Artists Given Highest Honors

When actor Ossie Davis gave the eulogy at the funeral of civil rights activist Malcolm X in 1965, he never imagined that nearly 40 years later he would end up at the State Department to receive the nation’s highest honor for performing artists.

But that was precisely where Davis found himself Saturday night, along with his wife, actress Ruby Dee, and four other artists -- pop singer Elton John, actor and director Warren Beatty, opera legend Joan Sutherland and composer John Williams -- who were recognized in a weekend of black-tie dinners and red-carpet celebrations as the recipients of the 27th annual Kennedy Center Honors.

The events culminated Sunday night in a gala at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosted by Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of the late president. Entertainers Sean “Puffy” Combs, Billy Joel, Kid Rock, Robert Downey Jr. and others paid tribute to the honorees, and short films offered biographies of the six artists.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman performed from Williams’ Oscar-winning score for “Schindler’s List.”

Actor Jack Nicholson ribbed Beatty, his friend, saying, “For years, Warren has dreamed of attending these awards” -- not as an honoree, “but as president of the United States.”

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush attended the gala following a reception for the honorees at the White House. A videotape shown at the event included Bush’s remarks from the reception, in which he noted “the exceptional achievements of these individuals.”

The event will be broadcast Dec. 21 on CBS.

The weekend’s events began Saturday with a black-tie dinner at the State Department, where formal toasts and gentle roasts were the order of the evening.

Artists do for people what diplomacy seeks to do in politics: to build hope and freedom, said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. That is what Elton John’s song “Nikita,” about a beautiful female guard along the border between the communist East and the democratic West, did for him and his soldiers in Germany, Powell said.

But John deserved praise, the secretary continued, for more than just his songs: While keeping himself on the Top 40 charts for 24 consecutive years and winning a Tony and five Grammy awards, the British singer and composer, 57, also raised millions of dollars to fight HIV and AIDS.

Sutherland, 78, came from Switzerland to receive her award. A native of Australia, she has sung in opera houses around the world and recorded dozens of classic soprano roles.

Her legendary voice, said fellow opera singer Leontyne Price, “started in a place I affectionately call nosebleed country.”

Beatty, 67, attended the event with his wife, actress Annette Bening, and their four children. His career as a writer, actor, director and producer, in a film career that began in 1961 with “Splendor in the Grass,” has brought him 14 Academy Award nominations. He won an Oscar as best director for “Reds” in 1981, and received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1999.

Saturday night, Powell welcomed this “brother” by launching into a rap Beatty performed in the political satire “Bulworth,” which told the story of a disillusioned senator who decided to speak the truth in rhyme.

“You’re not the only rapper here tonight, my man,” Powell said.

Conductor Leonard Slatkin recognized Williams, 72, whose film scores include the pounding, predatory bass line of “Jaws,” the soaring brass of the “Superman” films, and the rousing, adventurous theme of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” He has won five Oscars -- for the original scores of “Jaws,” “Star Wars,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “Schindler’s List” and the adaptation of “Fiddler on the Roof” -- as well as 18 Grammys and four Emmys.

Public service was the mark of honorees Davis, 86, and Dee, 80, whose writing, acting and directing helped break the color line in U.S. theater. Dee was the first African American to take leading roles in the American Shakespeare Festival, while Davis’ “Purlie Victorious,” produced on Broadway in 1961, was a controversial look at segregation.

Their work, Powell said, tries to “ensure that our country delivers on the American dream.”

That is what Davis hopes. “The world judges America to a large degree by what it sees in movies and television,” he said Saturday. “All too often it’s childish and immature. Art is too important a tool of communication not to be used more creatively.”