Oscars governors vote on honorary awards

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have handed out its first Oscars of the season.

The academy's board of governors voted to present honorary Academy Awards to legendary stunt performer Hal Needham, arts advocate George Stevens Jr. and documentarian D.A. Pennebaker.

The governors also voted to present the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for philanthropy to producer and former studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Needham has worked on more than 300 feature films including "The Spirit of St. Louis," "How the West Was Won," "Blazing Saddles," "Little Big Man" and "Chinatown." In 1986, Needham received a Scientific and Engineering Award from the academy for his design and development work on the Shotmaker Elite camera car and crane, which allows versatility in shooting action sequences.

Pennebaker is considered a pioneer of modern nonfiction film, and has been making documentaries for six decades. He was nominated for an Oscar for 1993's "The War Room."

Stevens is the founding director of the American Film Institute and co-founded the Kennedy Center Honors, which he has produced for 34 years. He was nominated for an Oscar for producing the documentary short subject "The Five Cities of June."

Katzenberg. the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, is a longtime philanthropist who helped raise more than $200 million for the Motion Picture and Television Fund, which provides financial assistance, health care and social services to members of the entertainment community. He also serves on the boards of California Institute of the Arts, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, AIDS Project Los Angeles and others.

All four awards will be presented at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 4th annual Governors Awards dinner Dec. 1 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.

The 85th annual Academy Awards will be presented Feb. 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

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