Film News
The 2025 Governors Awards Will Honor Debbie Allen, Tom Cruise, Dolly Parton, and Wynn Thomas
The honorees are presented with an Oscar statuette.
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Los Angeles
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June 17, 2025
(© Marvin Joseph at Washington Post)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that its Board of Governors voted to present Academy Honorary Awards to choreographer/actor Debbie Allen, actor Tom Cruise, and production designer Wynn Thomas, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to musical artist Dolly Parton. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 16th Governors Awards on November 16 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood.
The Honorary Award, is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences in any discipline, or for outstanding service to the Academy.” The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities.”
Allen’s work as a choreographer includes the Academy Awards ceremony and the films Forget Paris and A Jazzman’s Blues. Her acting credits include Fame on film and Sweet Charity on Broadway.
One of the highest-grossing actors of all time, Cruise’s body of work includes Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, Risky Business, A Few Good Men, and the Mission: Impossible film series.
As a recording artist, Parton has 49 studio albums and more than 100 million records sold worldwide. As an actress, her credits include the films Nine to Five and Steel Magnolias. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recognizes Parton for her decades-long humanitarian efforts, including founding the Dollywood Foundation, which was created in 1988 to inspire the children of East Tennessee, her home state, to achieve educational success.
Thomas began his career as a production designer working on Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It, which would be the first of several collaborations between the two. Other credits include the A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, and Hidden Figures.
