Cinematic greats get their due
Moments you missed at the Governors Awards.
LOS ANGELES – This year’s Oscar hopefuls Lady Gaga, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman walked the red carpet for the official start of awards season Sunday night.
But the 10th annual Governors Awards put the spotlight on the careers of cinematic greats, bestowing honorary Oscars upon legendary actress Cicely Tyson, Argentinian composer Lalo Schifrin, producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, and publicist Marvin Levy in the Ray Dolby Ballroom.
Here are the moments you missed at the star-studded event.
Clint Eastwood started his own talk show from the stage.
With Oprah Winfrey in the audience, Clint Eastwood turned talk-show host from the podium while bestowing the honorary Oscar on Schifrin, who wrote the scores for films such as “Cool Hand Luke,” “Dirty Harry” and the famous theme to TV’s “Mission: Impossible.”
Rather than give a traditional laudatory introduction, Eastwood called Schifrin to the stage to answer questions. The podium talk session went well between the two, who have collaborated on eight films.
“You got this guy right here, you can take him home. You can go around and show people. Put it on the front of your car,” said Eastwood, looking at Schifrin’s Oscar. “What do you think?”
“Well, it’s been really nice talking to you,” Schifrin said, earning a big laugh.
“Here you go,” Eastwood said, handing over the trophy. “Do you have anything you want to say?”
Schifrin did make a serious speech, calling the award a “culmination of a dream. It is a mission accomplished.”
Cicely Tyson brought the audience to tears.
Pioneering African-American actress Cicely Tyson discussed how she was brought to “Niagara Falls”-type waterworks when she found about her honorary Oscar. Tyson, who turns 94 next month, brought the audience to tears with her emotional acceptance speech.
“The Help” and “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” star talked about her first Oscar nomination 45 years ago for “Sounder” and how she yearned to show her stern mother she had made it as an actress.
Before her mother died, she told Tyson she was proud.
“I think if I had not heard those words from her, none of this would make a difference to me,” said Tyson, showing off her trophy to the heavens. “I know you didn’t want me to do this. But I did. And here it is.”
Steven Spielberg gave the origins of the Hollywood’s power couple.
Steven Spielberg gave more than expected in introducing his longtime collaborators, producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, who have been married for 31 years and jointly won the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
The trio co-founded Amblin Productions in 1981, and Spielberg described the beginning of the couple’s relationship.
“I walked into my office and saw the two of them making out on my couch. From where I stood and what I saw, suddenly I’m the third wheel,” Spielberg said as the audience gave a surprised laugh.
“I’m not sure I’m going to recover from the couch story,” Kennedy said as she accepted her award. But the president of Lucasfilm brought the audience to its feet when talking about the filmmaking award’s significance.
“We’re very honored to share the Thalberg award as a married couple. And I’m also very honored to be the first woman to accept this honor,” Kennedy said, stopping for the standing ovation that followed her words. “But I’m also not the first to deserve this. And I’m 100 percent sure I’m not the last to win it.”
Tom Hanks gave thanks for a great publicist.
It took actor Tom Hanks to explain why Marvin Levy was the first publicist to receive an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“If you worked for Marvin, you have been told what to say, or you are given hints of what to say. And you have been told what NOT to say,” Hanks said. “Pay attention to what he says on both of these.”
Levy called the honorary Oscar “the most surprising and exciting award I can imagine.”