# Governors Awards

The Governors Awards presentation is an annual award ceremony hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center, in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Three awards that signify lifetime achievement within the film industry – the Academy Honorary Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, and the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award – are presented at this ceremony. The first Governors Awards ceremony was held on November 14, 2009. Prior to this, these three awards were formally presented during the main Academy Awards ceremony, which now conducts a short mention and appearance of the awards recipients after displaying a montage of the Governors Awards presentation. In the years since, the awards have gained prominence as a major red-carpet destination and industry event.

## Description and history

The Governors Awards are one of five award ceremonies hosted by AMPAS, along with the Academy Scientific and Technical Awards, Academy Student Academy Awards, the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, and the main Oscars.
The Academy Honorary Award (every year), Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (some years), and Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (some years) are presented at the ceremony. The Governors Awards are held the November or December before the main Academy Awards ceremony, usually held in February or March the following year. The Awards are not voted upon but, rather, are presented at the discretion of the Academy.
The Academy Honorary Awards and Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Awards are both Oscar statuettes, while the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award is a small bust of Thalberg on a plinth.
The Academy Honorary Award is given for "extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy". The Thalberg Award is given to "a creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production".
The board members of AMPAS had previously been concerned about awarding more than one or two Honorary Academy Awards each year for fear of lengthening the main Academy Awards presentation but, in most iterations of the Governors Awards to date, they have awarded three Honorary Academy Awards. So far in the history of the Governors Awards, the Hersholt Award and the Thalberg Award have always been given on separate years.
The smaller presentation of the Governors Awards was designed to invoke the feel of the early Academy Award ceremonies. During the event, several notable colleagues of the awardees give them tributes before they make an acceptance speech. Though the event has not been televised, thus far, the Academy posted most of the speeches for the 2013 and 2014 events online.
Since its inception, the event has become a major red-carpet stop for many prospective Oscar hopefuls, including actors and filmmakers, and is, in some ways, the first major stop of the seasonal Awards Circuit.

## Ceremonies and honorees
### 1st Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 1st Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 14, 2009. The following awards were presented.
* Academy Honorary Award: Lauren Bacall, Roger Corman, and Gordon Willis
* Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: John Calley (who was not able to attend; director Steven Spielberg accepted on his behalf)
Tributes:
* Lauren Bacall: Annette Bening and Kirk Douglas.
* Roger Corman: Jonathan Demme, Quentin Tarantino, and Ron Howard
* Gordon Willis: Caleb Deschanel, Jeff Bridges
* John Calley: Dino De Laurentiis, Norman Jewison, Warren Beatty, Tom Hanks

### 2nd Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 2nd Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 13, 2010. The following awards were presented.
* Academy Honorary Award: Kevin Brownlow, Jean-Luc Godard (who didn't attend the ceremony; Academy President Tom Sherak accepted on his behalf), and Eli Wallach
* Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: Francis Ford Coppola
Tributes:
* Kevin Brownlow: Kevin Spacey
* Jean-Luc Godard: Vincent Cassel, Mark Johnson, Charles Fox
* Eli Wallach: Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro, Anne Jackson
* Francis Ford Coppola: George Lucas, Robert De Niro, Roman Coppola

### 3rd Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 3rd Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 12, 2011. The following awards were presented.
* Academy Honorary Award: James Earl Jones and Dick Smith
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Oprah Winfrey
Tributes:
* James Earl Jones: Glenn Close, Ben Kingsley, Courtney B. Vance, and Alec Baldwin
* Dick Smith: J.J. Abrams, Linda Blair,
* Oprah Winfrey: John Travolta

### 4th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 4th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on December 1, 2012. The following awards were presented.
* Academy Honorary Award: D. A. Pennebaker, Hal Needham and George Stevens Jr.
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Jeffrey Katzenberg
Tributes:
* D.A. Pennebaker: Michael Moore
* Hal Needham: Quentin Tarantino
* George Stevens Jr.: Sidney Poitier
* Jeffrey Katzenberg: Tom Hanks

### 5th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 5th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 16, 2013. The following awards were presented.
* Academy Honorary Award: Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin and Piero Tosi (who was not able to attend; actress Claudia Cardinale accepted on his behalf)
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Angelina Jolie
Tributes:
* Angela Lansbury: Robert Osborne, Geoffrey Rush, and Emma Thompson
* Steve Martin: Tom Hanks, Martin Short, and Bill Taylor
* Piero Tosi: Jeffrey Kurland and Milena Canonero
* Angelina Jolie: George Lucas and Gena Rowlands

### 6th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 6th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 8, 2014. The following awards were presented.
* Academy Honorary Award: Jean-Claude Carrière, Hayao Miyazaki, and Maureen O'Hara
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Harry Belafonte
Tributes
* Jean-Claude Carriere: Philip Kaufman
* Hayao Miyazaki: John Lasseter
* Maureen O'Hara: Liam Neeson and Clint Eastwood
* Harry Belafonte: Chris Rock and Susan Sarandon

