Gregory Peck Atticus Finch, a Depression-era lawyer and widowed father, in a film adaptation of the Harper Lee novel "To Kill a Mockingbird". Released in 1962 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the Southern United States, this film and his role were Peck's favorites. In 2003, Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch was named the greatest film hero of the past 100 years by the American Film Institute. Peck served as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1967, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute from 1967 to 1969, Chairman
In the Heat of the Night (film) The film was followed by two sequels, "They Call Me Mister Tibbs!" in 1970, and "The Organization" in 1971. In 1988, it also became the basis of a television series adaptation of the same name. Although the film was set in the fictional Mississippi town of Sparta (with supposedly no connection to the real Sparta, Mississippi), most of the movie was filmed in Sparta, Illinois, where many of the film's landmarks can still be seen. The quote "They call me "Mister Tibbs!" was listed as number 16 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Movie Quotes", a list of top