Honorary Oscar
The honorary Oscar (ger .: Honorary Award until 1949 Special Award ) is a the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award special prize. The winners are selected based on three criteria:
- outstanding life's work
- extraordinary contributions to the further development of the film
- outstanding commitment to the Academy
The prize can be awarded to individuals, organizations or companies, and in the early days it was also awarded to individual films. It can be awarded in the form of an Oscar , but also in any other form determined by the Board of Governors of the Academy - this can be an honorary membership, a medal, a certificate or the like. The honorary Oscar has always been an Oscar statuette since 1961. Since 1990 the award has only been given to individuals.
The honorary Oscar can also be awarded to several award winners in one year; but there are also years in which no such award was made. Most successful in the history of the Oscars was Bob Hope , who was awarded four times an honorary Oscar. Today, honorary oscars often function unofficially as a kind of “compensation” for filmmakers who enjoy great prestige or who have been nominated for an Oscar many times but never got it.
Since 2009, the honorary awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are no longer awarded during the Oscar ceremony, but a few months beforehand as Governors Awards in a separate ceremony in the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center.
The following people, films and institutions were each awarded an honorary Oscar:
Info: The year numbers refer to the year of the Oscars. Even if the honorary Oscar has been awarded since 2010 as part of the Governors Awards in October to December of the previous year, they are still counted in the year of the Oscar presentation.
| year | Award winners | Justification of the price |
| 1929 | Warner Brothers | for the first sound film Der Jazzsänger |
| Charles Chaplin | for the performances in his film The Circus | |
| 1932 | Walt Disney | for the invention of Mickey Mouse |
| 1935 | Shirley Temple | in recognition of her outstanding contribution to film entertainment in 1934 |
| 1936 | David Wark Griffith | for his achievements as a producer and director |
| 1937 | The March of Time | |
| W. Howard Greene and Harold Rosson | for her color shots in The Garden of Allah | |
| 1938 | Mack Sennett | for his achievements in the comedy field |
| Edgar Bergen | for his comedy creation Charlie McCarthy | |
| The Museum of Modern Art Film Library | for film preservation and collection | |
| W. Howard Greene | for his color shots in A Star Rises | |
| 1939 | Deanna Durbin and Mickey Rooney | for her achievements as a youth actor |
| Harry Warner | for the production of patriotic short films | |
| Walt Disney | for the first cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | |
| Oliver T. Marsh and Allen M. Davey | for her color shots in Sweethearts | |
| Pirates in Alaska (Spawn of the North) | for special sound effects and film recordings | |
| Arthur Ball | for his services to color film | |
| 1940 | Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. | first president of AMPAS |
| The Motion Picture Relief Fund | to Ralph J. Block , Jean Hersholt , Ralph Morgan and Conrad Nagel | |
| Judy Garland | for her performance as a youth actress in 1939 | |
| William Cameron Menzies | for using colors in Gone With the Wind | |
| Technicolor Company | for their services to color film | |
| 1941 | Bob Hope | for his work in the service of AMPAS |
| Colonel Nathan Levinson | for services to Army training films | |
| 1942 | Rey Scott | for his daring efforts in filming Kukan |
| The British Ministry of Information | for a film about the Royal Air Force | |
| Leopold Stokowski | for the “visualized music” in Fantasia | |
|
Walt Disney , William Garity , JNA Hawkins & RCA Manufacturing Company |
for their outstanding contribution to the use of the tone in Fantasia | |
| 1943 | Charles Boyer | for establishing the French Research Foundation |
| Noël Coward | for his performance as the producer of In Which We Serve | |
| Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | for the Andy Hardy film series | |
| 1944 | George Pal | for his combination of drawing and puppet trick |
| 1945 | Margaret O'Brien | for her achievements as a youth actress in 1944 |
| Bob Hope | for his work in the service of AMPAS | |
