Presidents of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

1. Douglas Fairbanks

Actor | The Thief of Bagdad

Douglas Fairbanks was born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman in Denver, Colorado, to Ella Adelaide (nee Marsh) and Hezekiah Charles Ullman, an attorney and native of Pennsylvania, who was a captain for the Union forces during the Civil War. Fairbanks' paternal grandparents were German Jewish immigrants, ...

2. William C. de Mille

Director | The Splendid Crime

William Churchill de Mille, the older brother of Hollywood legend Cecil B. DeMille (W.C. retained the family spelling of his name) and father of Tony Award-winning choreographer Agnes de Mille, was born in Washington, North Carolina, on July 25, 1878. His father, Henry C. DeMille, was a playwright ...

3. M.C. Levee

Producer | Ruth of the Range

M.C. Levee was born on January 18, 1891. M.C. was a producer, known for Ruth of the Range (1923), In Every Woman's Life (1924) and Secrets (1933). M.C. was married to Trudy ?. M.C. died on May 24, 1972 in Palm Springs, California, USA.

4. Conrad Nagel

Actor | The Ship from Shanghai

Conrad Nagel was born on March 16, 1897 in Keokuk, Iowa, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Ship from Shanghai (1930), Quality Street (1927) and Kongo (1932). He was married to Michael Coulson Smith, Lynn Merrick and Ruth Helms. He died on February 24, 1970 in New York City, New York,...

5. Theodore Reed

Director | Lady Be Careful

Theodore Reed was born on June 18, 1887 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Lady Be Careful (1936), The Nut (1921) and Those Were the Days! (1940). He died on February 22, 1959 in San Diego, California, USA.

6. Frank Lloyd

Director | Mutiny on the Bounty

Frank Lloyd was an unpretentious, technically skilled director, who crafted several enduring Hollywood classics during the 1930's. He started out as a stage actor and singer in early 1900's London and was well-known as an imitator of Harry Lauder. After several years in music hall and with touring ...

7. Frank Capra

Director | It's a Wonderful Life

One of seven children, Frank Capra was born on May 18, 1897, in Bisacquino, Sicily. On May 10, 1903, his family left for America aboard the ship Germania, arriving in New York on May 23rd. "There's no ventilation, and it stinks like hell. They're all miserable. It's the most degrading place you ...

8. Walter Wanger

Producer | Cleopatra

A graduate of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, Walter Wanger was among the more literate and socially conscious American film producers of his time. At the peak of his career, his salary was exceeded only by that of Louis B. Mayer at MGM. Wanger had served in the air force on the Italian front ...

9. Bette Davis

Actress | All About Eve

Ruth Elizabeth Davis was born April 5, 1908, in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Ruth Augusta (Favor) and Harlow Morrell Davis, a patent attorney. Her parents divorced when she was 10. She and her sister were raised by their mother. Her early interest was dance. To Bette, dancers led a glamorous life, but...

10. Walter Wanger

Producer | Cleopatra

A graduate of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, Walter Wanger was among the more literate and socially conscious American film producers of his time. At the peak of his career, his salary was exceeded only by that of Louis B. Mayer at MGM. Wanger had served in the air force on the Italian front ...

11. Jean Hersholt

Actor | Greed

If ever there was a Great Dane in Hollywood it was Jean Hersholt - and one of its great hearts as well. He was from a well-known Danish stage and entertainment family that had toured throughout Europe performing with young Jean as an essential cast member. He graduated from the Copenhagen Art ...

12. Charles Brackett

Writer | Sunset Blvd.

Charles Brackett, born in Saratoga Springs, New York, of Scottish ancestry, followed in his attorney-father's footsteps and graduated with a law degree from Harvard University in 1920. He practised law for several years, before commencing work as drama critic for The New Yorker (1925-29), in ...

13. George Seaton

Writer | Miracle on 34th Street

Working his way up from general factotum and gag writer to highly versatile writer/director, George Seaton was involved in many aspects of the entertainment industry along the way.

He was born George Stenius of Swedish parentage (his family hailed from Stockholm) in South Bend, IN, and grew up in ...

14. George Stevens

Director | Giant

George Stevens, a filmmaker known as a meticulous craftsman with a brilliant eye for composition and a sensitive touch with actors, is one of the great American filmmakers, ranking with John Ford, William Wyler and Howard Hawks as a creator of classic Hollywood cinema, bringing to the screen ...

15. B.B. Kahane

Producer | The Lady in Question

B.B. Kahane was born on November 30, 1891 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a producer, known for The Lady in Question (1940), Those High Grey Walls (1939) and Her First Beau (1941). He died on September 18, 1960 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

16. Valentine Davies

Writer | Miracle on 34th Street

Valentine Davies was born on August 25, 1905 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Miracle on 34th Street (1947), The Glenn Miller Story (1954) and It Happens Every Spring (1949). He was married to Elizabeth Strauss. He died on July 23, 1961 in Malibu, California,...

17. Wendell Corey

Actor | Rear Window

Wendell Corey was a hard-working American character actor who appeared in numerous movies and television productions in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Born on March 20, 1914 in Dracut, Massachusetts, in the northeastern part of the Commonwealth near the New Hampshire border, Corey was the son of a ...

18. Arthur Freed

Producer | An American in Paris

Producer, songwriter and author, brother to Ralph Freed, Walter and Ruth Freed. He was educated at the Phillips Exeter Academy, and became associated with Gus Edwards musical acts. He performed in vaudeville with Louis Silvers, with whom he wrote revues for New York restaurants. During World War I,...

