Sunday, September 13, 2009

Sunday Brunch #3 - Lauren Bacall Among 2009 Honorary Academy Award Recipients

Today's Sunday brunch is in celebration of some news that broke this week. So grab a spot of tea and some crumpets - and enjoy the show. Lauren Bacall, whose was among the top leading ladies in film noir movies and was married to screen legend Humphrey Bogart, is to get an Honorary Oscar from The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They voted to honor Bacall with an honorary Oscar, along with other Hollywood figures. Bacall, 84, has never received an Oscar. She was nominated for her supporting role in the 1996 movie The Mirror Has Two Faces. She starred in over 30 films during her storied career, including many classics including To Have and Have Not , Key Largo and Woman of the Year.

The Board of Governors also voted to award honorary Oscars to producer and director Roger Corman and cinematographer Gordon Willis, and to give the Irving G Thalberg Memorial award to producer and movie executive John Calley.

The honorary Oscars that Bacall, Corman and Willis will receive are to honor "extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement" or service to the motion picture academy. The Thalberg Award was created to honor producers who create "high quality" work, the academy said. All four will receive their awards on November 14 at an event in Hollywood. Organizers of the Oscars created the event to hand out those statues ahead of the Academy Awards in March and scale down the time of the annual telecast.

Even though some detractors may opine that these 'honorary' Oscars are given to elder screen legends who have 'one foot in the grave,' - and that may have some credence, but no matter how you slice it... Bacall is very deserving for what she gave during her career and I am pleased as punch that she is getting her due.

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