| 1946 | Walter Wanger | for his six-year presidency of AMPAS |
| Peggy Ann Garner | for her achievements as a youth actress in 1945 | |
| The House I Live In | Awarded as a tolerance short film | |
| Republic Studio and Daniel J. Bloomberg | for building an outstanding sound recording studio | |
| 1947 | Laurence Olivier | for direction, acting and producer by Heinrich V. |
| Harold Russell | for The Best Years of Our Lives | |
| Ernst Lubitsch | for his life's work | |
| Claude Jarman junior | for his achievements as a youth actor in 1946 | |
| 1948 | James Baskett | for the character of Uncle Remus in Uncle Remus' Wonderland |
| Bill and Coo | for comedy performances | |
| Shoe shiner (Sciuscià) | for a high quality feature film from a war-torn country (Italy) | |
|
William Nicholas Selig , Albert E. Smith , George K. Spoor, and Thomas Armat |
for building a new medium | |
| 1949 | Ivan Jandl | for his youthful portrayal of Karel Malik in The Drawn |
| Sid Grauman | for his life's work | |
| Adolph Zukor | for services to American film | |
| Walter Wanger | for his film Johanna von Orleans | |
| Jean Hersholt | in recognition of his work for AMPAS | |
| 1950 | Bobby Driscoll | for his achievements as a youth actor in 1949 |
| Fred Astaire | for his services in music and dance film | |
| Cecil B. DeMille | for his life's work | |
| Jean Hersholt | in recognition of his work for AMPAS | |
| 1951 | George Murphy | for his film interpretations |
| Louis B. Mayer | for services to the film industry | |
| 1952 | Gene Kelly | for his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer |
| 1953 | George Alfred Mitchell | for his achievements in the camera sector |
| Joseph Schenck | for services to the film industry | |
| Merian C. Cooper | for his cinematic merits | |
| Harold Lloyd | as a master comedian and good citizen | |
| Bob Hope | for his work in the service of AMPAS and as a comedian | |
| 1954 | Pete Smith | Pete Smith Specialties |
| 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation | for using CinemaScope | |
| Joseph Breen | for the development of the Motion Picture Production Code | |
| Bell & Howell | for services for the film industry | |
| 1955 | Bausch & Lomb Optical Company | for services for the film industry |
| Kemp R. Niver | for the development of a copying process for the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress | |
| Greta Garbo | for your unforgettable film presentations | |
| Danny Kaye | for his services to the American film industry | |
| Jon Whiteley | for his outstanding youth performance in the film Besiegter Haß (The Kidnappers) | |
| Vincent Winter | for his outstanding youth performance in the film Besiegter Haß (The Kidnappers) | |
| 1956 | samurai | as the best foreign language film |
| 1957 | Eddie Cantor | for services to the film industry |
| 1958 | Charles Brackett | for his work for AMPAS |
| BB Kahane | for services to the film industry | |
| Gilbert M. Anderson | for his contribution to the entertainment film | |
| The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers | for services to the film industry | |
| 1959 | Maurice Chevalier | for his contribution to the entertainment film |
| 1960 | Lee De Forest | for his inventions that made sound film possible |
| Buster Keaton | for his immortal comedies | |
| 1961 | Gary Cooper | for his unforgettable presentations |
| Stan Laurel | for his creative comedy performances | |
| Hayley Mills | for her outstanding youth portrayal in the film Everyone Loves Pollyanna | |
| 1962 | William L. Hendricks | for the patriotic film A Force in Readiness |
| Fred L. Metzler | for his work in the service of AMPAS | |
| Jerome Robbins | for choreography in film | |
| 1965 | William Tuttle | for the make-up in 7 Faces of Dr. Lao |
| 1966 | Bob Hope | for his work in the service of AMPAS |
| 1967 | Y. Frank Freeman | for his work in the service of AMPAS |
| Yakima Canutt | for his achievements as a stuntman | |
| 1968 | Arthur Freed | for his work in the service of AMPAS |
| 1969 | John Chambers | for his make-up work in Planet of the Apes |
| Onna White | for her choreography work in Oliver! | |
| 1970 | Cary Grant | for its unique film presentations |
| 1971 | Lillian Gish | for services to the film industry |
| Orson Welles | for his work in filmmaking | |
| 1972 | Charles Chaplin | for his life's work |
| 1973 | Charles S. Boren | for services to the film industry |
| Edward G. Robinson | for his life's work (posthumously) | |
