Actor Glenn Close, director Ridley Scott, animator Floyd Norman and producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler are all set to receive honorary Oscars at the Academy’s 17th Governors Awards in November 2026. Close, Scott and Norman will receive Academy Honorary Awards at the ceremony, while Vachon and Koffler are set to receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
“The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to five remarkable individuals whose groundbreaking work has forever shaped the art of filmmaking,” Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said in a statement. “Throughout her extraordinary body of work, Glenn Close’s unparalleled emotional range has brought to life some of the most complex characters in cinema. Floyd Norman is the legendary animator who has broken barriers and inspired generations of artists over his remarkable career. Sir Ridley Scott is a true visionary whose decades-long legacy has left an immeasurable impact on global cinema and culture. Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler play a central role in American independent cinema, championing bold, ambitious and distinctive storytelling.”
The Academy Honorary Award, recently presented to such individuals as Tom Cruise, Debbie Allen, Quincy Jones, Mel Brooks, Angela Bassett, Diane Warren, Peter Weir and Samuel L. Jackson, aims “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences in any discipline, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”
The Irving J. Thalberg Memorial Award, given less frequently and previously presented to such recipients as Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Francis Ford Coppola, recognizes producers whose bodies of work reflect “a consistently high quality of motion picture production.”
Close has been nominated for Academy Awards eight times: four for Best Actress (“Fatal Attraction” in 1987, “Dangerous Liaisons” in 1988, “Albert Nobbs” in 2011 and “The Wife” in 2018) and four for Best Supporting Actress (“The World According to Garp” in 1982, “The Big Chill” in 1983, “The Natural” in 1984 and “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2020). This honorary prize will be her first Academy Award.
Ridley Scott has not yet won an Academy Award, though “Gladiator” won Best Picture at the 2001 Oscars. Scott was nominated for Best Director for that film, as well as for “Thelma & Louise” in 1992 and “Black Hawk Down” in 2002. He also received a Best Picture nomination as a producer for “The Martian” in 2016.
Norman is a longtime animator and storyboard artist who began his career at Walt Disney Animation Studios with “Sleeping Beauty” in 1956. The studio’s first Black animator, Norman worked on a number of Disney films including “One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” “The Jungle Book,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Toy Story 2” and “Monsters, Inc.”
The producing duo of Koffler and Vachon founded the indie production company Killer Films in New York City in 1995. Koffler and Vachon both received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture in 2024 for “Past Lives,” which they produced alongside David Hinojosa. Other credits include “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “One Hour Photo,” “May December” and “Materialists.”
Close, Scott, Norman, Vachon and Koffler will receive their honorary awards, in partnership with Rolex, at the Academy’s 17th Governors Awards event on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2026.
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