Honorary Awards to Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin, Piero Tosi

[anonymous1980]

I don't quite see Harrison Ford as a career achievement winner. He has been lucky enough to star in two successful franchises and several other box office hits which have made him very wealthy, but a great actor? Nah.

He's still a big, beloved movie star and unlike some of his contemporaries, he managed to eke out a fairly respectable career.

Doris Day is something of a recluse and for all we know has been queried behind the scenes about a possible honorary award which she has been reluctant to accept.

Being reluctant to accept didn't stop them from honoring Jean Luc Godard. He even openly bashed the Oscars. Doris Day isn't completely closed off though. She did accept a special award from L.A. Film Critics or something and appeared via Skype but in audio only.

Her screen legend is as a character actress who in her most famous role, the 12 year TV run of Murder, She Wrote brought out the best of her character acting and at her insistence gave late, often last, career opportunities to older character actors and actresses.

Don't forget her performance as Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast.

Angelina Jolie seems awfully young to be receiving an Honorary Award even if it's a Jean Hersholt. She has to be the youngest to receive a non-juvenile/non-special achievement honorary award of any kind at the Oscars (Hersholt, Thalberg, Honorary Oscar).

[Big Magilla]

I don't quite see Harrison Ford as a career achievement winner. He has been lucky enough to star in two successful franchises and several other box office hits which have made him very wealthy, but a great actor? Nah. Why Debbie Reynolds hasn't been given a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian award by now is a mystery. Doris Day is something of a recluse and for all we know has been queried behind the scenes about a possible honorary award which she has been reluctant to accept. On the other hand, with Angela Lansbury finally recognized, she may be next.

I've always felt that the proper presentation of a Life Achievement Award to Lansbury should be in conjunction with a tribute to other major character players from Hollywood's Golden Age among whom she has long been the sole survivor. Her star career on film was late in coming and did not last. Only 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks was a hit among her starring roles. Her screen legend is as a character actress who in her most famous role, the 12 year TV run of Murder, She Wrote brought out the best of her character acting and at her insistence gave late, often last, career opportunities to older character actors and actresses. However, a career achievement award for a woman who started out as a character actress on film then became a huge Broadway star and an even bigger TV star at an age when most of her contemporaries had already retired or were about to, certainly deserves recognition from the industry from which she built her extraordinary career. The real crime is that it will be behind closed doors from which we may see clips at best, not the full court of the annual awards where should be recognized. A bow on Oscar night is not enough.

[Okri]

I sorta see where you're coming from, Filmfan, though with caveats

a) I have a hard time really figuring out how Oscar should honour those who worked outside the English language. Uri's right, of course, to suggest that AMPAS can't/doesn't really go for the best of foreign language productions, so much as what is most palatable and narrowed down via distribution choices, but that's also true of English language productions (just not to the same extent). The Oscars are essentially a Hollywood prize, so I'm fine with the choices being predominantly Hollywood (so yes, von Sydow and Denevue - not to mention Huppert, Ullman, and a whole host of directors, have more noteworthy careers that deserve recognition)

b) Of the remaining performers you listed, I'd have no problem with her being selected above Reynolds, Day, Rowlands, or even Ford. But that's just a personal preference thing.

[OscarGuy]

If Warners can get their shit together. He has a chance for another nomination for "42" this year, though I'm doubtful he could win.

[mlrg]

I think it's a very strong selection of recepients, but I'm starting to think Harrison Ford is due for one of these.

[Precious Doll]

Steve Martin is very deserving.

Interesting trivia is that he holds the record for winning the most major film critics award and to have never been nominated for an Oscar.

The wins were for:

1984 Best Actor from New York & NSFC for All of Me
1987 Best Actor from NSFC & LA for Roxanne

4 Awards = No Oscar nominations.

[FilmFan720]

Very happy for Steve Martin's selection...to me, that is exactly what the Honorary Oscars are for.

I don't want to be the contrarian here, but I have never understood the ridiculously large push for Angela Lansbury to get one of these, and I don't really feel too great that she is receiving it this year. I love Angela Lansbury, and I think she is a living legend...but it isn't like she has had one of the great FILM acting careers or that her place in cinema history is that important...not when compared to people like Doris Day, Max von Sydow, Catherine Deneuve, Harrison Ford, Albert Finney, Debbie Reynolds or Gena Rowlands.

[The Original BJ]

Pretty strong group of choices.

Angela Lansbury is, of course, best-remembered for The Manchurian Candidate, but it's not as if the films that garnered her those first two nominations are in any way forgotten. Plus, her indelible voice work in Beauty and the Beast introduced her to a whole new generation of moviegoers. It's true she made even more significant contributions to the stage and television (especially in recent decades), but she strikes me as a perfect candidate for Oscar's Honorary prize -- she's had a LONG film career, with a handful of peaks, and should have won an Oscar for one of those.

Yes, Steve Martin does seem a bit young...but the man's still waiting on his first NOMINATION, and he's definitely done enough good work as an actor and writer over the years that it's nice that the Academy is finally recognizing him in some way.

I don't have much to add that hasn't been said about Tosi -- his work with Visconti in film after film was superb.

And Angelia Jolie's charity work is pretty much beyond reproach. (And, for all the tabloid drama that surrounds her, she has quite a lovely reputation within the industry...so, yay!)

[Sonic Youth]

Congratulations, Oscar Guy. You were what first came to mind when I heard the news.

[ksrymy]

When was the last time a costume designer won an honorary (or have any)?

Despite her million wins, you think they would have honored Edith Head with an Honorary Oscar.

[OscarGuy]

Hooray for Angela! It's about fucking time. I've been moaning about that for a long time.

And why would you have to look up Oscar nominee Tosi? He's discussed in the news release. 5 Oscars. No wins. And since the first two are actors, it makes since the third is a tech. When was the last time a costume designer won an honorary (or have any)?

[Mister Tee]

To comment further:

Lansbury's obviously been waiting a long time. I don't know if she maybe won a Golden Globe or something along the way, but she never triumphed at the Emmys or Oscars, so this can be for all her big and small screen work. In pure cinema terms, she's clearly remembered for Manchurian Candidate above all, and maybe that's enough. How many other performers have left some indelible mark on, as they used to say, Stage, Screen and Television?

Steve Martin seems a bit young for this, and you have to figure his multiple hosting gigs gave him an in with the Board of Governors. But, thinking it over: he's been making films for 34 years now. It's said the Oscars never much honored films' comic talents -- Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Cary Grant, Groucho all had to wait for honorary prizes late in life. Martin may not seem in the same class, but 1) comics are always appreciated more in hindsight than present day and 2) who else in the years he's covered would stand out more?

It's hard to argue with Jolie's credentials for this award. Few performers have been as visibly active in as many causes.

I always thought Tosi was the second place finisher for best costumes in 1971, so it's high time he was honored, as well. (Especially for his long line of work with Visconti)

[Mister Tee]

...and the Hersholt to Angelina Jolie.

I bet alot of people have to look up Piero Tosi.


http://variety.com/2013/film/news/angel ... 200598302/