Early years Born to a Jewish family in New York, Mirisch was the youngest of three sons born to Josephine Frances (née Urbach) and Max Mirisch. His siblings included film producer Marvin. His father emigrated from Kraków, Poland in 1891 at the age of 17, arriving in New York City where he worked as a tailor. 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 and the next year he graduated from Harvard's Graduate School of Business Administration. He produced his first film,
Fall Guy (1947), for
Monogram Pictures. It produced 68 films for United Artists, including three that won the Academy Award for Best Picture, namely
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 (1958);
The Magnificent Seven (1960);
Two for the Seesaw (1962);
Toys in the Attic (1963); the film version of
James A. Michener's monumental novel,
Hawaii (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 (1983). For the
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 in 1994,
A Class for Life for
ABC in 1995, as well as
The Magnificent Seven, a weekly series for
CBS in 1997.
Ron Howard 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 was 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 of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 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 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 was 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 was 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 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
University of Wisconsin–Madison. 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 and death ==