Walter Mirisch produced low-budget features for Monogram and served as executive producer with its subsidiary, Allied Artists, before forming an independent production company with his brother Marvin (born 1918) and half-brother Harold (born 1907) in 1957. The Mirisch Company, Inc. soon emerged as the preeminent independent production outfit of the period following the decline of the major Hollywood studios.
The Mirisch brothers began as producers with the "Bomba" series of low-budget films, starring Johnny Sheffield, formerly 'Boy' in the "Tarzan" movies, as well as with action and Western movies. Walter Mirisch also supervised, as Allied Artists head of production, such classics as "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956). When they opened their own shop, the Mirisch Company offered, at first, Westerns, beginning with "Fort Massacre" (1958) and "Gunfight at Dodge City" (1958). But they soon became more ambitious. Walter Mirisch was executive producer of "The Magnificent Seven" (1960), the same year the Mirisch Company produced Billy Wilder's "The Apartment", which won the Best Picture Oscar. The Mirisch Company's 1961 release, "West Side Story", also won the Oscar for Best Picture. In 1967, Mirisch, himself, produced the Academy Award-winning Best Picture, "In the Heat of the Night", starring Rod Steiger as a Southern sheriff forced to forge a relationship and take help from a northern African American police lieutenant (Sidney Poitier). Mirisch continued producing motion pictures into the 70s, including "Serpico" (1973), with firmed Al Pacino's star status after "The Godfather", and an ambitious rendition of "Dracula" (1979).
Although Mirisch had produced the "Wichita Town" NBC series, starring Joel McCrea, in 1959, the Mirisch Company did not get into TV on a regular basis until the 80s, when Mirisch was executive producer of a series of "Desperado" TV-movies. The company remained active in TV into the 90s, and in 1996 offered "A Case for Life," a telefilm about two sisters, one who is pregnant and is against abortion, and one who is pro-choice.
Key directors associated with The Mirisch Company during the years included Billy Wilder, John Huston, Blake Edwards and Norman Jewison. Notable films produced directly by Mirisch or which he supervised include "Fiddler on the Roof" (1971), "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming" (1968), "The Pink Panther" (1964), "The Children's Hour" (1964), "Some Like It Hot" (1959) and "Toys in the Attic" (1963). Mirisch was also known for his many activities in the entertainment industry. He served four terms as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and three terms as president of the Producers Guild of America.