| 1974 | Henri Langlois | for his life's work as a film archivist |
| Groucho Marx | for his life's work and the Marx Brothers | |
| 1975 | Howard Hawks | for his life's work as a film director |
| Jean Renoir | for his life's work as a film director | |
| 1976 | Mary Pickford | for her life's work |
| 1978 | Margaret Booth | for her life's work as a film editor |
| 1979 | Walter Lantz | for his life's work as an animation director |
| The Museum of Modern Art Department of Film | for public relations in the field of film | |
| Laurence Olivier | for his life's work | |
| King Vidor | for his life's work | |
| 1980 | Alec Guinness | for his unforgettable film presentations |
| Hal Elias | for his work in the service of AMPAS | |
| 1981 | Henry Fonda | for his life's work |
| 1982 | Barbara Stanwyck | for her life's work |
| 1983 | Mickey Rooney | for his life's work |
| 1984 | Hal Roach | for his life's work |
| 1985 | James Stewart | for his life's work |
| National Endowment for the Arts | for the 20th anniversary | |
| 1986 | Paul Newman | for his unforgettable film presentations |
| Alex North | for his life's work as a film composer | |
| 1987 | Ralph Bellamy | for his life's work |
| 1989 | National Film Board of Canada | for the 50th anniversary |
| Eastman Kodak Company | for work in the field of film | |
| 1990 | Akira Kurosawa | for his life's work |
| 1991 | Sophia Loren | for her life's work |
| Myrna Loy | for her life's work | |
| 1992 | Satyajit Ray | for his life's work |
| 1993 | Federico Fellini | for his life's work |
| 1994 | Deborah Kerr | for her life's work |
| 1995 | Michelangelo Antonioni | for his life's work |
| 1996 | Kirk Douglas | for his life's work |
| Chuck Jones | for his life's work as an animation director | |
| 1997 | Michael Kidd | for his life's work |
| 1998 | Stanley Donen | for his life's work |
| 1999 | Elia Kazan | for his life's work |
| 2000 | Andrzej Wajda | for his life's work |
| 2001 | Jack Cardiff | for his life's work as a cameraman and director |
| Ernest Lehman | for his life's work as a screenwriter | |
| 2002 | Sidney Poitier | for his life's work |
| Robert Redford | for his life's work | |
| 2003 | Peter O'Toole | for his life's work |
| 2004 | Blake Edwards | for his life's work |
| 2005 | Sidney Lumet | for his life's work |
| 2006 | Robert Altman | for his life's work |
| 2007 | Ennio Morricone | for his life's work |
| 2008 | Robert F. Boyle | for his life's work |
| In 2009 no award was given, from the following year it was given at the Governors Awards at the end of the previous year | ||
| 2010 | Lauren Bacall | for her life's work |
| Roger Corman | for his life's work | |
| Gordon Willis | for his life's work | |
| 2011 | Eli Wallach | for his life's work |
| Kevin Brownlow | for his life's work | |
| Jean-Luc Godard | for his life's work | |
| 2012 | James Earl Jones | for his life's work |
| Dick Smith | for his life's work | |
| 2013 | Hal Needham | for his life's work |
| DA Pennebaker | for his life's work | |
| George Stevens Junior | for his life's work | |
| 2014 | Angela Lansbury | for her life's work |
| Steve Martin | for his life's work | |
| Piero Tosi | for his life's work | |
| 2015 | Maureen O'Hara | for her life's work as an actress |
| Jean-Claude Carrière | for his life's work as a screenwriter | |
| Hayao Miyazaki | for his life's work as a director | |
| 2016 | Spike Lee | for his life's work as a filmmaker |
| Gena Rowlands | for her life's work as an actress | |
| 2017 | Jackie Chan | for his life's work as a filmmaker and actor |
| Anne V. Coates | for her life's work as a film editor | |
| Lynn Stalmaster | for his life's work as casting director | |
| Frederick Wiseman | for his life's work as a film director | |
| 2018 | Charles Burnett | for his life's work as a filmmaker |
| Owen Roizman | for his life's work as a cameraman | |
| Donald Sutherland | for his life's work as an actor | |
| Agnes Varda | for her life's work as a filmmaker | |
| 2019 | Marvin Levy | for his life's work as a marketer |
| Lalo Schifrin | for his life's work as a film composer | |
| Cicely Tyson | for her life's work as an actress | |
| 2020 | Wes Studi | for his life's work as an actor |
| David Lynch | for his life's work as a director | |
| Lina Wertmüller | for her life's work as a director | |
The honorary Oscar for humanitarian services is the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award .