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List of posthumous Academy Award winners and nominees
Individuals who were nominated or won an Academy Award posthumously
Individuals who were nominated or won an Academy Award posthumously
Throughout the history of the Academy Awards, several individuals have died prior to the ceremony and were posthumously nominated or have won the award following their deaths. As of 2025, 64 individuals have received posthumous nominations with 79 nominations total, in competitive categories (with 3 people being nominated posthumously 3 times and 9 people twice), 29 individuals have won posthumously (William A. Horning winning twice, in 1959 and 1960), including 14 individuals in honorary categories. This list includes posthumous winners and nominees of the Academy's competitive awards, as well as posthumous recipients of its honorary awards.
Competitive awards
| Name | Date of death | Ceremony | Film year | Academy Award | Film | Winner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marit Allen | 80th | 2007 | Best Costume Design | La Vie en Rose | |||
| Howard Ashman | 64th | 1991 | Best Music (Song) | Beauty and the Beast | |||
| 65th | 1992 | Aladdin | |||||
| Joseph H. August | 21st | 1948 | Best Cinematography | Portrait of Jennie | |||
| Robert Alan Aurthur | 52nd | 1979 | Best Picture | All That Jazz | |||
| Best Original Screenplay | |||||||
| Chadwick Boseman | 93rd | 2020 | Best Actor | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | |||
| Mario Cecchi Gori | 68th | 1995 | Best Picture | Il Postino | |||
| Frank Churchill | 15th | 1942 | Best Music (Scoring) | Bambi | |||
| Best Music (Song) | |||||||
| Allen Davey | 18th | 1945 | Best Cinematography | A Song to Remember | |||
| James Dean | 28th | 1955 | Best Actor | East of Eden | |||
| 29th | 1956 | Giant | |||||
| Walt Disney | 41st | 1968 | Best Short Film (Animated) | Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day | |||
| Gail Dolgin | 84th | 2011 | Best Documentary (Short Subject) | The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement | |||
| Gerald Duffy | 1st]] | 1927 / 1928 | Best Title Writing | The Private Life of Helen of Troy | |||
| Jeanne Eagels | 2nd]] | 1928 / 1929 | Best Actress | The Letter | |||
| William Ferrari | 36th | 1963 | Best Art Direction | How the West Was Won | |||
| Peter Finch | 49th | 1976 | Best Actor | Network | |||
| Gil Friesen | 86th | 2013 | Best Documentary Feature | 20 Feet from Stardom | |||
| George Gershwin | 10th | 1937 | Best Music (Song) | Shall We Dance | |||
| Stuart Gilmore | 44th | 1971 | Best Film Editing | The Andromeda Strain | |||
| Thomas C. Goodwin | 65th | 1992 | Best Documentary (Short Subject) | Educating Peter | |||
| Conrad Hall | 75th | 2002 | Best Cinematography | Road to Perdition | |||
| David Hall | 38th | 1965 | Best Art Direction | The Greatest Story Ever Told | |||
| Dale Hennesy | 55th | 1982 | Best Art Direction | Annie | |||
| Bernard Herrmann | 49th | 1976 | Best Music (Scoring) | Obsession | |||
| Taxi Driver | |||||||
| Gordon Hollingshead | 25th | 1952 | Academy Award for Best Short Subject (One-Reel) | Desert Killer | |||
| Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) | Thar She Blows! | ||||||
| William A. Horning | 31st | 1958 | Best Art Direction | Gigi | |||
| 32nd | 1959 | Ben-Hur | |||||
| North by Northwest | |||||||
| Sidney Howard | 12th | 1939 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Gone with the Wind | |||
| John Hubley | 50th | 1977 | Best Short Film (Animated) | A Doonesbury Special | |||
| Eiko Ishioka | 85th | 2012 | Best Costume Design | Mirror Mirror | |||
| Bert Kalmar | 24th | 1951 | Best Music (Song) | The Strip | |||
| Jerome Kern | 18th | 1945 | Best Music (Scoring) | Can't Help Singing | |||
| Best Music (Song) | |||||||
| 19th | 1946 | Centennial Summer | |||||
| William Kiernan | 46th | 1973 | Best Art Direction | The Way We Were | |||
| Frederic Knudtson | 36th | 1963 | Best Film Editing | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | |||
| Albert Lamorisse | 51st | 1978 | Best Documentary (Feature) | The Lovers' Wind | |||
| Heath Ledger | 81st | 2008 | Best Supporting Actor | The Dark Knight | |||
| Boris Leven | 59th | 1986 | Best Art Direction | The Color of Money | |||
| Walt Martin | 87th | 2014 | Best Sound Mixing | American Sniper | John Reitz]] and Gregg Rudloff | ||
| William C. Mellor | 38th | 1965 | Best Cinematography | The Greatest Story Ever Told | |||
| Anthony Minghella | 81st | 2008 | Best Picture | The Reader | |||
| James V. Monaco | 19th | 1946 | Best Music (Song) | The Dolly Sisters | |||
| Alfred Newman | 43rd | 1970 | Best Music (Scoring) | Airport | |||
| Joseph O'Brien | 18th | 1945 | Best Short Film (Live Action) | Your National Gallery | |||
| Bridget O'Connor | 84th | 2011 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | |||
