Academy to honor Jolie as 'impassioned' social advocate

Angelina Jolie at the world premiere of her fiance Brad Pitt's film World War Z in London on June 2. Neil Hall / Reuters

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is to give a humanitarian award to Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie for her "impassioned" campaigning work, the Oscar-bestowing body announced on Thursday.

The academy's board of governors will also give honorary awards to veteran actors Steve Martin and Angela Lansbury, as well as Italian costume designer Piero Tosi, whose work includes the 1971 classic Death in Venice.

Jolie, who won the best supporting actress Oscar in 2000 for her role in Girl, Interrupted, has been an "impassioned advocate for humanitarian causes, traveling widely to promote organizations and social justice efforts", the academy said.

The actress, whose partner is Brad Pitt and who announced in May that she had undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her high risk of breast cancer, has staked out "a career at the nexus of entertainment and philanthropy", it said.

Jolie has worked for advocacy groups including the Council on Foreign Relations and was named a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2012 after 12 years of service, it noted.

She will be given the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, previous recipients of which include Jeffrey Katzenberg, Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Lewis, Sherry Lansing, Arthur Miller, Quincy Jones, Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor.

Jolie welcomed the honor. "Angie feels very honored to be recognized by the Academy for her humanitarian work," a spokesman for the actress said.

The academy will also present honorary awards to 68-year-old comic actor Martin, who has hosted the Oscars three times; three-times Oscar nominee Lansbury, 87, and 86-year-old Tosi, whose other Oscar-nominated costume design credits include La Cage Aux Folles (1978).

The honorary award 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".

Lansbury made her feature debut in 1944 with Gaslight, and her credits include The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Death on the Nile (1978) and, most recently, 2011's Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Highlights of Martin's long career as actor, writer, comedian and musician include The Jerk (1979), Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), Three Amigos (1986), Roxanne (1987) and two The Pink Panther films, in 2006 and 2009.

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award rewards "an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry".

All four awards, which come in the form of Oscar statuettes like those given out at the Academy Awards, will be presented at the academy's fifth Annual Governors Awards on Nov 16.

The 2014 Academy Awards, the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season, will be held on March 2 next year.