Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks to get honorary Oscars

Actor Angela Bassett and veteran filmmaker Mel Brooks will receive Academy Honorary Awards this year in honour of their careers and contribution to cinema, Hollywood’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has said.

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The Academy announced it had voted to present the awards to two-time Oscar nominee Bassett and ‘The Producers’ writer Brooks, as well as to editor Carol Littleton at its Governor Awards in November.

Michelle Satter, founding senior director of the Sundance Institute’s Artist Programs, will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Presenting the 14th annual Governors Award honorees:

• Angela Bassett
• Mel Brooks
• Carol Littleton
• Michelle Satter (Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award)

The 14th annual Governors Awards will be held on November 18th, 2023. https://t.co/2Ly3OSCzIc

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) June 26, 2023

“The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to honour four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement on Monday.

“Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting. Mel Brooks lights up our hearts with his humour, and his legacy has made a lasting impact on every facet of entertainment,” Yang added.

“Carol Littleton’s career in film editing serves as a model for those who come after her. A pillar of the independent film community, Michelle Satter has played a vital role in the careers of countless filmmakers around the world.”

Bassett is known for portraying Tina Turner in ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It’, for which she got a best actress nomination, and films like ‘Waiting to Exhale’ and ‘Black Panther’. She earned a best supporting actress nod for her ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ role as Queen Ramonda this year.

Writer, director, actor and producer Brooks, who turns 98 on Wednesday, began his career writing comedy routines for Sid Caesar’s TV shows.

Brooks’s films include ‘The Producers’, for which he won an original screenplay Oscar, ‘The Twelve Chairs’, ‘Young Frankenstein’ and ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’.

Littleton is known for her Oscar-nominated work on ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ and films like ‘Body Heat’ and ‘The Manchurian Candidate’.

Satter has worked more than 40 years at the Sundance Institute, where she helped emerging filmmakers, many from under-represented communities, the Academy said.

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