| Eric Orbom | 33rd | 1960 | Best Art Direction | Spartacus | |||
| Arnold Perl | 45th | 1972 | Best Documentary (Feature) | Malcolm X | |||
| Sydney Pollack | 81st | 2008 | Best Picture | The Reader | |||
| Raymond Rasch | 45th | 1972 | Best Music (Scoring) | Limelight | 1952]] film, won its award in 1972 because the blacklisting of Charlie Chaplin prevented it from being shown in Los Angeles until then. (The Academy subsequently changed its rules to prevent films more than two years old from receiving awards.) | ||
| Gretchen Rau | 79th | 2006 | Best Art Direction | The Good Shepherd | |||
| Ralph Richardson | 57th | 1984 | Best Supporting Actor | Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes | |||
| Richard H. Riedel | 32nd | 1959 | Best Art Direction | Pillow Talk | |||
| Robbie Robertson | 96th | 2023 | Best Original Score | Killers of the Flower Moon | |||
| Larry Russell | 45th | 1972 | Best Music (Scoring) | Limelight | |||
| Tess Slesinger | 18th | 1945 | Best Adapted Screenplay | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | |||
| Carol Sobieski | 64th | 1991 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Fried Green Tomatoes | |||
| Adam Somner | 98th | 2025 | Best Picture | One Battle After Another | |||
| Gile Steele | 24th | 1951 | Best Costume Design | Kind Lady | |||
| The Great Caruso | |||||||
| 25th | 1952 | The Merry Widow | |||||
| Harry Stradling | 42nd | 1969 | Best Cinematography | Hello, Dolly! | |||
| Harry W. Tetrick | 49th | 1976 | Best Sound | King Kong | |||
| Rocky | |||||||
| Spencer Tracy | 40th | 1967 | Best Actor | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | |||
| Massimo Troisi | 68th | 1995 | Best Actor | Il Postino | |||
| Best Adapted Screenplay | |||||||
| Lamar Trotti | 27th | 1954 | Best Writing | There's No Business Like Show Business | |||
| Geoffrey Unsworth | 53rd | 1980 | Best Cinematography | Tess | |||
| August Wilson | 89th | 2016 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Fences | |||
| Robert L. Wolfe | 54th | 1981 | Best Film Editing | On Golden Pond | |||
| Victor Young | 29th | 1956 | Best Music (Scoring) | Around the World in 80 Days | |||
| Best Music (Song) | Written on the Wind | ||||||
| Sam Zimbalist | 32nd | 1959 | Best Picture | Ben-Hur |
Honorary awards
| Name | Date of death | Ceremony | Film year | Academy Award | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Benjamin | 52nd | 1979 | Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | |||
| Les Bowie | 51st | 1978 | Special Achievement Award (Visual Effects) for Superman | |||
| Theo Brown | 82nd | 2009 | Scientific and Technical Award (Scientific and Engineering Award) | |||
| Douglas Fairbanks | 12th | 1939 | Academy Honorary Award | |||
| Chuck Gaspar | 86th | 2013 | Scientific or Technical Award (Technical Achievement Award) | url=https://archive.today/20140426072617/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearch?action=searchLink&displayType=6&BSNomineeID=64940 | date=2014-04-26 }} | |
| Audrey Hepburn | 65th | 1992 | Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | |||
| Werner Hopf | 32nd | 1959 | Scientific and Technical Award (Class II) | |||
| Quincy Jones | 97th | 2024 | Academy Honorary Award | |||
| George Kraemer | 65th | 1992 | Scientific and Technical Award (Scientific and Engineering Award) | |||
| John D. Lowry | 84th | 2011 | Scientific and Technical Award (Scientific and Engineering Award) | |||
| Charles Miller | N/A | 13th | 1940 | Scientific or Technical Award (Class I) | ||
| Jürgen Noffke | 84th | 2011 | Scientific and Technical Award (Scientific and Engineering Award) | |||
| Edward G. Robinson | 45th | 1972 | Academy Honorary Award | |||
| Louis Stankiewicz | N/A | 54th | 1981 | Scientific or Technical Award (Technical Achievement Award) | ||
| Geoffrey H. Williamson | 65th | 1992 | Scientific and Technical Award (Scientific and Engineering Award) |
Excluded: retrospective awards
The list does not include people who were retrospectively honoured with an Academy Award and were dead at the time the Academy made the decision to make the retrospective award. For example: in 1993, seventeen years after his death, Dalton Trumbo was retrospectively awarded the 1953 Oscar for Academy Award for Best Story for Roman Holiday. It had been previously awarded to Ian McLellan Hunter. However, Hunter was merely a front for Trumbo, because Trumbo was on the Hollywood blacklist at the time and it was impossible for his name to appear in either the film's credits or the Academy Award nomination (though it was not generally known that he was the real screenwriter). Trumbo did not die until 1976, and under normal circumstances he would have received this award in person in 1953; therefore the Academy does not consider this a posthumous award but a correction of the record.
Similarly, the Oscar for Best Screenplay (Adaptation) for The Bridge on the River Kwai was originally awarded to Pierre Boulle, but only in 1984 corrected to honor the actual screenwriters, Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, who were blacklisted at the time and could only work on the film in secret. By the time this correction was made, both Foreman and Wilson had died, but the award does not qualify for an entry in the above list.
Notes
References
- Ashman's partner, Bill Lauch, accepted the award on his behalf. Ashman had a total of three nominations in this category this year, for "[[Belle (Disney song). Belle]]", "[[Be Our Guest]]", and "[[Beauty and the Beast (Disney song). Beauty and the Beast]]", which he won the award for.
- Boseman is the first black actor to posthumously receive a nomination.
- Finch became the first posthumous winner in an acting category. His widow Eletha and screenwriter [[Paddy Chayefsky]] accepted the award on his behalf.
- With [[Morgan Neville]] and [[Caitrin Rogers]]
- [[Conrad Hall]]'s son [[Conrad W. Hall]] accepted the award on his behalf.
- [https://archive.today/20130808105627/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearch?action=searchLink&displayType=6&BSNomineeID=58966 Frederic Knudtson]
- Ledger died after completing his scenes in ''The Dark Knight'' but before the film had been completed, and a year before the nominations were announced. His father, mother and sister accepted the award on his behalf.
- John Reitz]] and [[Gregg Rudloff]]
- ''Limelight'', a [[1952 in film. 1952]] film, won its award in 1972 because the [[Hollywood blacklist. blacklisting]] of [[Charlie Chaplin]] prevented it from being shown in Los Angeles until then. (The [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy]] subsequently changed its rules to prevent films more than two years old from receiving awards.)
- Unsworth died during the shooting of ''Tess'', and the cinematography was completed by [[Ghislain Cloquet]]. Unsworth and Cloquet were jointly nominated, successfully, for Best Cinematography.
- Zimbalist died during the filming of ''Ben-Hur''. His widow Mary Zimbalist accepted the award on his behalf.
- "Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, Zoran Perisic Academy Awards Acceptance Speech". [[Margaret Herrick Library]] - [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences]].
- [https://archive.today/20130808105645/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearch?action=searchLink&displayType=6&BSNomineeID=71020 Theo Brown]
- link. (2014-04-26)
- Hepburn died eight days after the Academy voted to confer this award, but two months before the 65th Academy Awards ceremony. Her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer accepted the award on her behalf.
- [https://archive.today/20130808105618/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearch?action=searchLink&displayType=6&BSNomineeID=60730 Werner Hopf]
- Jones died four months after the Academy voted to confer this award, but two weeks before the Governors Awards ceremony on November 17.
- [https://archive.today/20130808105635/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearch?action=searchLink&displayType=6&BSNomineeID=71517 John D. Lowry]
- [https://archive.today/20130808105559/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/BasicSearch?action=searchLink&displayType=6&BSNomineeID=71507 Dr. Jürgen Noffke]
- Robinson died after the Academy voted to confer this award, but two months before the 45th Academy Awards ceremony. His widow Jane accepted the award on his behalf.
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