Billy Wilder dedicated his Irving Thalberg Memorial Award to legendary writer and friend I.A.L. Diamond who was in frail health. He died 10 days later.
Three of the Best Supporting Actress nominees' names were Ann/Anne: Ann Sothern, Anne Archer, and Anne Ramsey.
A special segment featuring at least one cast member from every Best Picture winner for 60 years had been orchestrated as part of that evenings show. However, just before the ceremony began Anita Page collapsed from exhaustion on the red carpet and was rushed to Good Samaritan hospital. As the one surviving star of the second ever Best Picture winning film The Broadway Melody (1929) attending that evening, her eventual absence would have left a void in the presentation so the segment was scrapped at the last minute. Although at least one other source suggests the segment was dropped due to traffic problems amongst guests arriving to the ceremony.
Producer Mike Kaplan, who accompanied best supporting actress nominee Ann Sothern to the ceremony, noted in a 2017 article that Sothern who, after a 60 year movie career, had received her first Oscar nomination for her performance in The Whales of August (1987) (which would turn out to be her last film appearance), but had "lost to Olympia Dukakis in the very first category to be announced and was emotionally upset, compounded by her longstanding mobility issues stemming from a stage accident that seriously injured her back. She had co-starred with Olivia de Havilland in Lady in a Cage (1964). When de Havilland made her entrance [to present an award], Ann rose, moving for the first and only time that evening. She said, "I have to stand for Olivia.""
Both of the winners for Moonstruck (1987), Cher and Olympia Dukakis won their Oscars at the same time that their relatives had political success. Dukakis' cousin Michael had just won the New York Primary and Cher's ex-husband Sonny Bono had just been elected mayor of Palm Springs.