The film Academy is reviving its Governors Awards after a pandemic-induced hiatus, with an A-list roster of honorary recipients. On Thursday, it was announced that the Academy will present the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Danny Glover. He’ll be recognized alongside fellow honorary Oscar recipients Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann.
Awardees for the honorary Oscars are selected by the Academy’s board of governors. Last year’s ceremony was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Both Tyler Perry and the Motion Picture & Television Fund were awarded the Jean Hersholt Award during the 93rd Academy Awards telecast.) “We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. He praised each of the four recipients, calling Jackson “a cultural icon,” before praising May’s filmmaking as “bold and uncompromising filmmaking,” Ullman’s “bravery and emotional transparency” onscreen, and Glover’s “decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights.”
Glover, 74, is being honored for his activism as both a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Although he’s never been nominated for a competitive Oscar, Glover has given decades of memorable performances in nominated films including The Color Purple, Dreamgirls, and The Royal Tenenbaums. He becomes only the fifth Black recipient of the Jean Hersholt honor, following Quincy Jones, Oprah Winfrey, Harry Belafonte and Perry.
Despite countless indelible performances, Jackson, 72, has only been nominated for one Oscar, in the best supporting actor race for 1994’s Pulp Fiction. He’s also grounded the Marvel Universe as Nick Fury, battled motherf— snakes on a motherf— plane, and worked with director Spike Lee enough times to casually alert him of a Knicks victory during the 2019 Oscars.
May is the ultimate triple threat, beginning her career as an improv comedian in the ‘50s alongside Mike Nichols. Since their professional split in 1961 (he went on to score five Oscar nods, winning a director statue for 1967’s The Graduate), the 89-year-old has made a name for herself as a writer/director. May earned best adapted screenplay Oscar nominations for 1979’s Heaven Can Wait and 1999’s Primary Colors.
Ullmann has been nominated for two competitive Oscars, both in the best actress category. She was recognized for her performances in 1973’s The Emigrants and 1976’s Face to Face and has appeared in several Ingmar Bergman classics, including Persona and The Passions of Anna. In 2014, the now 82-year-old directed Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell in the period drama Miss Julie.
The Governors Awards will take place on January 15, 2022.
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