### 7th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 7th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 14, 2015. Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs gave a speech in support of France following the November 2015 Paris attacks the day before. The following awards were presented.
* Academy Honorary Award: Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Debbie Reynolds (who was not able to attend; her granddaughter Billie Lourd accepted on her behalf)
Tributes:
* Spike Lee: Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, and Wesley Snipes
* Gena Rowlands: Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney and Nick Cassavettes
* Debbie Reynolds: Meryl Streep and Jane Fonda

### 8th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 8th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 12, 2016, and presented the following awards:
* Academy Honorary Award: Jackie Chan, Anne V. Coates, Lynn Stalmaster and Frederick Wiseman
Tributes:
* Jackie Chan: Chris Tucker, Michelle Yeoh and Tom Hanks
* Anne V. Coates: Nicole Kidman, Richard Gere and Michael Tronick
* Lynn Stalmaster: Bruce Dern, Laura Dern, Jeff Bridges, and David Rubin
* Frederick Wiseman: Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, and Rory Kennedy

### 9th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 9th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 11, 2017, and presented the following awards:
* Academy Honorary Award: Agnès Varda, Charles Burnett, Donald Sutherland and Owen Roizman
Tributes:
* Agnès Varda: Angelina Jolie, Jessica Chastain, Kimberly Pierce and Kate Amend
* Charles Burnett: Ava DuVernay, Chadwick Boseman, Tessa Thompson, Sean Baker and Reginald Hudlin
* Donald Sutherland: Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Lawrence, Colin Farrell, and Ron Meyer
* Owen Roizman: Dustin Hoffman and Lawrence Kasdan

### 10th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 10th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 18, 2018, and presented the following awards:
* Academy Honorary Award: Cicely Tyson, Lalo Schifrin and Marvin Levy
* Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall
Tributes:
* Cicely Tyson: Ava DuVernay, Quincy Jones and Tyler Perry
* Lalo Schifrin: Clint Eastwood
* Marvin Levy: Tom Hanks and Laura Dern
* Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall: Steven Spielberg

### 11th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 11th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on October 27, 2019, and presented the following awards:
* Academy Honorary Award: David Lynch, Wes Studi, and Lina Wertmüller
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Geena Davis
Tributes:
* David Lynch: Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, Kyle MacLachlan
* Wes Studi: Q'orianka Kilcher, Joy Harjo, and Christian Bale
* Lina Wertmüller: Jane Campion, Greta Gerwig, and Sophia Loren
* Geena Davis: Tom Hanks and Constance Wu

### 12th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 12th Annual Governors Awards ceremony in on March 25, 2022. The following awards were presented:
* Academy Honorary Award: Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Danny Glover
Tributes:
* Samuel L. Jackson: Denzel Washington
* Elaine May: Bill Murray
* Liv Ullman: John Lithgow
* Danny Glover: Alfre Woodard
On December 22, 2021, the AMPAS announced that due to COVID-19 pandemic-related concerns—involving the widespread surge of the Omicron variant in the United States—that it "made the decision to change plans for hosting the ceremony in person on January 15, 2022," with a new date to be announced. The ceremony would afterwards be held on the newly scheduled date of March 25, 2022.

### 13th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 13th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 19, 2022.
* Academy Honorary Award: Peter Weir, Diane Warren and Euzhan Palcy
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Michael J. Fox
Tributes:
* Peter Weir: Jeff Bridges
* Diane Warren: Cher
* Euzhan Palcy: Viola Davis
* Michael J. Fox: Woody Harrelson

### 14th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy planned to hold its 14th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 18, 2023. However, on September 6 it was moved to January 9, 2024 due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The ceremony was hosted by comedian John Mulaney.
* Academy Honorary Award: Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Michelle Satter
Tributes:
* Mel Brooks: Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane
* Carol Littleton: Glenn Close
* Angela Bassett: Regina King
* Michelle Satter: Ryan Coogler and Chloé Zhao

### 15th Annual Governors Awards

The Academy held its 15th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 17, 2024. The recipients had been announced on June 12, 2024. Academy Honorary Award recipient Quincy Jones died two weeks before the ceremony and his daughter Rashida Jones accepted the award on his behalf. The ceremony was hosted by actor Colman Domingo. The following awards were presented.
* Academy Honorary Award: Quincy Jones and Juliet Taylor
* Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson
* Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Richard Curtis
Tributes:
* Quincy Jones: Jamie Foxx
* Juliet Taylor: Nicole Kidman
* Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson: Daniel Craig
* Richard Curtis: Hugh Grant

## Associated events

* Academy Awards (February or March)
* Academy Scientific and Technical Awards (about two weeks before the Academy Awards ceremony)
* Academy Student Academy Awards
* Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting