Posthumous Oscar Winners
by cts-6 | created - 28 Apr 2015 | updated - 28 Apr 2015 | Public
1. Howard Ashman
Soundtrack | Beauty and the Beast
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Howard Ashman moved to New York City in 1974 and began writing plays while working as an editor in a publishing house. His work attracted attention and he became WPA Theatre's artist director in 1977. In 1982, Ashman collaborated with composer Alan Menken on the ...
Best Original Song, for the song "Beauty and the Beast" from "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)
(Note: One of three persons on this list to receive two or more nominations in his final year. He was also nominated for the songs "Belle" and "Be Our Guest".)
2. Walt Disney
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Flora Disney (née Call) and Elias Disney, a Canadian-born farmer and businessperson. He had Irish, German, and English ancestry. Walt moved with his parents to Kansas City at age seven, where he spent the majority of ...
Best Animated Short Film, for "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968)
3. Peter Finch
Actor | Network
Despite being one of the finest actors of his generation, Peter Finch will be remembered as much for his reputation as a hard-drinking, hell-raising womanizer as for his performances on the screen. He was born in London in 1916 and went to live in Sydney, Australia, at the age of ten. There, he ...
Best Actor, for "Network" (1976)
4. Gil Friesen
Producer | Better Off Dead...
Gil Friesen was born on March 19, 1937 in Pasadena, California, USA. He was a producer, known for Better Off Dead (1985), The Breakfast Club (1985) and Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013). He was married to Janet. He died on December 13, 2012 in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Best Documentary Feature, for "20 Feet From Stardom" (2013)
5. Thomas C. Goodwin
Producer | Educating Peter
Thomas C. Goodwin was born in 1941 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Thomas C. was an assistant director and producer, known for Educating Peter (1992), Glen and Randa (1971) and Gold (1972). Thomas C. died on December 11, 1992 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Best Documentary Short Subject, for "Educating Peter" (1992)
6. Conrad L. Hall
Cinematographer | Road to Perdition
Born in Tahiti, the son of writer James Norman Hall, author of "Mutiny on the Bounty," Conrad Hall studied filmmaking at USC. He and two classmates formed a production company and sold a project to a local television station. Hall's company branched out into making industrial films and TV ...
Best Cinematography, for "Road to Perdition" (2002)
7. William A. Horning
Art_director | North by Northwest
William A. Horning was born on November 9, 1904 in Missouri, USA. He was an art director and production designer, known for North by Northwest (1959), Ben-Hur (1959) and The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was married to Esther Montgomery. He died on March 2, 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Best Art Direction, for "Gigi" (1958)
Best Art Direction, for "Ben-Hur" (1959)
(Note: The only double winner on the list. He had completed his designs for "Ben-Hur" prior to his death. He also received a second nomination for Best Art Direction in his final year for "North By Northwest" (1959).)
8. Sidney Howard
Writer | Gone with the Wind
Sidney Howard was born on June 26, 1891 in Oakland, California, USA. He was a writer, known for Gone with the Wind (1939), Dodsworth (1936) and Arrowsmith (1931). He was married to Leopoldine Blaine Damrosch and Clare Eames. He died on August 23, 1939 in Tyringham, Massachusetts, USA.
Best Writing, Screenplay, for "Gone With the Wind" (1939)
(Note: The first posthumous Oscar winner.)
9. Heath Ledger
Actor | Brokeback Mountain
When hunky, twenty-year-old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of little depth. He spent several years trying desperately to sway this image, but this was a double-edged sword. His work comprised ...
Best Supporting Actor, for "The Dark Night" (2008)
10. Eric Orbom
Art_director | Spartacus
Eric Orbom was born on July 6, 1915 in Katarina Parish, Stockholm, Sweden. He was an art director, known for Spartacus (1960), All That Heaven Allows (1955) and Tanganyika (1954). He died on May 23, 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Best Art Direction, for "Spartacus" (1960)
11. Ray Rasch
Music_department | Limelight
Ray Rasch was born on March 1, 1917 in Ohio, USA. Ray was a composer and writer, known for Limelight (1952), Wild is Love (1961) and We Think the World Is Round (1984). Ray died on December 23, 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, for "Limelight" (1952)
(Note: Due to Charlie Chaplin being blacklisted and denied re-entry into the US, "Limelight" was not released in Los Angeles until 1972. Since a Los Angeles release is required for an Oscar nomination, "Limelight" was eligible for the 1972 Oscars and not the 1952 Oscars. If the film had been eligible in 1952, Rasch would not be on this list since he died in 1964.)
12. Larry Russell
Soundtrack | The Finest Hours
Larry Russell was born on October 14, 1913 in Indiana, USA. He was a composer, known for The Finest Hours (2016), Naked Lunch (1991) and Supernatural (2005). He was married to Inez James. He died on February 14, 1954 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, for "Limelight" (1952)
(Note: Due to Charlie Chaplin being blacklisted and denied re-entry into the US, "Limelight" was not released in Los Angeles until 1972. Since a Los Angeles release is required for an Oscar nomination, "Limelight" was eligible for the 1972 Oscars and not the 1952 Oscars. If the film had been eligible in 1952, Russell would not be on this list since he died in 1954.)
13. Geoffrey Unsworth
Cinematographer | Cabaret
Goeffrey Unsworth was one of the great cinematographers of the 20th Century, the winner of two Oscars, five BAFTA awards, and three awards from the British Society of Cinematographers for his work as a director of photography. Born in 1914 in Lancashire, England, Unsworth started in the industry in...
Best Cinematography, for "Tess" (1980)
14. Victor Young
Composer | Around the World in Eighty Days
Violinist and conductor Victor Young was a prolific composer and arranger, who worked on more than 300 film scores over a period of twenty years. He came from an impoverished, but musical background and was trained on the violin at the Warsaw Imperial Conservatory, later studying piano in Paris ...
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, for "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956)
(Note: Also nominated in his final year for Best Music, Original Song, for the song "Written on the Wind" from "Written on the Wind" (1956).)
15. Sam Zimbalist
Producer | Ben-Hur
Sam Zimbalist was born on March 31, 1904 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and editor, known for Ben-Hur (1959), King Solomon's Mines (1950) and Quo Vadis (1951). He was married to Mary Taylor and Margaret C. Donovan. He died on November 4, 1958 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.
Best Picture, for "Ben-Hur" (1959)
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