# The Academy of Motion-Pict Arts & Science had instituted the Honorary Award in 1948, it was just the renaming of the Special Award which has been awarded since 1927-28 in its 1st presentation in 1929.
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| Oscar Winners in competitive categories |
www. hon or academy .comoscars.org
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| Charles Chaplin |
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| Lillian Gish a silent movie star was awarded the | Lifetime Hon Award in 1970. |
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| Sophia Loren |
The Academy's Honorary Award is given to honor "extraordinary distinction in a Lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the Motion-Picture Industry in both fields of Arts & Sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.
This Award is given at the discretion of the Board of Governors & not necessarily presented each year. The Award may be in form of a Statuette, when it does, it is presented on the day of the Oscar ceremony held each year. This category is sometimes given to a film-maker as an honor for his work & since there are no categories in the annual event category, Examples of such recipients can b found in the Choreographer Michael Kidd in 1996 or of the animator Chuck Jones in 1995 were awarded as an honor for their lifetime work.
These Awards can b given to an org, such as the National Film Board of Canada were awarded in 1998, or even to a Company, such as the Eastman Kodak which was awarded that year. The Honorary Award though isn't called the Lifetime achievement award by the Academy, it's often awarded for Life's work on films, such as Polish Dir Andrej Wajda in 1999 & to ace Dir Elia Kazan in 1998.
This Hon award may also b given for outstanding services rendered to the Academy. The Last time this type of honorary gratification endowed was in 1979, when a statuette was awarded to Hal Elias the Academy's Governor, who had served more than a quarter of a century on the Board of Governors at the AMPAS.
Other major definition of this Award is that it can also b awarded in the form of a life-membership in the Academy, a scroll, a medal, certificate or any other design chosen by the elite Board of Governors.
The John A.Bonner medal of commendation, given for outstanding service & dedication or in upholding the high standards of the Academy, as the award was instituted for such excellence in the World of Cinema, is considered an Honorary Award presented at the annual presentation of Scientific & Technical award at a dinner ceremony separate from the annual telecast.
The Hon award are also given Separately in various other names such as the Academy-Juvenile/Hon/ Special/Lifetime-Achievement/the Irving G.Thalberg/the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian/ & the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy.
The 1st Recipients of this Special Award, of which the names would change but the motive being the same to all the awards were given to Warner Bros, for producing the Jazz Singer(1927), the pioneer & outstanding all-talking picture, revolutionizing the Industry of the Movies. That same Year another pioneer film-maker Charles Chaplin received a statuette as a Special Award for writing, directing, acting, & producing, 'The Circus'(1928), as a collective accomplishment. There weren't any award of this sort in the next year & in 1931-32 Walt Disney received a statuette for the creation of Mickey Mouse.
Though not a part of the competitive category this Special, Hon, Lifetime Achievement Award is a sign of pride in the Movie-World in attaining the ultimate award for one's lifetime of dedication in the Cinema Industry.
Summary: As shared from Academy Honorary Award - eNotes.com Reference
The Academy Honorary Award, instituted in 1948 for the 21st Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award), is given by the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to celebrate motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards, although prior winners of competitive Academy Awards are not excluded from receiving the Honorary Award (e.g. Mary Pickford, Maurice Chevalier, Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness, James Stewart, Sophia Loren, Sidney Poitier, et al). Unless otherwise specified, Honorary Award recipients receive the same gold Oscar statuettes received by winners of the competitive Academy Awards.[2] Unlike the Special Achievement Award instituted in 1972, those on whom the Academy confers its Honorary Award do not have to meet "the Academy's eligibility year and deadline.
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| The Academy Award.1st Color film to win the Best-Pic category. |
http://www.enotes.com/topic/Academy_Honorary_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_clip
