Honorary Oscars to go to Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks, two others

Honorary Oscars to go to Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks, Carol Littleton, Michelle Satter

A woman in an orange shirt looks at the camera.

June 26, 2023 11 AM PT

Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and editor Carol Littleton will receive honorary Oscars at the motion picture academy’s annual Governors Awards in November during a ceremony that will also include the presentation of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter.

“The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to honor four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement.

“Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting. Mel Brooks lights up our hearts with his humor, and his legacy has made a lasting impact on every facet of entertainment. Carol Littleton’s career in film editing serves as a model for those who come after her. A pillar of the independent film community, Michelle Satter has played a vital role in the careers of countless filmmakers around the world.”

Bassett, 64, was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar this year for her turn as Queen Ramonda in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” becoming the first actor to earn academy recognition for a Marvel movie. Many pundits predicted she would win the honor that instead went to Jamie Lee Curtis for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Bassett was also nominated for lead actress for her electrifying portrayal of Tina Turner in the 1993 drama “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”

Brooks, who turns 97 on Wednesday, is a comedy legend, one of 18 people to belong to the EGOT club as a winner of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. Brooks’ Oscar win came for writing the original screenplay for 1967’s “The Producers.” (A later Broadway adaptation of the film earned him three Tonys.) Brooks was nominated twice in 1975 — for writing the adapted screenplay for “Young Frankenstein” and for writing the title song for “Blazing Saddles.”

Littleton, 80, earned an Oscar nomination for her editing work on Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and collaborated with Jonathan Demme (“Beloved,” “The Manchurian Candidate”) and Lawrence Kasdan (“Body Heat,” “The Big Chill”) on multiple films. She has served as governor of the academy’s film editors branch, president and vice president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild and on the board of directors of American Cinema Editors.

As founding director of the Sundance Institute’s artist programs, Satter has worked with dozens of Hollywood’s top filmmakers at the formative stages of their careers over the past four decades. Ryan Coogler, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert are just a handful of a long list of storytellers she has helped foster.

Satter has also led the Sundance Institute’s international initiatives in Asia, Europe, India, Latin America and the Middle East. She established and manages the vision and content of Sundance Collab, a global digital storytelling community and learning platform.

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, 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.”

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”

The four Oscar statuettes will be given at the academy’s 14th Governors Awards on Nov. 18 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.