American film producer Walter Mortimer Mirisch died on February 24, 2023 (he was born on November 8, 1921).
Together with his brother Marvin and half-brother Harold, he founded the independent film production business The Mirisch Company in 1957.
Walter Mirisch top movies and TV shows
At the age of 29, Mirisch was given responsibility for managing the production of 30 films at Allied Artists Studio, which was previously merely a branch of Monogram.
During his stay there, he found time to make films including Flat Top (1952), Wichita (1955), which won a Golden Globe for Best Outdoor Drama in 1955 from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, The First Texan (1956), and An Annapolis Tale (1955).
He oversaw the making of many movies, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Friendly Persuasion (1956), and the Billy Wilder-directed Love in the Afternoon (1956).
Walter Mirisch awards and nominations
He served as its president and executive head of production. In the Heat of the Night, which he produced, earned him the Oscar Award for Best Picture (1967).
Mirisch’s production of In the Heat of the Night won the 1967 Oscar Award for Best Picture.
He received various accolades throughout the years, including The Producer of the Year Award from the Producers’ Guild of America in 1967, the National Association of Theatre Owners in 1972, and ShowaRama in 2003.
In 1961, the French Republic honoured him with the Order of Arts and Letters.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison awarded him an honorary doctorate in humane letters in May 1989. He received the UCLA Medal, the highest honour bestowed by the institution, in June 1989.
