Michael J. Fox earns Academy humanitarian award; Diane Warren finally wins her Oscar

 

Songwriter Diane Warren, who has set an Academy Award record for most best song nominations without a win, will finally receive her Oscar at the upcoming Governors Awards.

Warren will receive a career achievement Oscar award, along with filmmaker Euzhan Palcy and director Peter Weir, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday.

"Back to the Future" star Michael J. Fox will receive the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

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Diane Warren:Earns 'Susan Lucci of the Oscars' crown despite 'one of my best songs'

Fox, 61, has been an outspoken advocate and open about his battle with Parkinson's disease since first getting diagnosed at 29.

"Michael J. Fox’s tireless advocacy of research on Parkinson’s disease alongside his boundless optimism exemplifies the impact of one person in changing the future for millions," the Academy release stated. The award is given to an individual "whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry."

Fox announced earlier this year that he would no longer be taking acting roles due to the decline in his memory skills because of the disease.

Warren, 65, added to her record-setting best song nominations at the 2022 Oscars with a nod for "Somehow You Do," performed by country music singer Reba McEntire in the drama "Four Good Days." The song lost out to the James Bond theme "No Time to Die." 

The songwriter has earned a nomination in each of the last five decades since 1987, totaling 13 nods without a win, featuring collaborations with Cher, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson, Lady Gaga, John Legend and Carlos Santana.

Palcy, the writer, director and producer born in Martinique in the French West Indies, won the Silver Lion at the 1983 Venice Film Festival for her first film "Sugar Cane Alley," a first for a Black director. Palcy directed "A Dry White Season” at the height of apartheid in South Africa, becoming the first Black woman to direct a film for a major Hollywood studio. Palcy’s work has been "an inspiration to filmmakers, contemporary artists and novelists," according to the Academy release.

The visionary Australian filmmaker Weir earned Oscar nominations for "Witness," "Dead Poets Society," "The Truman Show" and "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," for which he also received a best picture nomination. His other notable films include “The Way Back,” “Fearless,” “The Mosquito Coast,” “The Year of Living Dangerously” and “Gallipoli.”

The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the 13th Governors Awards on Nov. 19.

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