Walter Mortimer Mirisch (born November 8, 1921) is an American film producer. He is president and executive head of production of

The Mirisch Corporation The Mirisch Company was an American film production company owned by Walter Mirisch and his brothers, Marvin and Harold Mirisch. The company also had sister firms known at various times as Mirisch Production Company, Mirisch Pictures Inc., Mirisc ...

, an independent film

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, a ...

, which he formed in 1957 with his brother Marvin and half-brother Harold. He won the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only categor ...

as producer of '' In the Heat of the Night'' (1967).

Life and career

Early years

Born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

familyJewish Journal: "At Pepperdine, ruminations on Hollywood’s patrimony straight from its (Jewish) patriarchy" by Danielle Berrin
October 6, 2013 , cached version at in New York, Mirisch is the youngest of three sons born to Josephine Frances (née Urbach) and Max Mirisch.Douglas Martin

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', November 20, 2002 His siblings include film producer Marvin. His father emigrated from

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

in 1891 at the age of 17, arriving in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

where he worked as a tailor. His mother was the daughter of immigrants from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. His father was previously married to Flora Glasshut with whom he had two sons; she died of cancer at the age of 40. Mirisch graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and entered the movie business as a summer vacation usher in Jersey City's State Theater, soon moving up to higher positions at other theaters. A heart murmur kept him out of the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

, but Mirisch was still eager to serve his country during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He moved to

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, wh ...

, to work at a

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

- plane plant, where he wrote technical articles, sharing knowledge with other military manufacturers. After the war ended, Mirisch immediately turned his attention back to his original passion, the movies. In 1942, he received a BA degree from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

and the following year graduated from Harvard's Graduate School of Business Administration.Gaydos He produced his first film, '' Fall Guy'' (1947), for Monogram Pictures.

Career

At the age of 29, Mirisch became production head at Allied Artists Studio, initially only a division of Monogram, with some 30 films to oversee. During his tenure, he found time to personally produce '' Flat Top'' (1952), '' Wichita'' (1955), which received a Golden Globe from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as Best Outdoor Drama of 1955, '' The First Texan'' (1956), and '' An Annapolis Story'' (1955). Among other films, he supervised the productions of '' Invasion of the Body Snatchers'', '' Friendly Persuasion'' (both 1956), and the

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...

-directed '' Love in the Afternoon'' (1957). Mirisch heads that category of creative producers who have learned their craft thoroughly from the very inception of a project through all phases of its production process. Known in the industry as a perfectionist, he supervises every detail of his films from the earliest stages to the final release. The Mirisch Company was founded in 1957. It produced 68 films for United Artists, including three that won the Academy Award for Best Picture – '' The Apartment'' (1960), '' West Side Story'' (1961) and '' In the Heat of the Night'' (1967), which also won four other Oscars. Among the most noteworthy Mirisch projects that Walter personally produced are: ''

Man of the West ''Man of the West'' is a 1958 American Western film noir film starring Gary Cooper and directed by Anthony Mann, produced by Walter Mirisch and distributed by United Artists. The screenplay, written by Reginald Rose, is based on the 1955 novel ...

'' (1958); ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself initially ...

'' (1960); '' Two for the Seesaw'' (1962); '' Toys in the Attic'' (1963); the film version of

James A. Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...

's monumental novel, ''

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

'' (1966), which was nominated for seven Oscars, and its sequel, '' The Hawaiians'' (1970); '' Midway'' (1976), the saga of America's greatest naval victory; the tender and moving '' Same Time, Next Year'' (1978); and ''

Romantic Comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

'' (1983). For NBC television network, Mirisch was executive producer of ''Wichita Town'' with Joel McCrea (1959–1960), ''Peter Loves Mary'' (1960–1961), ''Desperado''; ''Return of Desperado''; ''Desperado: Avalanche At Devil’s Ridge''; ''Desperado: Legacy''; ''Desperado: Sole Survivor''; and in 1993, ''Troubleshooters: Trapped Beneath The Earth''. Mirisch was executive producer of ''Lily in Winter'' for the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Mad ...

in 1994, ''A Class for Life'' for ABC in 1995, as well as ''

'', a weekly series for CBS in 1997. Ron Howard has said of Mirisch, "From '' Bomba, the Jungle Boy'' to ''Some Like It Hot'' and ''In the Heat of the Night'' . . . Walter Mirisch produced many of the films which dazzled and inspired me (and I'm not kidding about ''Bomba''. I loved those movies as a kid). When I later acted in one of his (lesser) productions, '' The Spikes Gang'', I learned that a prolific and brilliant producer could also be a terrific guy and a wonderful teacher."

Honors and awards

Mirisch received the 1967 Academy Award for Best Picture for his production of ''In the Heat of the Night''. Throughout the years, he has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including The Producer of the Year Award: first, from the Producers' Guild of America (1967); later, the National Association of Theatre Owners (1972); and then ShowaRama (1975). In addition, he received the Cecil B. DeMille Award of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for "outstanding contribution to the entertainment field" (1976), the

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award is awarded periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Governors Awards ceremonies to "creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion pictur ...

of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

for his "consistently high quality of motion picture production (1978), and the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, which is given to an individual whose "humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry" (1983). Mirisch has served three terms as president of the Producers Guild of America. He served four terms as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is a former president and Governor of the Performing Arts Council of the Los Angeles Music Center, as well as a trustee of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. Mirisch is also an Emeritus member of the board of directors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of Los Angeles, and the board of directors of the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

Foundation. He was decorated by the Republic of France with its Order of Arts and Letters in 1961. In May 1989, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the

. In June 1989, he was the recipient of the UCLA Medal, the university's highest award. In 2004, he was honored with a retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art entitled "The Magnificent Mirisches". The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York honored him in 2006 with a retrospective of twelve films. On February 2, 2008, Mirisch presented the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year award at the 19th Annual Producers Guild of America Awards. The top honor (the equivalent of the Academy Award for Best Picture) went to Scott Rudin, Joel and Ethan Coen for '' No Country for Old Men''.

Personal life

He was married to Patricia Kahan (1924–2005); they had three children, Anne Mirisch Sonnenberg, Andrew Mirisch and Lawrence Mirisch. His son, Lawrence, is the founder of the Mirisch Agency. Mirisch

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living cente ...

on November 8, 2021.

Selected filmography

Bibliography

References

External links

Walter Mirisch Papers
at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirisch, Walter Film producers from New York (state) 20th-century American Jews Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award Harvard Business School alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Presidents of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Businesspeople from New York City 1921 births Living people Golden Globe Award-winning producers Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners Recipients of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winners Walter DeWitt Clinton High School alumni 21st-century American Jews Men centenarians American centenarians