Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks, 2 others to receive Oscars honor
Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and editor Carol Littleton will receive honorary Oscars at the motion picture academy’s annual Governors Awards in November during a ceremony that will also include the presentation of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter.
“The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to honor four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement.
“Across her decadeslong career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting. Mel Brooks lights up our hearts with his humor, and his legacy has made a lasting impact on every facet of entertainment. 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, 64, was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar this year for her turn as Queen Ramonda in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” becoming the first actor to earn academy recognition for a Marvel movie. Many pundits predicted she would win the honor that instead went to Jamie Lee Curtis for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Bassett was also nominated for lead actress for her electrifying portrayal of Tina Turner in the 1993 drama “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”
Brooks, 97, is a comedy legend, one of 18 people to belong to the EGOT club as a winner of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. Brooks’ Oscar win came for writing the original screenplay for 1967’s “The Producers.” (A later Broadway adaptation of the film earned him three Tonys.) Brooks was nominated twice in 1975 – for writing the adapted screenplay for “Young Frankenstein” and for writing the title song for “Blazing Saddles.”
Littleton, 80, earned an
Oscar nomination for her editing work on Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and collaborated with Jonathan Demme (“Beloved,” “The Manchurian Candidate”) and Lawrence Kasdan (“Body Heat,” “The Big Chill”) on multiple films. She has served as governor of the academy’s film editors branch, president and vice president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild and on the board of directors of American Cinema Editors.
The four Oscar statuettes will be given at the academy’s 14th Governors Awards on Nov. 18 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.