Donald Sutherland to receive honorary Oscar

The Academy said Wednesday that Donald Sutherland's career was worthy of an honorary Oscar because he had become one of Hollywood's most memorable faces.

The 82-year-old, two-time Golden Globe winner got his break in 1967 with "The Dirty Dozen." He then went on to star in memorable films such as "M*A*S*H*" (1970), "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978), "The Italian Job" (2003) and "The Hunger Games" (2012) in a career that has spanned six decades.

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Sutherland will receive the honorary Oscar at the Academy's 9th Annual Governors Awards in Los Angeles on November 11, along with three co-winners: writer-director Charles Burnett, cinematographer Owen Roizman and filmmaker Agnes Varda.

"This year's Governors Awards reflect the breadth of international, independent and mainstream filmmaking, and are tributes to four great artists whose work embodies the diversity of our shared humanity," said Academy President John Bailey.

None of the winners has received an Oscar before, added Bailey.

Independent filmmaker Burnett, 73, is known for his portrayals of the African-American experience. The 80-year-old Roizman is a five-time Oscar nominee with a number of well-known titles to his name, including "The Exorcist" (1973) and "Tootsie" (1982).

Belgium-born Varda, 89, is considered the "mother of the French New Wave." She wrote and directed her first feature film in 1956 with no formal training.

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Jackie Chan, Lauren Bacall, Francis Ford Coppola, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie and Spike are among the past winners of the honorary Oscars.

Since 2009, the honorary Oscars have been awarded in a separate Governors Awards event in order to afford the winners greater attention and reduce the program of the main Oscars ceremony, which will next take place on March 4, 2018.

kbm/cmb (AP, AFP)