[1] Billy Wilder's The Apartment won Best Picture, the last black-and-white film to do so until Schindler's List and The Artist at the 66th and 84th Academy Awards, respectively.
Elizabeth Taylor, who had a near-fatal bout with pneumonia a short time before the ceremony, was viewed as having received her Oscar out of sympathy rather than for her performance in Butterfield 8.
[1] Gary Cooper was selected by the Academy Board of Governors to receive an Academy Honorary Award "for his many memorable screen performances and the international recognition he, as an individual, has gained for the motion picture industry".
Stewart's emotional speech hinted that something was seriously wrong, and the following day newspapers ran the headline, "Gary Cooper has cancer".
She was the last recipient of the award; going forward, juvenile actors could officially compete in competitive categories.