AFI Life Achievement Award

AFI Life Achievement Award
Awarded for	Honoring an individual whose career in motion pictures or television has greatly contributed to the enrichment of American culture.
Location	Los Angeles
Presented by	American Film Institute
First awarded	1973
Official website	AFI Life Achievement Award
Television coverage
Network	TV Land

The AFI Life Achievement Award was established by the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute on February 26, 1973 to honor a single individual for his or her lifetime contribution to enriching American culture through motion pictures and television.

The Trustees initially specified that the recipient must be one who fundamentally advanced the art of film and whose achievements had been acknowledged by the general public as well as by film scholars and critics and the individual's peers. The Trustees also specified that the work of the recipient must have withstood the test of time.

History of the award

Director John Ford was the unanimous choice of the Board of Trustees for the first award as he "clearly stands preeminent in the history of motion pictures." President Richard M. Nixon attended the gala dinner at which Ford was presented the award on March 31, 1973.

The Board of Trustees later amended the "test of time" requirement to enable the AFI Life Achievement Award to be presented to individuals with active careers, such as Tom Hanks, who at age 45, was the youngest recipient ever, and Steven Spielberg, who received the award at age 48.

All Life Achievement Award ceremonies have been televised. Agreeing to appear at the televised ceremony apparently is part of the AFI's criteria for selecting the award. The televised ceremony generates income for the AFI, which is no longer funded by the US federal government. Due to the exigencies of television, the popularity of the award recipient in terms of potential ratings likely is a factor in selecting the Life Achievement Award honoree, which could explain why it never has been awarded to such major American directors as Robert Altman and George Cukor, both of whom were Film Society of Lincoln Center Gala Tribute honorees, or such distinguished actors as Robert Redford, Gene Hackman and Doris Day, all of whom were recipients of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Cecil B. DeMille Award for life achievement. Of the first 40 honorees, only seven have been women: Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Barbara Stanwyck, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Streisand, Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine.

Politics also seems to be a factor in the award, as that likely was behind the notable omissions of Charles Chaplin, exiled from America during the Cold War for his left-wing sympathies, director Elia Kazan, controversial due to his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Cold War, Charlton Heston, whose presidency of the National Rifle Association made him unpopular in many circles, and Jane Fonda, whose activities during the Vietnam War are still controversial.

Other notable omissions were Claudette Colbert, Audrey Hepburn, Bob Hope, Paul Newman, Laurence Olivier (all of whom are recipients of a Lincoln Center Gala Tribute), Ingrid Bergman, Marlon Brando, Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Myrna Loy, Stanley Kramer, Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Lumet and John Wayne.

Several living people who appeared in or directed films in the top 10 of the AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies list have yet to receive the award including Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Donen, Olivia de Havilland, Diane Keaton, Peter O'Toole, and Debbie Reynolds. Three living actresses who were listed on AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars have not received the award: Lauren Bacall, Sophia Loren and Shirley Temple.

List of recipients

John Ford, the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

1984 recipient Lillian Gish is the only star of the silent film era to win this award.

Martin Scorsese was the 25th recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Morgan Freeman, the 39th recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The American Film Institute has awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award to one person each year since 1973. The 40th Award was presented to Shirley MacLaine on June 7, 2012, in Los Angeles. The event was broadcasted by TV Land on Sunday, June 24, 2012.

#	Year	Honoree	Age	Date of Ceremony	Network	Host
1	1973	John Ford	79	March 31, 1973	CBS	N/A
2	1974	James Cagney	74	March 31, 1974	CBS	Frank Sinatra
3	1975	Orson Welles	59	February 9, 1975	CBS	Frank Sinatra
4	1976	William Wyler	73	March 9, 1976	CBS	N/A
5	1977	Bette Davis	68	March 1, 1977	CBS	Jane Fonda
6	1978	Henry Fonda	72	March 15, 1978	CBS	N/A
7	1979	Alfred Hitchcock	79	March 7, 1979	CBS	Ingrid Bergman
8	1980	James Stewart	71	March 16, 1980	CBS	Henry Fonda
9	1981	Fred Astaire	81	April 10, 1981	CBS	David Niven
10	1982	Frank Capra	84	March 4, 1982	CBS	James Stewart
11	1983	John Huston	76	March 3, 1983	CBS	Lauren Bacall
12	1984	Lillian Gish	90	March 1, 1984	CBS	Fred Astaire
13	1985	Gene Kelly	72	March 7, 1985	CBS	Shirley MacLaine
14	1986	Billy Wilder	79	March 6, 1986	NBC	N/A
15	1987	Barbara Stanwyck	79	April 9, 1987	ABC	Jane Fonda
16	1988	Jack Lemmon	63	March 10, 1988	CBS	Julie Andrews
17	1989	Gregory Peck	72	March 9, 1989	NBC	Audrey Hepburn
18	1990	David Lean	82	N/A	ABC	N/A
19	1991	Kirk Douglas	74	March 7, 1991	CBS	Michael Douglas
20	1992	Sidney Poitier	65	March 12, 1992	NBC	Harry Belafonte
21	1993	Elizabeth Taylor	61	March 11, 1993	ABC	Carol Burnett
22	1994	Jack Nicholson	56	March 3, 1994	CBS	Danny DeVito
23	1995	Steven Spielberg	48	March 2, 1995	NBC	Tom Hanks
24	1996	Clint Eastwood	65	February 29, 1996	ABC	Jim Carrey
25	1997	Martin Scorsese	54	February 20, 1997	CBS	Gregory Peck
26	1998	Robert Wise	83	February 19, 1998	NBC	Jack Lemmon
27	1999	Dustin Hoffman	61	February 18, 1999	ABC	N/A
28	2000	Harrison Ford	57	February 17, 2000	CBS	N/A
29	2001	Barbra Streisand	58	February 22, 2001	Fox	N/A
30	2002	Tom Hanks	45	June 24, 2002	USA Network	Steve Martin
31	2003	Robert De Niro	59	June 12, 2003	USA Network	Martin Scorsese
32	2004	Meryl Streep	54	June 21, 2004	USA Network	N/A
33	2005	George Lucas	60	June 9, 2005	USA Network	Melissa Disney (voice)
34	2006	Sean Connery	75	June 8, 2006	USA Network	James Earl Jones
35	2007	Al Pacino	67	June 7, 2007	USA Network	N/A
36	2008	Warren Beatty	71	June 12, 2008	USA Network	N/A
37	2009	Michael Douglas	64	June 11, 2009	TV Land	N/A
38	2010	Mike Nichols	78	June 10, 2010	TV Land	N/A
39	2011	Morgan Freeman	74	June 9, 2011	TV Land	Betty White
40	2012	Shirley MacLaine	78	June 7, 2012	TV Land	N/A
41	2013	Mel Brooks	86	June 15, 2013	TNT	N/A

External links

• The AFI Life Achievement Awards official website