Add this to your list of favorite things: Oprah Winfrey is the recipient of the 2018 Cecil B. de Mille Award. The multi-hyphenate will take home the honor at the Golden Globe Awards on January 7. A lifetime achievement accolade, the Cecil B. de Mille Award “is given annually to a talented individual who has made an incredible impact on the world of entertainment,” a press release notes. Previous recipients include Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, and Lucille Ball.
“As a global media leader, philanthropist, producer, and actress, [Oprah Winfrey] has created an unparalleled connection with people around the world, making her one of the most respected and admired figures today,” said Hollywood Foreign Press prez Meher Tatna. “For generations, Oprah has celebrated strong female characters on and off screen, and has been a role model for women and young girls for decades. Holding titles such as Chairman, CEO, and Founder, Oprah is one of the most influential women of our time, and this honor is well deserved.”
Winfrey hosted “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. She’s the Chairman and CEO of her own cable network, OWN, and the founder of O Magazine. The mogul oversees Harpo Films and serves as a producer on OWN series “Queen Sugar” and “Greenleaf,” and has acted in projects like “Selma,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” and “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” Winfrey voices Deborah, a camel, in nativity story “The Star,” in theaters now.
In 2007 Winfrey established The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. The school provides education for gifted female students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Leadership Academy grads have gone on to receive higher education both in South Africa and around the world.
Among Winfrey’s many milestones are a Lifetime Achievement Daytime Emmy, a Special Recognition Daytime Emmy, a Golden Globe and Oscar nod for “The Color Purple,” the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, and a Primetime Emmy for producing “Tuesdays with Morrie.”
Winfrey will next appear as Mrs. Which in Ava DuVernay’s much-anticipated “A Wrinkle in Time,” out March 9. Her character, alongside Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), guides protagonist Meg (Storm Reid) as she travels through time and space to find her father (Chris Pine).
