RIP Walter Mirisch

 

American producer Walter Mirisch, the Oscar-winning producer for “In the Heat of the Night,” died February 24, 2023, in Los Angeles of natural causes. He was 101. He was born Walter Mortimer Mirisch in New York City on November 8, 1921. In the mid-20th century, Mirisch was one of the most lauded and powerful producers in Hollywood. In 1957, he founded The Mirisch Company with his brothers Harold and Marvin — the banner was tied to such classics as “Some Like It Hot” (1959), “The Magnificent Seven” (1960), “The Great Escape” (1963), “The Pink Panther” (1963) and “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968). The Mirisch Company was also a producer on three best picture winners — “The Apartment” (1960), “West Side Story” (1961) and “In the Heat of the Night” (1967), for which Mirisch received the Academy Award for best picture. Mirisch was the producer on the 1974 Euro-western “The Spikes Gang” starring Lee Marvin and Ron Howard.