Walter Mirisch was born on November 8 1921 in New York City. He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx and attended the Harvard Business School. He moved to Los Angeles in 1945 and soon found a job working for the general manager of Monogram Studios. It was there that he produced his first film, Fall Guy (1947). It was while he was at Monogram Studios that he conceived the "Bomba the Jungle Boy" series of movies, remembering the "Bomba the Jungle Boy" books he had read as a child. He was only 29 when he became the head of Allied Artists, the division at Monogram dedicated to producing more expensive, "A" pictures. In the late Forties Walter Mirisch produced such movies as I Wouldn't Want to Be in Your Shoes (1948), Bomba the Jungle Boy (1949), Bomba on Panther Island (1949), The Lost Volcano (1950), County Fair (1950), and Bomba and the Hidden City (1950).
It was in 1957 that Walter Mirisch founded the Mirisch Company with his brothers Marvin and Harold Mirisch. The Mirisch Company would be responsible for producing some of the greatest films of all time, including Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), The Magnificent Seven (1960), West Side Story (1961), The Great Escape (1963), The Pink Panther (1963), In the Heat of the Night (1967), and yet others. They also released the series of "Pink Panther" theatrical shorts made by DePaite-Freleng Enterprises. In the Fifties Walter Mirisch produced the films The Lion Hunters (1951), Cavalry Scout (1951), Elephant Stampede (1951), Flight to Mars (1951), Fort Osage (1952), Rodeo (1952), Wild Stallion (1952), African Treasure (1952), The Rose Bowl Story (1952), Flat Top (1952), Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952), Hiawatha (1952), Safari Drums (1953), The Maze (1953), Fighter Attack (1953), The Golden Idol (1954), Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954), Killer Leopard (1954), The Human Jungle (1955), The Big Combo (1955), Seven Angry Men (1955), An Annapolis Story (1955), The Dark Avenger (1955), Lord of the Jungle (1955), Wichita (1955), The Phenix City Story (1955), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), World Without End (1956), Crime in the Streets (1956), The First Texan (!956), Hold Back the Night (1956), Friendly Persuasion (1956), The Undead (1957), The Oklahoman (1957), The Tall Stranger (1957), Fort Massacre (1958), Man of the West (1958), The Man in the Net (1959), The Gunfight in Dodge City (1959), The Horse Soldiers (1959), Cast a Long Shadow (1959), and The Magnificent Seven (1960). He and his brothers produced the short lived TV Western series Wichita Town, inspired by the 1955 movie Wichita, in conjunction with star Joel McCrea.
In the Sixties Walter Mirisch produced the films West Side Story (1961), The Children's Hour (1961), Follow That Dream (1962), Kid Galahad (1962), Two for the Seasaw (1962), The Great Escape (1963), Toys in the Attic (1963), The Pink Panther (1963), 633 Squadron (1964), A Shot in the Dark (1964), The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966), Hawaii (1966), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Fitzwilly (1967), The Party (1968), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Sinful Davey (1969), Some Kind of Nut (1969), Halls of Anger (1970), The Landlord (1970), The Hawaiians (1970), and They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970).
In the Seventies Walter Mirisch produced the movies The Organization (1971), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Scorpio (1973), The Spikes Gang (1974), Mr. Majestyk (1974), Midway (1976), Gray Lady Down (1978), Same Time, Next Year (1978), The Prisoner of Zenda (1979), and Dracula (1979). He was the executive producer on the TV movie High Midnight.
In the Eighties Walter Mirisch produced the feature film Romantic Comey (1983) and the TV movie Desperado. In the Nineties he served as an executive producer on the TV movies Trouble Shooters-Trapped Beneath the Earth and A Case for Life. In the Teens he served as an executive producer on the TV movie Bridal Wave and the feature films The Magnificent Seven (2016) and The Pink Panther (2022).
Walter Mirisch served as president of the Producers Guild of America for three terms, and President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for four terms. He was a a trustee of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.
Few producers had a track record as good as Walter Mirisch and his brothers. Many of the films often rank in lists of the greatest films ever made. Even a list of the directors with whom Walter Mirisch worked is impressive: Billy Wilder, Blake Edwards, Norman Jewison, and others. Indeed, The Mirisch Company boasted three Academy Awards for Best Picture, received for The Apartment (1960), West Side Story (1961), and In the Heat of the Night (1967). Walter Mirisch certainly had an eye for good material that was also guaranteed to do well at the box office. What is more, he was not afraid to take chances. He encountered resistance from financiers regarding In the Heat of the Night, who worried it would not play in the South. What is more, Walter Mirisch was always supportive of filmmakers. It is little wonder why so many legendary directors worked with him.
Walter Mirisch was not only a great producer, but he was also a true gentleman in a profession not known for gentlemen. Elmore Leonard dedicated his novel satirizing the film industry to Walter Mirisch, "...one of the good guys." Steven Speilberg referred to Mr. Mirisch as "..both a gentleman and an ardent advocate of good films." Walter Mirisch attended the TCM Classic Film Festival multiple times, and those who met him have all commented on just how very nice he was. Walter Mirisch was a giant in the world of film production. He was also one of the nicest people in the industry.
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