The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the recipients of the 2015 Governors Awards this morning, and none other than global superstar Jackie Chan is at the top of the list.
The Board of Governors also selected legendary film editor Anne V. Coates (Oscar winner for “Lawrence of Arabia”), casting director Lynn Stalmaster (“The Graduate,” “Tootsie”) and documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman (“Titicut Follies”) for recognition this year.
In a press release, the Academy notes the honorary Oscar is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”
Chan, an icon of Hong Kong filmmaking, will be awarded an honorary Oscar along with Stalmaster and Wiseman in a ceremony in November. Best known for the “Rush Hour” franchise in the U.S., Chan has starred, written or directed in more than 30 martial arts films over his career and is still a major box office star in China. His dramatic acting abilities have often been overshadowed by his comedic talents and jaw-dropping athletic skills, but this is another surprising and impressive choice by the Academy following the long overdue selection of Spike Lee last year.
In a statement, Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs noted, “The Honorary Award was created for artists like Jackie Chan, Anne Coates, Lynn Stalmaster and Frederick Wiseman —true pioneers and legends in their crafts. The Board is proud to honor their extraordinary achievements, and we look forward to celebrating with them at the Governors Awards in November.”
Here are more details on the other honorees from The Academy’s announcement:
“A native of Reigate, England, Coates worked her way up to lead editor on a handful of features before collaborating with David Lean on “Lawrence of Arabia” and winning her first Oscar. In her more than 60 years as a film editor, she has worked side by side with many leading directors on an impressive range of films, including Sidney Lumet (“Murder on the Orient Express”), Richard Attenborough (“Chaplin”) and Steven Soderbergh (“Erin Brockovich”). She also earned four additional Oscar nominations, for “Becket,” “The Elephant Man,” “In the Line of Fire” and “Out of Sight.”
Stalmaster, a one-time stage and screen actor from Omaha, Nebraska, began working in casting in the mid-1950s. Over the next five decades, he applied his talents to more than 200 feature films, including such classics as “Inherit the Wind,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “The Graduate,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Harold and Maude,” “Deliverance,” “Coming Home,” “Tootsie” and “The Right Stuff.” He has enjoyed multiple collaborations with directors Stanley Kramer, Robert Wise, Hal Ashby, Norman Jewison and Sydney Pollack, and has been instrumental in the careers of such celebrated actors as Jon Voight, Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Wilson, Jill Clayburgh, Christopher Reeve and John Travolta.
From his home base in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Wiseman has made one film almost every year since 1967, illuminating lives in the context of social, cultural and government institutions. He created a sensation with his first documentary feature, “Titicut Follies,” which went behind the scenes at Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane. The film established an unobtrusive, observational storytelling style that has strongly identified his work, from the gritty (“Law and Order,” “Public Housing,” “Domestic Violence”) to the uplifting (“La Danse – The Paris Opera Ballet,” “National Gallery,” “In Jackson Heights”).”
The Academy’s 8th Annual Governors Awards will be held on Saturday, November 12 in Hollywood.
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