US actress Cicely Tyson accepts an honorary Oscar at the 10th Annual Governors Awards gala hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the the Dolby Theater at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, California on November 18, 2018. (Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Steven Spielberg teased Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall about the beginnings of their relationship, actress Cicely Tyson brought more than a few people to tears while proudly clutching her Oscar and publicist Marvin Levy sang a few lines from “Hamilton” to an audience that included Lin-Manuel Miranda at a lively Governors Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles.
The event honoring the careers of film industry legends Tyson, Levy and composer Lalo Schifrin brought some of Hollywood’s biggest names — Oprah, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood among them — to the Ray Dolby Ballroom in the heart of Hollywood to reminisce, laugh and schmooze without the pressure, as Hanks said, of “being nervous about who is going to win.”
The Governors Awards celebrate the careers of a few entertainment veterans who have not yet won an Academy Award by bestowing them with an honorary Oscar statuette. Recipients are voted on by the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
For the 93-year-old Tyson, it was a half lifetime coming. It had been 45 years since her first and only nomination, for “Sounder” in 1972.
“This is a culmination of all those years of haves and have-nots,” Tyson said, noting that she’ll be turning 94 next month.
The private, untelevised dinner gala at the Hollywood & Highland complex has also become an important stop on the campaign trail to the Academy Awards for some of the year’s awards hopefuls, making the event one of the most star-studded of the season.
Tyler Perry, Ava DuVernay and Quincy Jones presented Tyson with the award. DuVernay called Tyson “the seed for so many of us, the rose that we adore.”
Qunicy Jones called her ‘Hollywood royalty.” “Her work, grace, dignity, class, humility and profound professionalism firmly placed her on the pedestal of Hollywood royalty, and now, at long last, I could not be more honored to say that tonight, Cicely Tyson receives her more than well-deserved Oscar,” Jones said.
