Glenn Close will get an Oscar at last — honorarily. So will Ridley Scott
and animator Floyd Norman
[June 11, 2026]
By ANDREW DALTON
Glenn Close will finally get her hands on an Oscar.
Long considered among the best actors to never win one, the eight-time
nominee will get an honorary Academy Award along with director Ridley
Scott and animator Floyd Norman at the annual Governors Awards, the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.
“Throughout her extraordinary body of work, Glenn Close’s unparalleled
emotional range has brought to life some of the most complex characters
in cinema,” the academy said in a statement. “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.”
Nominations for the 79-year-old Close date back to 1983, when she got
her first nod for “The World According to Garp.” She was also nominated
for her blockbuster turn as a rabbit-slaying stalker in 1987's “Fatal
Attraction” and was most recently up for a statuette for 2020's
“Hillbilly Elegy.”
Her eight nominations tie her with Peter O'Toole for the most for an
actor without a win.
She has won virtually every other major award within reach, including
three Emmys, three Tonys, three Grammys and three Golden Globes.
The Governors Awards often go to artists with extraordinary careers, but
no competitive Oscar. Tom Cruise, a recipient last year, is a case in
point.
Scott, the 88-year-old director of “Alien,” “Blade Runner” and
“Gladiator” whose epic decades of work have blended popular success and
prestige like few others, has also never won despite four nominations,
including best director nods for “Thelma & Louise” and “Black Hawk
Down.”
Norman’s 65-year career began in 1956 when he became the first Black
animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios, contributing to “Sleeping
Beauty,” “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book” and Robin Hood.” Decades
later, he would work on “Mulan,” “Toy Story 2” and “Monsters, Inc.”
[to top of second column]
|
This combination of photos show, from left, Glenn Close, Pamela
Koffler, Ridley Scott, and Christine Vachon. (AP Photo)
 Producers Christine Vachon and
Pamela Koffler will get the academy's Irving G. Thalberg Memorial
Award, presented to “a creative producer whose body of work reflects
a consistently high quality of motion picture production,” the
academy said.
Vachon and Koffler co-founded the New York-based indie production
hub Killer Films in 1995. Their credits as producers include “Hedwig
and the Angry Inch,” One Hour Photo” and “May December.” Both were
nominated for best picture Oscars for “Past Lives” in 2024. Killer
Films' output includes “Velvet Goldmine,” “Happiness,” “Boys Don’t
Cry,” “Far from Heaven” and “Carol.”
The academy statement says the two “play a central role in American
independent cinema, championing bold, ambitious and distinctive
storytelling.”
All the winners will be honored at a ceremony on Nov. 15 at the Ray
Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood, the same complex that hosts the
main Oscars ceremony. Along with luminaries who worked with the
honorees, the event has been increasingly packed with young stars as
it has become the unofficial kickoff to Hollywood's award season
campaigning.
The Governors Awards, named for the academy's board of governors and
not the leader of the state, 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.”
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
