The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is awarded periodically by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

(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 For the 29th Academy Awards, the Best International Feature Film was introduced as a competitive category, instead of only a Special Achievement Award. The first winner in this new category was Federico Fellini's ''La Strada'' with Anthony Qu ...

, in March 1957. Unlike the Academy Award of Merit, the awards are restricted with the nomination and voting limited to industry professionals for this that are members of the Board of Governors of AMPAS.

History

The award is named after

Danish American Danish Americans ( da, Dansk-amerikanere) are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent. History The first Dane known to have arri ...

screen actor and humanitarian

Jean Hersholt Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is best known for starring on the radio series '' Dr. Christian'' (1937–1954) and in the film '' Heidi'' (1937).Obitu ...

(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. Winners of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award are presented with an Academy Award Oscar statuette. As of the

92nd Academy Awards The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 p ...

, there have been 39 awards presented, two of which were posthumous.

List of recipients

Notes

References

{{Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Hersholt Humanitarian Award Humanitarian and service awards Awards established in 1956 1956 establishments in the United States

History

List of recipients

See also

Notes

References