Duvall was the only American actor nominated for the Best Actor Oscar ; his competition were Britons Michael Caine ( who had co-starred with Duvall in the 1976 '' The Eagle Has Landed '' ) , Tom Conti , Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney . During an interview before the Oscar ceremony , Duvall offended some Britons by complaining about " the Limey syndrome , " claiming " the attitude with a lot of people in Hollywood is that what they do in England is somehow better than what we do here . " Duvall , who was presented with the Oscar by country music star , Dolly Parton , said of winning the award , " It was a nice feeling , knowing I was the home-crowd favorite . " In a '' New York Times '' profile of Duvall that appeared six years after '' Tender Mercies '' release , Nan C. Robertson wrote that , despite four previous Academy Award nominations , " it was not until he won as Best Actor in 1983 ... that moviegoers woke up in droves to this great natural resource . The reason was that they rarely recognized Mr. Duvall from one part to another , so effortlessly did he vanish into each celluloid persona . " Foote , who was so certain he would not win the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for '' To Kill a Mockingbird '' he had not attended the 1963 ceremony , made sure he was present to collect his award for Best Original Screenplay . The critical success of the film allowed Foote to exercise considerable control over his future film projects , including final veto power over major decisions ; when such power was denied , Foote would simply refuse to do the film
1963 ceremony
35th Academy Awards
Tender Mercies