The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is awarded periodically (although not every year) at the Academy Award ceremonies for outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes. It is named after screen actor Jean Hersholt, who served as the president of the Motion Picture Relief Fund for eighteen years. The award trophy is an "Oscar" statuette. Recipients have included producers, directors, writers, and actors.
By 1937 Hersholt (and his once-maligned voice) began what was to become a 17-year-long career portraying the kind, generous and ethical doctor on radio, and in 1939 RKO produced "Meet Dr. Christian," which led to a six-film series for himself.
Hersholt died on June 2, 1956, and almost immediately the Academy established the JeanHersholtHumanitarianAward, bestowed upon an “individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”
Hersholt’s grave in Glendale’s Forest Lawn Memorial Park is marked with a statue of Klods Hans, a Hans Christian Anderson hero who went forth from Denmark into the world, hoping to win the heart of a princess.
Danish actor JeanHersholt was already a stage and movie veteran when he arrived in the USA in 1913.
Hersholt's screen image was altered permanently in 1936, when he was cast as Dr. Dafoe, the Canadian obstetrician who delivered the celebrated Dionne Quintuplets, in 20th Century-Fox's The Country Doctor.
After the actor's death, the JeanHersholtHumanitarianAward was set up to honor conspicuous acts of selflessness and kindness in the movie industry.
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