The 2022 Oscars are still well over six months away, but four of the honorees have already been announced.
Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann will each receive honorary Oscars this year, while Danny Glover will be bestowed with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
May is a writer and director who wrote the screenplay for The Birdcage, while Ullmann is a director and performer who earned Oscar nominations for Best Actress for The Emigrants (1971) and Face to Face (1976).
The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Governors Awards ceremony on January 15, 2022. The Honorary Award is given “to honour extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy,” while The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is awarded “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”
This marks Jackson’s first Oscar, with the ubiquitous actor having only been nominated once before — in the Best Supporting Actor category for 1994’s Pulp Fiction. Considering he has starred in over 150 films and is the highest-grossing actor of all time, it certainly seems time for him to take home the entertainment industry’s most prestigious trophy.
His extensive resume includes films such as Coming to America (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Patriot Games (1992), Juice (1992), Menace II Society (1993), True Romance (1993), Jurassic Park (1993) and he is also well-known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee.
The actor and prolific filmmaker worked together on School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Oldboy (2013) and Chi-Raq (2015).
And, of course, he has been portraying Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2008.
Glover, who is also known by his recording stage name Childish Gambino, is receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award thanks to his enduring efforts in advocating for economic justice as well as access to healthcare and education in the United States and Africa.
In addition to his TV resume, which includes Community and Atlanta, Glover has appeared as Roger Murtaugh in the “Lethal Weapon” franchise, as Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story and as the voice of Simba in 2019’s live-action remake of The Lion King.
He has also appeared in: To Sleep with Anger, The Royal Tenenbaums, Dreamgirls, Beyond the Lights and Sorry to Bother You.
Previous recipients of the Jean Hersholt Award include Elizabeth Taylor, Angelina Jolie and Geena Davis. The 2020 recipient was Tyler Perry who delivered a rousing speech at the 93rd Academy Awards in which he urged everyone to “reject hate.”
“I refuse to hate someone because they’re Mexican or because they are Black or white,” Perry said. “Or LGBTQ. I refuse to hate someone because they’re a police officer or because they’re Asian. I would hope we would refuse hate. And I want to take this humanitarian award and dedicate it to anyone who wants to stand in the middle.”
The 94th Academy Awards are expected to take place on March 27, 2022.
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