James Earl Jones, Dick Smith and Oprah Winfrey To Receive Academy’s Governors Awards

Aug 02, 2011 by Ian Evans

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have voted to present Honorary Awards to actor James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to philanthropist Oprah Winfrey. The trio will receive their honours at the Academy’s 3rd Annual Governors Awards dinner on Saturday, November 12.

Jones, whose voice is known the world over, made his film debut in 1964’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. A star of over 50 films, he earned an Academy Award® nomination in 1970 for his role as boxer Jack Jefferson in The Great White Hope. Besides appearing onscreen, he’s equally famous for voicing Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies.

Dick Smith a.k.a. the “godfather of makeup,” started his career in 1945 as NBC’s first makeup man and went on to work in legendary films like The Godfather, The Exorcist and Taxi Driver. He won an Oscar® in 1984 for his work on Amadeus, and received a nomination for Dad in 1989.

To those who might have been living under a rock for the last quarter century, TV host and producer Oprah Winfrey earned an Oscar nomination for her debut film performance in The Color Purple. Oprah has used her fame, influence and money to bring attention to issues that affect women and children, both in the United States and around the globe. Her philanthropic efforts have included Oprah’s Angel Network, the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, which opened in South Africa in 2007.