LOS ANGELES _ The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday that it will present its annual honorary Governors Awards to actor Jackie Chan, film editor Anne V. Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.
The Governors Awards, which were once a part of the Oscars telecast and are now handed out in a separate ceremony, are 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."
A charismatic global box-office star known for his martial arts prowess and flair for comedy, Chan, 62, has appeared in more than 150 movies over the course of his career. Long renowned in his native Hong Kong for classic kung fu films such as 1978's "Drunken Master," he crossed over to Hollywood success with the 1996 action hit "Rumble in the Bronx," going on to star in films such as "Rush Hour," "Shanghai Noon" and the remake of "The Karate Kid."
In more than six decades as a film editor, the British Coates, 90, has collaborated with numerous top directors including David Lean, Sidney Lumet, David Lynch and Steven Soderbergh. She won an Academy Award for her work on Lean's 1963 epic "Lawrence of Arabia" and has earned four additional Oscar nominations for "Becket," "The Elephant Man," "In the Line of Fire" and "Out of Sight."
A onetime actor, Stalmaster, 88, has cast more than 200 movies since the mid-1950s, including "In the Heat of the Night," "The Graduate," "Deliverance," "Coming Home," "Tootsie," "The Right Stuff" and "Superman."
One of the most influential and celebrated documentary filmmakers in cinematic history, Wiseman, 86, earned renown with his 1967 debut feature, "Titicut Follies," which went behind the scenes at a hospital for the criminally insane. That film established Wiseman's fly-on-the-wall observational style, which he has since used to illuminate various social, cultural and government institutions in films such as "High School," "Law and Order," "Public Housing" and "La Danse."
Last year's Governors Awards honorees were director Spike Lee and actress Gena Rowlands.
The Governors Awards will be handed out at a dinner on Nov. 12, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center.
