Actor and singer Harry Belafonte is to be honored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, for his work as a civil rights activist.
The 87-year-old will be presented with an honorary Oscar at a special ceremony this November, with Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, actress Maureen O'Hara and French screenwriter and actor Jean-Claude Carriere also set to receive lifetime awards.
"We're absolutely thrilled to honor these outstanding members of our global film-making community and look forward to celebrating with them in November," academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs has said. "The Governors Awards allow us to reflect upon not the year in film, but the achievements of a lifetime."
Belafonte has campaigned throughout his life for causes ranging from famine relief to Aids awareness, in addition to his work alongside Martin Luther King Jr in the civil rights movement. Films from Belafonte, such as Carmen Jones and Odds Against Tomorrow have all bought attention to racism and inequality.
Harry Belafonte will be honored by the Academy in November (WENN)
As well as Belafonte, Japanese animator and co-founder of the famed Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki will also receive a lifetime award, to go alongside his Oscar in 2002 for Spirited Away, which won best animated feature. The filmmaker announced his retirement in 2013, with the Oscar nominated The Wind Rises confirmed to be his last feature film.
Irish born actress Maureen O'Hara is another recipient of the honor, with the 94-year-old best known for her work with director John Ford and her onscreen chemistry with John Wayne (with whom she made five films) as well as her work in classic movies like Miracle on 34th Street and The Parent Trap.
The final honoree, 82-year-old Carriere began his career as a novelist before penning screenplays for such classics as the the short Heureux Anniversaire, which he won an Oscar for in 1962.
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