It’s about time Tom Cruise got an Oscar, the academy decides — Dolly Parton, too
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It’s finally Oscar time for Tom Cruise, the Motion Picture Academy of Arts & Sciences has decided.
Cruise, Dolly Parton, actor-producer-director-dancer Debbie Allen and production designer Wynn Thomas will receive Academy Honorary Awards for their ample (and as-yet unrecognized) contributions to big-screen culture.
Last year, theater owners and industry professionals wrung their hands as Memorial Day box office performance tanked. This year could not be more different.
They are, according to a statement Tuesday from academy President Janet Yang, “four legendary individuals whose extraordinary careers and commitment to our filmmaking community continue to leave a lasting impact.”
Cruise (who famously does his own stunts) has “inspired us all,” according to Yang, with his “incredible commitment to our filmmaking community, to the theatrical experience, and to the stunts community.”
Sometimes called Hollywood’s last real movie star, Cruise has fueled box office revenue like few others, drawing crowds to the wildly successful “Top Gun” and “Mission Impossible” films, not to mention “Rain Man,” “War of the Worlds,” “Risky Business” and “Jerry Maguire.”
He has been nominated for four Oscars in the past — twice for lead actor, once for supporting actor and once for best picture, for “Top Gun: Maverick” — but hasn’t taken one home.
Allen is being honored for her nearly five-decade career, during which she has acted, sung, danced, directed, produced and executive-produced. In that time she has choreographed the globally televised Academy Awards ceremony seven times and performed as well.
“Debbie Allen is a trailblazing choreographer and actor, whose work has captivated generations and crossed genres,” Yang said. While much of the six-time Emmy winner’s work has been in TV, film credits tagged to her many job descriptions include “Ragtime,” “Fame,” “Amistad,” “Forget Paris” and more.
And without Thomas’ work, Spike Lee wouldn’t be who he is today. Thomas started his career as a production designer on the director’s 1986 effort “She’s Gotta Have It,” then continued their collaboration on “Do the Right Thing,” “Jungle Fever,” “School Daze,” “Malcolm X” and “Da 5 Bloods.” He also worked on “Eddie Murphy: Raw,” Robert Townsend’s “The Five Heartbeats” and “King Richard,” which delivered a lead actor Academy Award for Will Smith.
Other films on Thomas’ resume? “Hidden Figures,” which was nominated for three Oscars, and “A Beautiful Mind,” which won four. “Thomas has brought some of the most enduring films to life through a visionary eye and mastery of his craft,” Yang said.
The Oscars will finally honor stunt performers with a new award for achievement in stunt design, debuting at the 100th Academy Awards in 2028.
Meanwhile, Parton will take home the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and its attendant Oscar statuette, an honor given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry by promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities.”
The singer and “9 to 5” star, whose husband, Carl Dean, died in March, has long put her fame to good use. Yang said Parton “exemplifies the spirit” of the Hersholt award “through her unwavering dedication to charitable efforts.” The woman behind Dollywood has been nominated for original song Oscars twice.
The honors will be given out Nov. 16 at the academy’s 16th Governors Awards in Hollywood.
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