Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 22, 1994 TAG: 9403220199
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
``This is the best drink of water after the longest drought of my life,'' Spielberg said as he came to the stage a second time, for the best picture award.
Moments earlier, as he accepted the award for directing, Spielberg said: ``I actually have friends who have won this before, and I swear I have never held one before. This is the first time I have ever had one of these in my hand.'' He won an honorary Irving Thalberg award in 1987.
In two decades of turning out Hollywood's biggest hits from ``Jaws'' to ``E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,'' Spielberg never had won for best picture or director. It had led all competitors at the 66th annual Academy Awards with 12 nominations.
True to the Academy's tradition of honoring portrayals of affliction, Tom Hanks, a lawyer fighting discrimination while dying of AIDS in ``Philadelphia,'' and Holly Hunter, the mute mail-order bride of ``The Piano,'' won as best leading performers.
``The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels,'' Hanks said in tribute to people who have died of AIDS. ``We know their names; they number a thousand for every red ribbon worn tonight.''
``Schindler's List'' also won for screenplay adaptation, art direction, film editing, John Williams' original score and its mostly black-and-white cinematography.
Another Spielberg movie also had a good night. ``Jurassic Park,'' the science-fiction fantasy that recreated dinosaurs with dazzling realism and record box-office success, won awards in all three categories for which it was nominated - visual effects, sound and sound effects editing.
``The Piano'' also took three Oscars. Eleven-year-old Anna Paquin was a surprise winner for supporting actress as the precocious daughter who interprets for her mute mother, and Campion won for her screenplay.
Tommy Lee Jones, the lawman who doggedly pursues Harrison Ford in ``The Fugitive,'' was best supporting actor.
Paquin is the youngest Oscar winner since 10-year-old Tatum O'Neal won in the same category for ``Paper Moon'' 20 years ago.
Jones, his head shiny and his face ebullient, came to the stage and cracked, ``The only thing I can say at a time like this is that I'm not really bald. I'm happy to be working.'' He had shaved his head for a movie role as baseball great Ty Cobb.
Among those Jones defeated was Ralph Fiennes, the brutal concentration camp commander in ``Schindler's List.''
Rock star Bruce Springsteen won the best song award for his haunting ``Streets of Philadelphia'' from the movie ``Philadelphia.''
``Mrs. Doubtfire,'' starring Robin Williams as a rejected husband who disguises himself as a nanny to be near his children, won for best makeup. ``The Age of Innocence'' was cited for costume design.
by CNB