US actress Angela Bassett (64) and American comedian legend Mel Brooks (96) will be awarded honorary Oscars this year. The film editor Carol Littleton (81) is also honored with the “Honorary Award”, as the Oscar Academy in Beverly Hills announced. Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter is set to receive the Jean Hersholt Award for her work in independent film. The trophies will be presented at the Governors Awards Gala on November 18th in Los Angeles.
There is no competition for the honorary Oscars, but the academy selects people who have made a special contribution to film and society.
Bassett was twice nominated for an Oscar in her long career, but always went away empty-handed. Her screen role as Tina Turner in the biopic “Tina – What’s Love Got To Do With It?” earned her a Best Actress nomination in 1994. This year, the actress was in the running for the Supporting Actor Oscar for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Brooks belongs to “EGOT” artists
Comedy star Brooks is known for cult films such as “Frankenstein Junior” or “The Wild Wild West”. His slapstick directorial debut “The Producers” (1968, “Spring for Hitler”) about Nazis, show girls and Broadway producers earned him an Oscar for best screenplay. The multi-talent belongs to the small group of “EGOT” artists who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
Littleton has worked as an editor on dozens of films, including “Hot Blood In Cold Blood” and “The Big Frustration.” She earned an Oscar nomination for editing Steven Spielberg’s 1982 sci-fi film E.T.
According to the Film Academy, Satter has been committed to the independent scene at the Sundance Institute for over 40 years. It was said that she had promoted many talents from all over the world. The special prize, named after the Danish-American actor and philanthropist Jean Hersholt (1886 – 1956), is only awarded at irregular intervals. Since the mid-1950s there have been 43 recipients, including Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie and Harry Belafonte.
Last year, this award went to US actor Michael J. Fox (62). The “Back to the Future” star, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, was recognized for his efforts in the fight against the nervous disease.
