The 63rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 25, 1991, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards (commonly referred to as the Oscars) were presented in 22 categories. The ceremony, which was televised in the United States on ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Jeff Margolis. Actor Billy Crystal hosted for the second consecutive year. Three weeks earlier in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on March 2, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Geena Davis. Dances with Wolves won seven awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Dick Tracy with three awards, Ghost with two awards, and American Dream, Creature Comforts, Cyrano de Bergerac, Days of Waiting, Goodfellas, The Hunt for Red October, Journey of Hope, The Lunch Date, Misery, Reversal of Fortune, and Total Recall with one. The telecast garnered nearly 43 million viewers in the United States. Winners and nominees The nominees for the 63rd Academy Awards were announced on February 13, 1991, at 5:38 a.m. PST (13:38 UTC) at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Karl Malden, president of the Academy, and actor Denzel Washington. Dances with Wolves led the nominations with twelve total; Dick Tracy and The Godfather Part III tied for second with seven each. The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 25, 1991. Kevin Costner became the fifth person to earn the Best Director Award for his directorial debut and to earn nominations for Best Actor and Best Director for the same film. Best Supporting Actress winner Whoopi Goldberg was the second African American woman to win an award. Hattie McDaniel previously won in the same category for Gone With the Wind. Awards Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double-dagger (). {| class=wikitable | valign="top" width="50%" | Dances with Wolves – Jim Wilson and Kevin Costner, producers Awakenings – Walter Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, producers Ghost – Lisa Weinstein, producer The Godfather Part III – Francis Ford Coppola, producer Goodfellas – Irwin Winkler, producer | valign="top" width="50%" | Kevin Costner – Dances with Wolves Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Part III Martin Scorsese – Goodfellas Stephen Frears – The Grifters Barbet Schroeder –