The 36th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1963, were held on April 13, 1964, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. They were hosted by Jack Lemmon.

Best Picture winner Tom Jones became the only film in history to garner three Best Supporting Actress nominations; it also tied the Oscar record of five unsuccessful acting nominations, set by Peyton Place at the 30th Academy Awards.

This year's winner for Best Actress category was unique. Although playing a supporting role and having a relatively small amount on the screen, Patricia Neal won the Best Actress category for her role in Hud. The movie also won for Best Supporting Actor for Melvyn Douglas and Best Cinematography – Black and White. It was the second and, to date, last film to win two acting awards without being nominated for Best Picture (the other being The Miracle Worker).

At age 71, Margaret Rutherford set a then-record as the oldest winner for Best Supporting Actress, a year after Patty Duke set a then-record as the youngest ever winner. Rutherford was also only the second Oscar winner over the age of 70 at the time of her win (the other was Edmund Gwenn), as well as becoming the last woman born in the 19th century to win.

This was the only time in Academy history that all Best Supporting Actress nominees were born outside the United States.

Sidney Poitier became the first Black actor to win Best Actor, and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge was the first Oscar-winning film to have aired on network television prior to the ceremony.

Best Sound Effects was introduced this year, with It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World winning the award.