslie Holleran, producers Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Bill Kong, Hsu Li-kong, and Ang Lee, producers Erin Brockovich – Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, and Stacey Sher, producers Traffic – Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick, and Laura Bickford, producers | valign="top" width="50%"| Steven Soderbergh – Traffic Stephen Daldry – Billy Elliot Ang Lee – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Steven Soderbergh – Erin Brockovich Ridley Scott – Gladiator |- | valign="top" width="50%"| Russell Crowe – Gladiator as General Maximus Decimus Meridius Javier Bardem – Before Night Falls as Reinaldo Arenas Tom Hanks – Cast Away as Chuck Noland Ed Harris – Pollock as Jackson Pollock Geoffrey Rush – Quills as the Marquis de Sade | valign="top" width="50%"| Julia Roberts – Erin Brockovich as Erin Brockovich Joan Allen – The Contender as Laine Hanson Juliette Binoche – Chocolat as Vianne Rocher Ellen Burstyn – Requiem for a Dream as Sara Goldfarb Laura Linney – You Can Count on Me as Sammy Prescott |- | valign="top" width="50%"| Benicio del Toro – Traffic as Javier Rodriguez Jeff Bridges – The Contender as President Jackson Evans Willem Dafoe – Shadow of the Vampire as Max Schreck Albert Finney – Erin Brockovich as Edward L. Masry Joaquin Phoenix – Gladiator as Commodus | valign="top" width="50%"| Marcia Gay Harden – Pollock as Lee Krasner Judi Dench – Chocolat as Armande Voizin Kate Hudson – Almost Famous as Penny Lane Frances McDormand – Almost Famous as Elaine Miller Julie Walters – Billy Elliot as Miss Wilkinson |- | valign="top" width="50%"| Almost Famous – Cameron Crowe Billy Elliot – Lee Hall Erin Brockovich – Susannah Grant Gladiator – Screenplay by David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson; Story by David Franzoni You Can Count on Me – Kenneth Lonergan | valign="top" width="50%"| Traffic – Stephen Gaghan based on the British TV series Traffik created by Simon MooreChocolat – Robert Nelson Jacobs based on the novel by Joanne Harris Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – James Schamus, Hui-Ling Wang, and Kuo Jung Tsai based on the book by Wang Dulu O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen based on the Odyssey by Homer Wonder Boys – Steve Kloves based on the novel by Michael Chabon |- | valign="top" width="50%"| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan) in Mandarin – Ang Lee Amores Perros (Mexico) in Spanish – Alejandro González Iñárritu Divided We Fall (Czech Republic) in Czech – Jan Hřebejk Everybody's Famous! (Belgium) in Dutch and English – Dominique Deruddere The Taste of Others (France) in French – Agnès Jaoui | valign="top" width="50%"| Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport – Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah Oppenheimer Legacy – Tod Lending Long Night's Journey into Day – Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffmann Scottsboro: An American Tragedy – Barak Goodman and Daniel Anker Sound and Fury – Josh Aronson and Roger Weisberg |- | valign="top" width="50%"| Big Mama – Tracy Seretean Curtain Call – Chuck Braverman and Steve Kalafer Dolphins – Greg MacGillivray and Alec Lorimore The Man on Lincoln's Nose – Daniel Raim On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom – Eric Simonson and Leelai Demoz | valign="top" width="50%"| Quiero ser (I want to be...) – Florian Gallenberger By Courier – Peter Riegert and Ericka Frederick One Day Crossing – Joan Stein and Christina Lazaridi Seraglio – Gail Lerner and Colin Campbell A Soccer Story – Paulo Machline |- | valign="top" width="50%"| Father and Daughter – Michaël Dudok de Wit Periwig Maker – Steffen Schäffler and Annette Schäffler Rejected – Don Hertzfeldt | valign="top" width="50%"| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Tan Dun Chocolat – Rachel Portman Gladiator – Hans Zimmer Malèna – Ennio Morricone The Patriot – John Williams |- | valign="top" | "Things Have Changed" from Wonder Boys – Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan "A Fool In Love" from Meet the Parents – Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman "I've Seen It All" from Dancer in the Dark – Music by Björk; Lyrics by Lars von Trier and Sjón Sigurðsson "A Love Before Time" from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Music by Jorge Calandrelli and Tan Dun; Lyrics by James Schamus "My Funny Friend and Me" from The Emperor's New Groove – Music by Sting and David Hartley; Lyrics by Sting | valign="top" | Gladiator – Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, and Ken WestonCast Away – Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis Sands, and William B. Kaplan The Patriot – Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, and Lee Orloff The Perfect Storm – John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David Campbell, and Keith A. Wester U-571 – Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker, Rick Kline, and Ivan Sharrock |- | valign="top" width="50%"| U-571 – Jon Johnson Space Cowboys – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman | valign="top" width="50%"| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Timmy Yip Gladiator – Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Crispian Sallis How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Art Direction: Michael Corenblith; Set Decoration: Merideth Boswell Quills – Art Direction: Martin Childs; Set Decoration: Jill Quertier Vatel – Art Direction: Jean Rabasse; Set Decoration: Françoise Benoît-Fresco |- | valign="top" width="50%"| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Peter Pau Gladiator – John Mathieson Malèna – Lajos Koltai O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Roger Deakins The Patriot – Caleb Deschanel | valign="top" width="50%"| How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Rick Baker and Gail Rowell-Ryan The Cell – Michèle Burke and Edouard Henriques Shadow of the Vampire – Ann Buchanan and Amber Sibley |- | valign="top" width="50%"| Gladiator – Janty Yates 102 Dalmatians – Anthony Powell Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Timmy Yip How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Rita Ryack Quills – Jacqueline West | valign="top" width="50%"| Traffic – Stephen Mirrione Almost Famous – Joe Hutshing and Saar Klein Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Tim Squyres Gladiator – Pietro Scalia Wonder Boys – Dede Allen |- | colspan="2" valign="top" width="50%"|
Gladiator'' – John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke, and Rob HarveyHollow Man – Scott E. Anderson, Craig Hayes, Scott Stokdyk, and Stan Parks The Perfect Storm – Stefen Fangmeier, Habib Zargarpour, John Frazier, and Walt Conti
Honorary Awards To Jack Cardiff, master of light and color. To Ernest Lehman, in appreciation of a body of varied and enduring work.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award Dino De Laurentiis
Films with multiple nominations and awards
The following 20 films received multiple nominations:
Nominations Film 12 Gladiator 10 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 5 Chocolat Erin Brockovich Traffic 4 Almost Famous 3 Billy Elliot How the Grinch Stole Christmas The Patriot Quills Wonder Boys 2 Cast Away The Contender Malèna O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Perfect Storm Pollock Shadow of the Vampire U-571 You Can Count on Me
The following three films received multiple awards: Awards Film 5 Gladiator 4 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Traffic
Presenters and performers The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.
Presenters