The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Since 2009, it has been presented at the separate annual Governors Awards rather than at the regular Academy Awards ceremony. The Honorary Award celebrates motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards, although prior winners of competitive Academy Awards are not excluded from receiving the award.

Unless otherwise specified, Honorary Award recipients receive the same gold Oscar statuettes received by winners of the competitive Academy Awards. Unlike the Special Achievement Award instituted in 1972, those on whom the Academy confers its Honorary Award do not have to meet "the Academy's eligibility year and deadline requirements".

Like the Special Achievement Award, the Special Award and Honorary Award have been used to reward significant achievements of the year that did not fit in existing categories, subsequently leading the Academy to establish several new categories, and to honor exceptional career achievements, contributions to the motion picture industry, and service to the Academy.The Academy Honorary Award is often awarded in preference to those with noted achievements in motion pictures who have nevertheless never won an Academy Award. Thus, many of its recipients are Classic Hollywood stars, such as Lillian Gish, Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas, and Lauren Bacall.

Among its Honorary Awards for acting, the Academy also presents deserving young actors with the Special Juvenile Academy Award. (Most of those are not listed here; some of the early "Special Awards" that later became known in that acting category as the "Special Juvenile Academy Award" are listed with "Special Award" added parenthetically.)Following the searchable Official Academy Award Database (a primary source for this list), years listed are the years of the Academy Awards ceremony when the award was presented (with the annual award ceremony following within parentheses, as documented in the Official Academy Award Database).

Recipients

Years for which the Special Award and Honorary Award recipients received their awards and the annual Academy Awards ceremonies at which they received them provided within parentheses throughout (as pertinent) follow this information for recipients listed in the Official Academy Award Database and Web-based official AMPAS documents.

Bob Hope was honored on four occasions.

1920s

Year Recipient Notes Award Format 1927/1928 "for producing The Jazz Singer (1927), the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionized the industry." Statuette "for acting, writing, directing, and producing The Circus (1928)."Removing him from the contests in which he had been nominated for an Academy Award in the "competitive classes", the Academy gave Chaplin this "Special Award" because, as it wrote to him, his "collective accomplishments" in The Circus merited his placement "in a class" by himself.

1930s Year Recipient Notes Award Format 1931/1932 "for the creation of Mickey Mouse." Statuette 1934 "in grateful recognition of her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment during the year 1934." Miniature statuette 1935 "For his distinguished creative achievements as director and producer and his invaluable initiative and lasting contributions to the progress of the motion picture arts." Statuette 1936 "for its significance to motion pictures and for having revolutionized one of the most important branches of the industry – the newsreel."— and Harold Rosson "for the color cinematography of the Selznick International Production, The Garden of Allah." Plaque 1937 "for his outstanding comedy creation, 'Charlie McCarthy'." Wooden statuette, with movable mouth "for the color photography of A Star Is Born." Plaque "for its significant work in collecting films dating from 1895 to the present and for the first time making available to the public the means of studying the historical and aesthetic development of the motion picture as one of the major arts." Scroll certificate "for his lasting contribution to the comedy technique of the screen, the basic principles of which are as important today as when they were first put into practice, the Academy presents a Special Award to that master of fun, discoverer of stars, sympathetic, kindly, understanding comedy genius – Mack Sennett." Statuette 1938 J. Arthur Ball "for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of color in Motion Picture Photography." Scroll "for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon." One statuette and seven miniature statuettes on a stepped base and Mickey Rooney "for their significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth, and as juvenile players setting a high standard of ability and achievement." Miniature statuette , Jan Domela, Devereaux Jennings, Irmin Roberts, Art Smith, Farciot Edouart, Loyal Griggs, Loren L. Ryder, Harry D. Mills, Louis Mesenkop, Walter Oberst "for outstanding achievement in creating Special Photographic and Sound Effects in the Paramount production, Spawn of the North." Plaque and Allen Davey "for the color cinematography of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production, Sweethearts." "in recognition of patriotic service in the production of historical short subjects presenting significant episodes in the early struggle of the American people for liberty." Scroll 1939 "recognizing the unique and outstanding contribution of Douglas Fairbanks, first President of the Academy, to the international development of the motion picture." Statuette "for her outstanding performance as a screen juvenile during the past year." Miniature statuette "for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind." Plaque acknowledging the outstanding services to the industry during the past year of the Motion Picture Relief Fund and its progressive leadership. Presented to Jean Hersholt, President; Ralph Morgan, Chairman of the Executive Committee; Ralph Block, First Vice-President; and Conrad Nagel. Technicolor USA "for its contributions in successfully bringing three-color feature production to the screen." Statuette

1940s