Walter Mortimer Mirisch was an American film producer.
21 Facts About Walter Mirisch
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Walter Mirisch was the president and executive head of production of The Mirisch Corporation, an independent film production company which he formed in 1957 with his brother, Marvin, and half-brother, Harold.
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Walter Mirisch won the Academy Award for Best Picture as producer of In the Heat of the Night.
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Walter Mirisch's father emigrated from Krakow, Poland in 1891 at the age of 17, arriving in New York City where he worked as a tailor.
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Walter Mirisch's mother was the daughter of immigrants from Hungary and Poland.
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Walter Mirisch's father was previously married to Flora Glasshut with whom he had two sons; she died of cancer at the age of 40.
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Walter Mirisch was a summer vacation usher in Jersey City's State Theater, his first job associated with the movie business.
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Walter Mirisch soon moved up to higher positions at other theaters.
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Walter Mirisch moved to Burbank, California, to work at a bomber-plane plant, where he wrote technical articles, sharing knowledge with other military manufacturers.
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Walter Mirisch produced his first film, Fall Guy, for Monogram Pictures.
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At the age of 29, Walter Mirisch became production head at Allied Artists Studio, initially only a division of Monogram, with some 30 films to oversee.
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Walter Mirisch headed that category of creative producers who learned their craft thoroughly from the very inception of a project through all phases of its production process.
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Walter 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.
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Walter Mirisch received the 1967 Academy Award for Best Picture for his production of In the Heat of the Night.
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Walter Mirisch served three terms as president of the Producers Guild of America.
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Walter Mirisch served four terms as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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Walter Mirisch 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.
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Walter Mirisch was 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.
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Walter Mirisch was decorated by the Republic of France with its Order of Arts and Letters in 1961.
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On February 2,2008, Mirisch presented the Darryl F Zanuck Producer of the Year award at the 19th Annual Producers Guild of America Awards.
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Walter Mirisch turned 100 on November 8,2021, and died of natural causes in Los Angeles on February 24,2023, at the age of 101.