19. Gregory Peck

Actor | To Kill a Mockingbird

Eldred Gregory Peck was born on April 5, 1916 in La Jolla, California, to Bernice Mae (Ayres) and Gregory Pearl Peck, a chemist and druggist in San Diego. He had Irish (from his paternal grandmother), English, and some German, ancestry. His parents divorced when he was five years old. An only child...

20. Daniel Taradash

Writer | From Here to Eternity

Daniel Taradash was born on January 29, 1913 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He was a writer and director, known for From Here to Eternity (1953), Picnic (1955) and Storm Center (1956). He was married to Madeleine Forbes. He died on February 22, 2003 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

21. Walter Mirisch

Producer | In the Heat of the Night

Walter Mirisch and brothers Marvin Mirisch and Harold Mirisch were one of the most successful producing teams in Hollywood history. Their Mirisch Company produced such diverse hits as Some Like It Hot (1959), The Magnificent Seven (1960), West Side Story (1961), The Great Escape (1963), The Pink ...

22. Howard W. Koch

Producer | The Manchurian Candidate

Getting his start in the movie business in Universal's contract and playdate department in New York City, Howard W. Koch moved on to 20th Century-Fox as a film librarian and then entered production as second assistant director on The Keys of the Kingdom (1944). After many films as assistant ...

23. Fay Kanin

Writer | Friendly Fire

This screenwriter and playwright began working in Hollywood in the early 1940s, usually in collaboration with her husband, Michael Kanin, and blossomed after his retirement as a writer and producer of some of the small screen's most distinguished TV-movies. Statuesque, articulate, with the air of a ...

24. Gene Allen

Art_director | My Fair Lady

Gene Allen was born on June 17, 1918 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an art director and production designer, known for My Fair Lady (1964), A Star Is Born (1954) and Les Girls (1957). He was married to Iris. He died on October 7, 2015 in Newport Beach, California, USA.

25. Robert Wise

Director | West Side Story

Robert Earl Wise was born on September 10, 1914 in Winchester, Indiana, the youngest of three sons of Olive R. (Longenecker) and Earl Waldo Wise, a meat packer. His parents were both of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) descent. At age nineteen, the avid moviegoer came into the film business through an ...

26. Richard Kahn

Self | Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story

27. Karl Malden

Actor | A Streetcar Named Desire

Born to a Czech mother and a Serbian father in Chicago as Mladen Sekulovich, on March 22, 1912, Karl Malden did not speak English until he was in kindergarten. After graduating from high school in the nearby steel town of Gary, Indiana, Malden worked in the industry for three years until 1934, when...

28. Robert Rehme

Producer | Beverly Hills Cop III

Robert Rehme, a film producer and executive in the entertainment industry, has had over 35 years experience in exhibition, distribution and production.

Working as a theater usher at the age of 16 in his hometown of Cincinnati and received his Bachelors Degree from University of Ohio, Cincinnati. His...

29. Arthur Hiller

Director | Love Story

Arthur Hiller was born on November 22, 1923 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He was a director and producer, known for Love Story (1970), The Hospital (1971) and See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). He was married to Gwen Hiller. He died on August 17, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

30. Robert Rehme

Producer | Beverly Hills Cop III

Robert Rehme, a film producer and executive in the entertainment industry, has had over 35 years experience in exhibition, distribution and production.

Working as a theater usher at the age of 16 in his hometown of Cincinnati and received his Bachelors Degree from University of Ohio, Cincinnati. His...

31. Frank Pierson

Writer | Dog Day Afternoon

Frank Pierson was born on May 12, 1925 in Chappaqua, New York, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Presumed Innocent (1990) and Cool Hand Luke (1967). He was married to Helene Szamet, Dori Pierson and Polly Stokes. He died on July 22, 2012 in Los Angeles, ...

32. Sidney Ganis

Producer | Akeelah and the Bee

Sidney Ganis was born on January 8, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Akeelah and the Bee (2006), Iron Man (2008) and Little Nicky (2000).

33. Tom Sherak

Producer | The One

Tom Sherak was born on June 22, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a production manager and actor, known for The One (2001), Rent (2005) and Columbus Circle (2012). He was married to Madeleine. He died on January 28, 2014 in Calabasas, California, USA.

34. Hawk Koch

Assistant_director | Chinatown

Hawk Koch is a veteran movie producer and the former President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild.

At the Academy,Hawk spearheaded the call for diversity,launched the first ever general membership meeting, sharpening the focus on member engagement. While ...

35. Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Alien Trespass

Cheryl Boone Isaacs was born in 1949 in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. She is a producer, known for Alien Trespass (2009), 2018 Women That Soar Awards (2018) and Tupac: Resurrection (2003). She is married to Stanley Isaacs. They have one child.

36. John Bailey

Cinematographer | In the Line of Fire

John Bailey was born on August 10, 1942 in Moberly, Missouri, USA. He was a cinematographer and director, known for In the Line of Fire (1993), American Gigolo (1980) and The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1991). He was married to Carol Littleton. He died on November 10, 2023...

37. David Rubin

Casting_director | Big Little Lies

David Rubin began his career in New York on the production staff of Saturday Night Live, before working on the casting of Ragtime, Silkwood and Amadeus. David then moved to Los Angeles to team with veteran casting director Lynn Stalmaster on 'The Name of the Rose', 'The Big Easy', 'Spaceballs' and ...