Honorary Oscar Recipients a to z

Filmmaker Robert Altman is best known for his highly individualistic films and use of simultaneous layers of dialogue.

Fred Astaire was an American dancer of stage and film who is best known for a number of successful musical comedy films in which he starred with Ginger Rogers.

Lauren Bacall is an Academy Award-nominated actress known for roles in films like The Big Sleep, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Fan and The Mirror Has Two Faces.

Warren Beatty is an Oscar-winning director and actor known for such films as Bonnie and Clyde, Reds and Heaven Can Wait.

Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen took his comedy act from vaudeville to radio with his dummy Charlie McCarthy. He was also the father of actress Candice Bergen.

Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director and producer best known for films such as The Seventh Sea (1956), Cries and Whispers (1971) and Autumn Sonata (1978).

Charles Boyer was an Oscar-nominated French actor of stage, film and television with a career that spanned almost six decades.

Charlie Chaplin was a comedic British actor who became one of the biggest stars of the 20th century's silent-film era.

Director, producer and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola is best known for creating The Godfather film series starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.

Roger Corman is a film director and producer who helmed B-Movie classics and helped launch the careers of James Cameron, John Sayles, Ron Howard and others.

British actor, songwriter and playwright Noël Coward was one of the top figures of 20th century theater, using wit to deal with major social issues.

Cecil B. DeMille was an actor, director and producer who became a giant of the 20th century film industry, known for epics like The Ten Commandments.

Walt Disney was an American motion-picture and television producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of cartoon films and as the creator of Disneyland.

Actor Kirk Douglas brought his formidable chin and talent to movies like Spartacus and The Bad and the Beautiful. You may also know him as the father of Michael Douglas.

Clint Eastwood has made his name as a popular TV and film actor. He went on to become a famed director, working on several Academy Award-winning films.

Blake Edwards was an American film director, producer and screenwriter who was perhaps best known for The Pink Panther and its sequels.

Henry Fonda was an award-winning American actor best known for him film roles in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and On Golden Pond (1981).

Lyricist and movie producer Arthur Freed brought us Singin' in the Rain (1952), An American in Paris (1952) and Gigi (1958).

Greta Garbo is best known for her acting career, in both silent and talking films before World War II.

Actress and singer Judy Garland was the star of many classic musical films, and was known for her tremendous talent and troubled life.

Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director and critic who was a leader of the French New Wave in film during the 1950s-60s.

Samuel Goldwyn was a Hollywood film producer who laid the groundwork for the Paramount and MGM movie studios.

Actor Cary Grant performed in films from the 1930s through the 1960s. He starred in several Hitchcock films, including the 1959 hit North by Northwest.

D.W. Griffith was one of cinema's earliest directors and producers, known for his innovations and for directing the 1915 film Birth of a Nation.

Alec Guinness is an Oscar-winning British actor known for his roles in films like Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago and Star Wars.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Howard Hawks directed Only Angels Have Wings, Sergeant York, Scarface, Bringing Up Baby and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Katharine Hepburn was an actress known as a spirited performer with a touch of eccentricity in films such as The African Queen and On Golden Pond.

Charlton Heston was an American film actor best known for his roles in Antony and Cleopatra, The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur and Planet of the Apes (1968).

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was nicknamed the "Master of Suspense" for employing a kind of psychological suspense in his films, producing a distinct viewer experience.

Bob Hope was a entertainer and comic actor, known for his rapid-fire delivery of jokes and for his success in virtually all entertainment media.

James Earl Jones is an American Actor, known as the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies. His film career has been vast.

Quincy Jones is best known as a composer and record producer for legendary musicians such as Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Celene Dion and Aretha Franklin.

Actor and comedian Danny Kaye was enormously popular across stage, radio, TV and movie venues for his singing, dancing, impersonations and improvisations.

Comedian and director Buster Keaton was popular for his pioneering silent comedies in the 1920s.

Gene Kelly was a dancer whose athletic style transformed the movie musical and did much to change the American public's conception of male dancers.

Deborah Kerr was a Scottish actress known for the poise and serenity she exhibited in portraying complex, prim characters.

Laurence Olivier was one of the most acclaimed actors of the 20th century, known for his numerous Shakespeare roles on stage and screen as well as memorable turns in more modern classics.

Jerry Lewis rose to fame as Dean Martin's comedic partner. The two performed on stage before their film career began in 1949.

Comedian Harold Lloyd was a star of silent film era, appearing in notable movies Just Nuts, Girl Shy and The Freshman.

Sophia Loren is an Academy Award-winning Italian actress. A striking beauty, Loren is often listed among the world's all time most attractive women.

George Lucas directed the Star Wars films and Indiana Jones movies, both of which took on a cult-like following.

Director Sidney Lumet was best known for his films Twelve Angry Men and Serpico. He made more than 40 films during his career.

Comedian and film actor Groucho Marx was one of the Marx Brothers. He spent nearly seven decades making people laugh with his snappy one-liners and sharp wit.

Louis B. Mayer was a film mogul and the most influential person in Hollywood from the mid-1920s to the late-1940s.

As a child star, film and television actress Hayley Mills won an Oscar for her title role in the Disney movie Pollyanna, and went on to star in The Parent Trap.

Paul Newman came to be known as one of the finest actors of his time. He also started the Newman's Own food company, which donates all profits to charity.

Gregory Peck is best known for his larger-than-life film roles, particularly as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Mary Pickford was a legendary silent film actress and was known as "America’s sweetheart." She was a founder of United Artists and helped establish the Academy.

Sidney Poitier became the first black Academy Award winner in 1964, receiving the honor for his performance in Lilies of the Field (1963).

Robert Redford is a Hollywood legend, starring in several blockbuster films in his day, and producing and directing many others. He also helped start the Sundance Film Festival in the late 1970s.

French director Jean Renoir, son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, directed C'est la Revolution and wrote a biography of his father in the 1960s.

Mickey Rooney was a child star best known for his role as Andy Hardy in a long-running film series. He a starred in a number of musicals with Judy Garland.

Theater and film actress Rosalind Russell costarred in His Girl Friday with Cary Grant, and played Auntie Mame in both the Broadway play and the movie version.

David O. Selznick was a Hollywood film producer who made a huge string of hits in the 1930s through the 1950s, including Gone with the Wind.

Frank Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century, forging a career as an award-winning singer and film actor.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker, director and producer Steven Spielberg's films include Jaws, The Color Purple and Schindler's List.

Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress who had a 60-year career in film and TV. Usually playing strong-willed women, Stanwyck defined the femme fatale.

Jimmy Stewart was a major motion-picture star known for his portrayals of diffident but morally resolute characters in films such as It’s a Wonderful Life.

Shirley Temple was the leading child actor of her time, receiving a special Oscar and starring in films like Bright Eyes and Heidi.

Orson Welles wrote, directed and starred in the film Citizen Kane, among others, which remains one of the most influential films ever made.

Billionaire Oprah Winfrey has hosted her own internationally popular talk show since 1986. She is also an actress, philanthropist, publisher, and producer.