Director Ridley Scott and actress Glenn Close are among the artists who will finally receive their long overdue Oscars, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.
Joining Scott and Close as a recipient of an honorary Oscar is Floyd Norman, Disney’s first Black animator. The honorary Oscars will be presented at the Governors Awards gala where the Academy’s Board of Governors will also present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
This year’s Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award will be given to longtime indie producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler. The duo’s Killer Films banner has produced such Oscar fare as Boys Don’t Cry, Far From Heaven, I’m Not There, Still Alice, First Reformed, Carol, Past Lives, May December, and A Different Man.
Floyd Norman, now age 90, has previously been honored as a Disney Legend for his work on animated films such as Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, Robin Hood, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mulan. Norman left Disney in the latter 1960s to co-found the AfroKids animation studio with Leo Sullivan before rejoining the company in the early ‘70s.
Glenn Close, 79, has been a screen presence since the 1970s, having earned eight Oscar nominations but never winning. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The World According to Garp, The Big Chill, The Natural, and Hillbilly Elegy. Close was nominated as Best Actress for Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs, and The Wife.
Legendary director Sir Ridley Scott, 88, has made some of the most iconic movies of all time, including Alien and Blade Runner, but he only ever received three Best Director nominations (for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down). As a producer, he shared an Oscar nomination for Best Picture for The Martian. While Scott himself has never won an Oscar, his 2000 epic Gladiator did win Best Picture.
Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 17th Governors Awards on November 15, 2026.
The Governors Awards coverage will then be rolled into the Academy’s March 14, 2027 broadcast of the 99th Oscars, which will be hosted by Conan O’Brien for the third consecutive year.
(Ridley Scott thumbnail photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
