Hollywood star Donald Sutherland is finally set to receive an honorary Oscar despite never being nominated in the past.
The 82-year-old has starred in a number of successful movies such as The Dirty Dozen, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, A Time To Kill and Eye of the Needle and most recently he appeared in The Hunger Games franchise as President Snow. Despite his extensive filmography Donald has never been nominated for an Academy Award.
However, the board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have decided to finally honour the actor for his incredible contributions to cinema.
The Academy’s new president John Bailey told The Hollywood Reporter, “Early in my career, I was the cinematographer on ‘Ordinary People’, and I remember when the nominations came out, I was shocked that Donald hadn’t gotten one – and I’ve been shocked many times since then.
“When you look at the incredible variety of his work and the breadth of directors that he’s worked with and he’s never been nominated.”
Donald joins writer-and-director Charles Burnett, cinematographer Owen Roizman and director Agnes Varda who will all be presented with an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in November.
The honorary award is given “to honour extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture art and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.