Academy to honor Glenn Close, Ridley Scott and Floyd Norman in 2026

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences used its 2026 Governors Awards slate to draw a broad map of the film industry’s legacy. Glenn Close, Floyd Norman, Ridley Scott, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler were chosen for honors that point to longevity, innovation and influence across Hollywood’s different power centers.

The ceremony is set for November 15 in Hollywood. Close, Norman and Scott will receive honorary Oscars, while Vachon and Koffler will be presented with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Together, the selections reflect an Academy looking beyond a single season’s winners and toward careers that have shaped film culture over decades.

Close is the most familiar face in the group, but the Academy’s case for her rests on more than stature. The announcement noted eight Oscar nominations across five decades, beginning with The World According to Garp and continuing through The Big Chill, The Natural, Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs, The Wife and Hillbilly Elegy. The Academy also emphasized her reach across cinema, television and stage, underscoring how a performer can define prestige culture without ever being reduced to one role.

Scott’s honor places a different kind of authority in the same frame. The Academy pointed to nominations for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and The Martian, a résumé that spans sweeping historical drama, action and science fiction. His selection reinforces the Academy’s continued preference for directors whose visual signatures have helped shape global popular cinema.

Norman’s recognition carries the weight of film history itself. He began at Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1956 and became the studio’s first Black animator, a milestone that makes his honor significant well beyond the credits that followed. The Academy cited his work on Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone, Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book and Robin Hood, placing his contribution inside the canon of mid-century animation while also acknowledging the barrier he broke inside the studio system.

The Thalberg Award for Vachon and Koffler turns the spotlight toward independent filmmaking. Through Killer Films, the pair have been tied to influential titles that helped define a generation of prestige indie cinema. Their selection places producers, not just stars and directors, at the center of Hollywood’s official memory.

Taken together, the five honorees show how the Academy wants to define itself in 2026: as a guardian of long careers, a witness to animation history, a champion of auteur filmmaking and a public patron of independent production. The message is clear: film legacy is no longer being measured only by competitive Oscars, but by the breadth of careers that changed what Hollywood values.