List of Kathleen Kennedy
Best Picture Oscar nominations,
plus Thalberg Award remarks
Updated: June 2025
List of Oscar nominations for Kathleen Kennedy, plus a human-transcribed transcript of remarks upon receiving the Thalberg Award. Kathleen Kennedy has been nominated for 8 Academy Awards for Best Picture. Year indicates year/period for which films were eligible for awards consideration, not year of ceremony. Sources: Oscars.org, Internet Movie Database
2012: Lincoln (shared with Steven Spielberg) — lost to Argo (Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney). Other nominees: Zero Dark Thirty (Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison), Django Unchained (Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone), Les Misérables (Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh), Amour (Stefan Arndt, Margaret Ménégoz, Veit Heiduschka, Michael Katz), Silver Linings Playbook (Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon), Beasts of the Southern Wild (Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald), Life of Pi (Gil Netter,
Ang Lee, David Womark)
2011: War Horse (shared with Steven Spielberg) — lost to The Artist (Thomas Langmann). Other nominees: Hugo (Graham King, Martin Scorsese), The Tree of Life (Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill), The Descendants (Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor), Midnight in Paris (Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum), The Help (Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan), Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Scott Rudin), Moneyball (Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt)
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (shared with Frank Marshall, Ceán Chaffin) — lost to Slumdog Millionaire (Christian Colson). Other nominees: The Reader (Anthony Minghella (posthumous), Sydney Pollack (posthumous), Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris), Frost/Nixon (Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner), Milk (Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen)
2005: Munich (shared with Steven Spielberg, Barry Mendel) — lost to Crash (Paul Haggis, Cathy Schulman). Other nominees: Brokeback Mountain (Diana Ossana, James Schamus), Capote (Caroline Baron, William Vince, Michael Ohoven), Good Night, and Good Luck. (Grant Heslov)
2003: Seabiscuit (shared with Frank Marshall, Gary Ross) — lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh). Other nominees: Lost in Translation (Ross Katz, Sofia Coppola), Mystic River (Robert Lorenz, Judie Hoyt, Clint Eastwood), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Samuel Goldwyn Jr., Peter Weir, Duncan Henderson)
1999: The Sixth Sense (shared with Frank Marshall, Barry Mendel) — American Beauty (Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks). Other nominees: The Green Mile (David Valdes, Frank Darabont), The Cider House Rules (Richard N. Gladstein), The Insider (Michael Mann, Pieter Jan Brugge)
1985: The Color Purple (shared with Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, Quincy Jones) — lost to Out of Africa (Sydney Pollack). Other nominees: Witness (Edward S. Feldman), Kiss of the Spider Woman (David Weisman), Prizzi’s Honor (John Foreman)
1982: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (shared with Steven Spielberg) — lost to Gandhi (Richard Attenborough). Other nominees: Tootsie (Sydney Pollack, Dick Richards), Missing (Edward Lewis, Mildred Lewis), The Verdict (Richard D. Zanuck, David Brown)
‘Very proud to be the first woman to accept this award’ — Kathleen Kennedy receives the Thalberg with husband Frank Marshall
Remarks by Kathleen Kennedy upon receiving the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, with husband Frank Marshall (who previously spoke), presented by Steven Spielberg, at the 2018 Governors Awards on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, in Hollywood:
“Well, I have to say it’s pretty amazing to be standing here, obviously with Frank and Steven, and realizing that we now join the company of so many greats that have received this award in the past. Filmmakers such as William Wyler, Jack Warner, Steven, Francis Coppola, Alfred Hitchcock, George Lucas, legends all. And both of us are very proud that you find us worthy to be honored as part of this Hollywood legacy. It also means a lot to have both Matt (Damon) and Steven here to present the award to us. I don’t know what happened to Matt, but I think he’s still here. And we’re very honored to share the Thalberg Award as the first married couple. I’m also very proud to be the first woman to accept this award. (Crowd applauds.) But I’m also not the first to de- deserve it. And I’m a hundred percent sure I’m not the last. (Crowd applauds and rises.)
