Legendary actress Cicely Tyson and mega-producer Kathleen Kennedy will be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Tyson will be presented with an honorary Oscar and Kennedy the Irving G. Thalberg Award at the 10th annual Governors Awards.
The honorary Oscar is a lifetime achievement award given to those who have worked in motion picture arts and sciences and/or served in the Academy. Tyson will take home the prize after nearly 70 years in show business. She received an Academy Award nod for best actress for “Sounder” in 1973. She’s won Emmys for “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” and “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All” and been nominated for her work in “How to Get Away with Murder,” “The Trip to Bountiful,” “A Lesson Before Dying,” and more.
“Roots,” “East Side/West Side,” “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,” “The River Niger,” and “The Help,” are also among her more than 90 screen credits.
Past honorary Oscar recipients include Agnès Varda, Angela Lansbury, Maureen O’Hara, Gena Rowlands, and Lauren Bacall.
Kennedy is the first woman to receive the Thalberg Award, which celebrates producers “whose body of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.” Kennedy has 94 producing credits to her name, on projects ranging from “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” to “Persepolis” to “The Color Purple” to “Schindler’s List.” She has received eight best picture Oscar nods as well as three PGA Awards.
Kennedy co-founded Amblin Productions and formed production company Kennedy/Marshall with her husband, Frank Marshall — 2018’s other Thalberg recipient — in 1991. The Lucasfilm prez was among the first people to call for industry-wide change and zero tolerance for sexual harassment after Harvey Weinstein’s accusers came forward.
The Governors Awards will be held November 18 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood.
