Angela Bassett did not win an Oscar for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but before the year is out she is going to get an Oscar statue of her very own. On Monday, June 26, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (more commonly referred to as The Oscars or the Academy Awards) announced that Angela Bassett was one of four recipients of honorary Oscars; the others are writer/director/producer Mel Brooks, editor Carol Littleton and Sundance Institute founding director Michelle Satter.
The Academy shared the news via social media.
Presenting the 14th annual Governors Award honorees:• Angela Bassett• Mel Brooks• Carol Littleton• Michelle Satter (Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award)The 14th annual Governors Awards will be held on November 18th, 2023. https://t.co/2Ly3OSCzIcJune 26, 2023
These annual honorary awards are meant to recognize individuals for their life's work in and impact on the movie industry.
Bassett was of course just nominated for Best Supporting Actress for playing Queen Ramonda in the Marvel sequel (Everything Everywhere All at Once's Jamie Lee Curtis won the award). That was her second Oscar nomination, with her first coming for Best Actress in the 1993 movie What's Love Got to Do With It, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Bassett is also known in her career for roles in Boyz n the Hood, Malcolm X, Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back. She is also a multiple-time Emmy nominee for American Horror Story, Master of None and The Rosa Parks Story. She currently stars in 9-1-1.
Mel Brooks is the other big name receiving an honorary Oscar this year. The famed comedian (we made a list of some of our favorite Mel Brooks jokes from his movies) is known for writing and directing classic movies like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs and The Producers; he actually previously won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The Producers. He is also a bit of a producer himself, having helped bring movies like The Elephant Man, The Fly and more to the screen. Brooks, who turns 97 on June 28, is still working, most recently on History of the World Part II.
Not as well known to most but certainly deserving of her Oscar is Carol Littleton, who worked her whole career as an editor. She was nominated for one Oscar for editing E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, but she worked on 39 projects throughout her career, including Body Heat, The Big Chill, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Other Boleyn Girl and the HBO movies All the Way and My Dinner with Hervé.
Receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award this year is Michelle Satter. The award is given to "an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry." As a founding director of the Sundance Institute, Satter has helped foster the careers of filmmakers all over the world. She also is the founder of Sundance Collab, a global digital storytelling community and learning platform.
These four honorees will receive their Oscars on November 18 at the 2023 Governors Awards. These used to be included as part of the traditional Oscar broadcast, but that has not been the case sadly for a number of years.
