Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is awarded periodically by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) at the Governors Awards ceremonies for an individual's "outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes". Prior to 2009 and in 2021, this award was presented during the main Oscars ceremony. The award category was instituted in 1956 and first awarded at the 29th Academy Awards, in March 1957. Unlike the Academy Award of Merit, the awards are restricted with the nomination and voting limited to industry professionals that are members of the Board of Governors of AMPAS.^[1]

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Awarded for	"outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes"
Country	United States
Presented by	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
First award	1957
Website	oscars.org/governors/hersholt

History

The award is named after Danish American screen actor and humanitarian Jean Hersholt (1886–1956), who served as president of the Motion Picture Relief Fund for 18 years. He also served as president of AMPAS from 1945 to 1949.^[2] Winners of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award are presented with an Academy Award Oscar statuette. As of the 92nd Academy Awards, there have been 39 awards presented, two of which were posthumous.^[2]

List of recipients

Key

†	Indicates posthumous award

Year	Image	Recipient	Nationality	Ref.
1956		Y. Frank Freeman	USA
1957		Samuel Goldwyn	Poland  USA
1959		Bob Hope	UK  USA
1960		Sol Lesser	USA
1961		George Seaton
1962		Steve Broidy
1965	–	Edmond L. DePatie
1966	–	George Bagnall
1967		Gregory Peck
1968		Martha Raye
1969		George Jessel
1970		Frank Sinatra
1972		Rosalind Russell
1973		Lew Wasserman
1974		Arthur B. Krim
1975	–	Jules C. Stein
1977		Charlton Heston
1978		Leo Jaffe
1979	–	Robert Benjamin †
1981		Danny Kaye
1982	–	Walter Mirisch
1983		Mitchell John Frankovich
1984		David L. Wolper
1985		Charles "Buddy" Rogers
1989		Howard W. Koch
1992		Audrey Hepburn[a] †	UK
		Elizabeth Taylor	USA
1993		Paul Newman
1994		Quincy Jones
2001		Arthur Hiller	Canada
2004	–	Roger Mayer	USA
2006		Sherry Lansing
2008		Jerry Lewis
2011		Oprah Winfrey		[1]
2012		Jeffrey Katzenberg
2013		Angelina Jolie		[3]
2014		Harry Belafonte		[4]
2015		Debbie Reynolds		[5]
2019		Geena Davis		[6]
2021		Tyler Perry		[7]
	–	Motion Picture & Television Fund
2022		Danny Glover		[8]
2023		Michael J. Fox	Canada  USA	[9]
2024		Michelle Satter	USA	[10]
2025		Richard Curtis	UK	[11]

See also

• List of posthumous Academy Award winners and nominees

Notes

1. Hepburn was alive when the Academy voted to bestow the award, but had died by the time of the awards ceremony.