Walter Mortimer Mirisch (born November 8, 1921) is an American film producer. He is president and executive head of production of The Mirisch Corporation, an independent film production company, which he formed in 1957 with his brothers, Marvin and Harold. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture as producer of In the Heat of the Night (1967).
Herman Jacob Mankiewicz (November 7, 1897 – March 5, 1953) was an American screenwriter, who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941). Earlier, he was the Berlin correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the drama critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott said that Herman Mankiewicz was the "funniest man in New York". Both Mankiewicz and Welles received Academy Awards for their screenplay.
Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, Oldman is regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation.
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American entrepreneur, animator, writer, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
William Samuel Cook "Peter" Ellenshaw (May 24, 1913 – February 12, 2007) was an English matte designer and special effects creator who worked on many Disney features. Born in London, he moved to America in 1953.
Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 - January 26, 2021) was an American actress and comedian, whose career spanned over seven decades. She has won various accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nominated and, along with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, most awarded actress in Emmy history. In addition, she won an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Daytime Emmy Award.
Friedrich Robert Donat (18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English film and stage actor. He is best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), winning for the latter the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English stage and film actor. Laughton was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death.
The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in the film industry. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the awards are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the "Academy Award of Merit", although more commonly referred to by its nickname, the "Oscar". The statuette depicts a knight rendered in the Art Deco style.