Born to a Jewish family[4] in New York,[5] Mirisch was the youngest of three sons born to Josephine Frances (née Urbach) and Max Mirisch.[6] His siblings included film producer Marvin.[7][8] His father emigrated from Kraków, Poland in 1891 at the age of 17, arriving in New York City where he worked as a tailor.[5] His mother was the daughter of immigrants from Hungary and Poland.[5] His father was previously married to Flora Glasshut with whom he had two sons; she died of cancer at the age of 40.[5] Walter Mirisch graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School. He was a summer vacation usher in Jersey City's State Theater, his first job associated with the movie business. He soon moved up to higher positions at other theaters.
A heart murmur kept him from joining the Navy, but Mirisch was still eager to serve his country during World War II. He moved to Burbank, California, to work at a bomber-plane plant, where he wrote technical articles, sharing knowledge with other military manufacturers.[9] 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.[10] He produced his first film, Fall Guy (1947), for Monogram Pictures.[10]
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.[citation needed] Known in the industry as a perfectionist, he supervised every detail of his films from the earliest stages to the final release.
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."[5]
Honors and awards
Mirisch received the 1967 Academy Award for Best Picture for his production of In the Heat of the Night.[3]
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).
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.
^independent, Susan King Susan King is a former entertainment writer at the Los Angeles Times who specialized in Classic Hollywood stories She also wrote about; foreign; Movies, Studio; TV, occasionally; Orange, theater stories Born in East; N.J.; History, She Received Her Master’s Degree in Film; Examiner, criticism at USC She worked for 10 years at the L. A. Herald; in 2016, came to work at The Times in January 1990 She left (June 17, 2008). "Walter Mirisch, his memoir and memories". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 11, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
