NAACP Announces Image Awards and Nominations

Oprah Winfrey, queen of the daytime talk-show circuit and co-producer and star of the TV movie “The Women of Brewster Place,” was named Image Award entertainer of the year Wednesday by the Beverly Hills-Hollywood branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Sammy Davis Jr., Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were selected for induction to the Image Awards Hall of Fame.

Begun 22 years ago to encourage more black participation in the white-dominated television, movie and recording industries, the Image Awards joined the ranks of televised network awards programs three years ago when NBC began airing the taped awards presentation. The Dec. 9 award ceremony at the Wiltern Theater is scheduled for broadcast on NBC Jan. 6 at 11:30 p.m.

Other awards announced Wednesday included the President’s Award, to go to Motown Records President Jheryl Busby; the Roy Wilkins Civil Rights Award, to go to Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Calif.); the Key of Life Award, presented posthumously to Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Tex.), who died this year in a plane crash in Ethiopia; the Jackie Robinson Sports Achievement Award, to go to Olympic gold-medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersey, and the Corporate Award, to go to Digital Equipment Corp.

Other awards were voted to Democratic Party National Chairman Ronald H. Brown for his professional and political achievements, and to entertainer Kasey Kasem, for his efforts to fight racial barriers.

In addition to the awards announced at a news conference at the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood, the NAACP unveiled nominations in 25 categories covering achievements in the recording, movie and television industries during 1989.