James Earl Jones, Oprah Winfrey to Receive Honorary Oscars

James Earl Jones and Oprah Winfrey, along with make-up artist Dick Smith, have been named as the 2011 honorary Oscar recipients. They will receive their awards at the third annual Governors Awards dinner and ceremony, to be held at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center on Saturday, November 12.

Winfrey will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry. Winfrey produced the Broadway musical The Color Purple. She is best known as the host of the Emmy Award-winning The Oprah Winfrey Show and head of The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). She has acted in film and television, most notably as Sofia in the film version of The Color Purple.

Jones will receive an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement. He has received Tony Awards for his performances in Fences and The Great White Hope, and a Tony Award nomination for On Golden Pond. He most recently appeared on Broadway in Driving Miss Daisy, and will, as previously reported, be reprising his starring role in the London revival of the play at Wyndham’s Theatre in September. He is also slated to appear in a 2012 Broadway production of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. In addition, Jones has received four Emmys, two CableACE awards, two OBIEs, five Drama Desk Awards, and a Grammy. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1992 for his services to American Culture and was an honoree of the 2002 John F. Kennedy Center Honors.

Smith is also receiving a lifetime achievement honor. He won an Oscar in 1984 for the film version of Amadeus, and was also nominated in 1989 for Dad.