November 13: Glenn Close has been nominated for an Oscar eight times and has never won one. On Sunday, November 15, she will finally be handed a statuette. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present Honorary Awards to Close, director Ridley Scott and animator Floyd Norman at the 17th Governors Awards in Hollywood. Producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
Key highlights
- When and where: Sunday, November 15, 2026, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles.
- Honorary Awards: Glenn Close (actor), Ridley Scott (director) and Floyd Norman (animator).
- Thalberg Award: Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, the producers behind Killer Films.
- What it is: The Honorary Award is an Oscar statuette given for a lifetime of work, outside the competitive categories.
- Next big date: Oscar shortlists on December 15; the 99th Oscars are on March 14, 2027.
Who is being honoured
| Honoree | Award | What the Academy cites |
|---|---|---|
| Glenn Close | Honorary Award | More than 100 film credits and eight Oscar nominations, starting with The World According to Garp; also Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs and The Wife |
| Ridley Scott | Honorary Award | Directing nominations for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, and a Best Picture nomination for The Martian; also Alien, Blade Runner and Napoleon |
| Floyd Norman | Honorary Award | Joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1956 and became its first Black animator; worked on Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book and Mulan |
| Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler | Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award | Founded Killer Films in New York in 1995; Best Picture nomination for Past Lives; also Far from Heaven, Carol and May December |
Eight nominations, no win: the Glenn Close story
Close’s eight nominations without a competitive win have made her one of the best-known “always the nominee” names in Oscar history. Announcing the honour, Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor praised her “unparalleled emotional range”. Her most recent film named by the Academy is Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.
Ridley Scott is in a similar position. The British director made Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator, and the Academy lists four nominations against his name, but he has never won a competitive Oscar either. Gladiator won Best Picture, an award that goes to a film’s producers.
The animator who started in 1956
Floyd Norman’s honour recognises a career that the Academy describes as spanning 65 years. He joined Disney in 1956, when Sleeping Beauty was in production, and worked on films that generations of children across the world grew up with, among them The Jungle Book.
The Thalberg Award goes to producers whose body of work shows consistently high quality. Vachon and Koffler have run the independent company Killer Films for more than three decades. Their film Past Lives, a drama that moves between Seoul and New York, earned them a Best Picture nomination.
Our calculation: the awards-season clock
| Milestone | Date | Days from the Governors Awards |
|---|---|---|
| Governors Awards | November 15, 2026 | 0 |
| Oscar shortlists announced | December 15, 2026 | 30 |
| Oscar nominations announced | January 21, 2027 | 67 |
| Final voting closes | March 4, 2027 | 109 |
| 99th Oscars ceremony | March 14, 2027 | 119 |
Floyd Norman joined Disney 70 years ago this year, and Killer Films is 31 years old. The Academy says all dates are subject to change.
What it means for India and Asia
The Governors Awards open the final stretch of the Oscar season. For Indian and other Asian films, the date to watch is December 15, when the Academy publishes its shortlists, including the one for International Feature Film. A place on that list is the first hurdle before the nominations on January 21.
The honours also carry an Asian footnote: Past Lives, cited by the Academy for the Thalberg winners, is set partly in Seoul and has much of its dialogue in Korean.
What to watch
- Speeches at Sunday’s ceremony, where Close receives her first Oscar statuette.
- The shortlists on December 15, the first test for Asian entries.
- The nominations announcement on January 21, 2027.
Glenn Close in October 2024. Image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo source · Licence
Sources
- Academy press release: Honorary Awards and Thalberg Award for the 17th Governors Awards
- Academy: 99th Oscars and Academy key dates
The Entertainment Desk covers cinema from India, Asia and Hollywood: releases, box office, awards and festivals, reported from official announcements. Stories are checked against at least two credible sources before publication.