“I’ve always loved the movies, and I’ve been enthralled by the power of story. Steven said this when he accepted the award 30 years ago. That power begins with the written word. I feel extraordinarily lucky to have worked with some of the best screenwriters and directors in the business and also to have witnessed so many advances in technology to help tell those stories. But those advances are only made powerful and emotional in their support of storytelling. That blue- blueprint, those words, set everything in motion, and without great writing, we have nothing to produce. (Crowd applauds.)
“When I began working with Steven, he handed me a script for his next film. He said, ‘Read this. It’s my next movie. But don’t tell anybody anything.’ And that directive is pretty much what he tells you every time he hands you anything. That script was ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ written by Lawrence Kasdan, and remains today one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. When I finished this- reading the script, Steven was waiting expectantly to hear what I thought. I said, ‘It’s great, but how are we gonna make this?’ And he said, ‘Call producer Frank Marshall.’ So I called Mr. Marshall. I called him Mr. Marshall repeatedly, until he said, ‘Could you please stop calling me that? I’m Frank.’ He then offered to come over to our offices and introduce himself. I was expecting this much older man, maybe mid-50s, but in walked this handsome young guy, and I have to admit, my first reaction was, ‘Hello, Mr. Marshall.’ (Laughs.) So after some back and forth, I told Frank that Steven asked me to build some models of the truck chase in ‘Raiders,’ but I confessed I hadn’t done much model building. Frank was immediately excited and agreed to help me. He loved building models. So to quote Humphrey Bogart’s line in Claude- to Claude Rains in ‘Casablanca,’ it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. That friendship is now actually in its 32nd year of marriage, and 40- and 40 years of collaboration. And I’m so grateful to share a career and a home with someone whose character and convictions, his decency and humor, are in evidence every day. And as proud as we are of our movies, we have two wonderful daughters who are the heart and soul of our lives: Lili and Megan. (Crowd applauds.) And when they were little, we would throw them into backpacks and carry them through the redwoods while making ‘Jurassic Park,’ or sometimes we would create schoolrooms on the set of ‘Indiana Jones.’ And during our time away, we have worked tirelessly in tandem to watch them grow and to make sure that their lives are defined by creativity, quality, and most of all, kindness.
Frank Marshall speaks about receiving the Irving Thalberg Award.
“These are the same values we bring to our filmmaking, and the same values the Thalberg Award must always continue to represent. I’ve been fortunate to have had the chance to work with extraordinary people to help reinforce those ideals. My mother, my father, Frank, and of course, Steven. Steven, Frank and I formed Amblin Entertainment in 1981 with the goal that I think would make Mr. Thalberg proud: To tell hopeful stories, stories about triumph of the human spirit and the ability to rise above circumstance. And even with all the exciting changes happening within film and motion pictures, with all the tools being invented that help us tell those stories. Those fundamental values that I look for and strive for will never change.
“But we all know there are changes in our industry that should be embraced. Ones that must be embraced. For as our industry grows and changes, who gets to tell their stories needs to grow and change as well. (Crowd applauds.) I know firsthand how allowing new voices at the table can change someone’s life. My opportunity to work in television was the result of a lawsuit back in 1973 filed against a station because women did not occupy any technical jobs. That lawsuit opened a door for me, and it is just one reason why I so passionately believe that each of us has the obligation to ensure that everyone who has a story to tell be given the opportunity that I and many of you in this room had. And it is my hope that with this inclusion of these powerful new voices, we might just bring the world back to its senses, just (crowd applauds), and maybe, just maybe, shatter a few glass ceilings along the way. (Crowd applauds.)
“So tonight, to end this, I just want to say, we’re profoundly grateful to be here tonight with all of you, and I mean, it’s just incredible that Oprah is here, and Quincy (Jones) is here, and we’ve worked with Marvin Levy and Steven’s here, and it feels like some kind of amazing reunion that, um, I can’t quite believe the stars lined up in quite the way they did, but there’s nothing that’s more important than to be able to experience something like this with people that you genuinely care about and have been a part of your life for a long time. So this is an incredible honor, and a privilege, and we thank you.” (Crowd applauds and rises.)