In late February, Hollywood — and the UW–Madison alumni community — lost one of its creative titans and legends. Walter Mirisch, who turned the degree in history he earned at UW in 1942 into a hugely successful six-decade career as a Hollywood producer, passed away at the age of 101. His impact on the film industry was significant — so significant, in fact, that at this month’s Oscars ceremony, the show’s producers placed him in the prime final position of the broadcast’s annual memorial montage.
“He was one of the good ones,” wrote novelist Elmore Leonard, who modeled the producer in his famous 1990 book “Get Shorty” after Mirisch. Mirisch, who served as the President of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences for four consecutive terms in the 1970s, dominated the Hollywood scene in the 1960s. The Mirisch Company, the production company he ran with his brother and half-brother, produced films that racked up a whopping 87 Academy Award nominations and 28 Oscars, including back-to-back best-picture wins for The Apartment (1960) and West Side Story (1961), as well as for In the Heat of the Night, the 1967 thriller that brought Mirisch his personal Best Picture win.
Although he graduated as a history major, his profession more closely allied him with the Department of Communication Arts, a relationship that only grew closer as the years passed. He donated to create a seminar and meeting room in the Vilas Hall Instructional Media Center that’s known as “The Mirisch Room.” In the Wisconsin Film Festival’s second year in 2000, he returned to Madison to be part of a career-spanning tribute to some of his most famous films.
Modern movie audiences may be less familiar with Mirisch’s stellar achievements. To get a better sense of this beloved perfectionist, we recommend perusing “I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History,” his 2008 autobiography that recounts his golden-age Hollywood experience. Better still, track down and watch (or re-watch) the following list of film highlights from Mirisch’s long and successful film-producer career.
Some Like It Hot (1959). Known as much for Marilyn Monroe’s star turn (and behind-the-scenes troubles) as Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis’s risqué-for-the-time cross-dressing, this musical-adjacent comedy is still regarded as one of the best films in history, more than six decades after its release. It racked up six Oscar nominations (although not for best picture) and won one for — what else? — costume design.
The Magnificent Seven (1960). This western remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai transplanted the action from Japan to a Mexican village under siege by bandits. It starred pre-superstar actors Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen — who reportedly engaged in some petty skirmishes during filming — and was executive-produced by Mirisch’s company. The movie spawned a trio of sequels, but none were as good as the first. Or as good as the movie’s score, which scored an Oscar nomination and is considered one of the best scores in Hollywood history.
The Apartment (1960). The Mirisch Company’s first Best Picture Oscar was earned by this film, which came on the heels of Some Like it Hot and featured one of that film’s headliners (Jack Lemmon). The tale of a corporate ladder-climber who allows the higher-ups at his insurance company to use his apartment for extramarital flings netted ten Oscar nominations and a total of five wins, including a Best Director nod for Billy Wilder. At the time, releasing a film that revolved around rampant adultery was considered risky. How times have changed.
West Side Story (1961). Mirisch executive produced this all-time classic, one of Hollywood’s most popular musicals ever. The Romeo and Juliet by way of a toe-tapping New York gang scene captivated audiences, who were completely unaware of the mountain of issues Mirisch had to manage to get it onto screens: scheduling delays, shoots that soared wildly over budget, the dismissal of one of the film’s two (yes, two) directors and a slew of injuries to the dancers in the cast. The fact that it won ten Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director(s) is a tribute to Mirisch’s ability to handle problems and difficult personalities.
The Pink Panther (1963). Mirisch’s executive production work went uncredited on the first in this legendary comedy series, a set of films that helped popularize the great Peter Sellers, who played the buffoonish French detective Inspector Clouseau in all but one of them. The film didn’t garner any award nominations but was a critical and commercial hit.
Hawaii (1966). Author James Michener was known for writing ponderously long historical novels. Mirisch produced this adaptation of Michener’s tale of a missionary’s struggle to convert native Hawaiians to Christianity into the highest-grossing film of 1966. The film, starring Julie Andrews as the long-suffering missionary’s wife, was nominated for seven Oscars but was shut out in each category.
In the Heat of the Night (1967). The film that gave Mirisch a chance to stride the stage himself at the Oscars to receive a Best Picture trophy still holds up today. Sidney “They call me Mister Tibbs!” Poitier’s performance as a Black detective investigating a murder in a Southern Mississippi town riveted audiences and Oscar voters, to the tune of seven Oscar nominations, including the Best Actor statue for Poitier’s white co-star, Rod Steiger. The American Film Institute considers In the Heat of the Night one of the top 100 films ever made.