LOS ANGELES — Actress Cicely Tyson will finally receive an Oscar.
The 93-year-old acting legend will get an honorary Oscar statuette this fall at the film academy’s Governors Awards. The award will make her the first black woman to receive an honorary Oscar, according to People.
Tyson was Oscar-nominated only once for the 1972 film “Sounder.” The prolific stage and screen actress has appeared in films like “The Help” and “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”
Composer Lalo Schifrin and publicist Martin Levy will also be getting honorary Oscar statuettes at the ceremony, while producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the honorees last Wednesday after a Tuesday night vote by its board of governors.
“Choosing the honorees for its awards each year is the happiest of all the Board of Governors’ work,” academy president John Bailey said in a statement. “And this year, its selection of five iconic artists was made with universal acclaim by the Academy’s 54 spirited governors.”
The Oscar statuette is intended to “honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.” None of the honorees have been awarded an Oscar before.
Schifrin, 86, is a six-time nominee, who has composed original scores for over 100 films including “Cool Hand Luke” and “Dirty Harry.”
Levy will be the first publicist to receive an honorary Oscar. His work on the campaign for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” led to a four-decade partnership with Steven Spielberg, including on films like “Schindler’s List,” ”Saving Private Ryan” and “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.”
Also Spielberg-adjacent are Kennedy and Marshall, this year’s Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award recipients, who together have received best picture nominations for films like “The Sixth Sense,” ”Munich” and “Seabiscuit.” Kennedy, who will be the first woman to collect the Thalberg award, was also nominated for “E.T.,” ”War Horse” and “Lincoln.”
The 10th annual Governors Awards will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 18.
