Photo by Scott Garfield/Scott Garfield – © 2019 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All rights reserved.
After an acting career spanning nearly half a century, Tom Cruise has finally won an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.
The statuette was presented to him on Sunday during the Governor’s Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Making the presentation was Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who has directed an upcoming film, yet unnamed, in which Cruise will star.
“Tom Cruise doesn’t just make movies,” Iñárritu declared in his introductory remarks. “He is movies.”
The 63-year-old Cruise had been previously nominated for his roles in Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, and Magnolia. He also received a Best Picture nomination for Top Gun: Maverick, which he produced.
In accepting the honorary Oscar, Cruise delivered an emotional speech in which he paid tribute to the film industry and those who work in it.
“The cinema, it takes me around the world,” he said. “It helps me to appreciate and respect differences. It shows me also our shared humanity, how alike we are in so, so many ways.” Cruise added. “And no matter where we come from, in that theater, we laugh together, we feel together, we hope together, and that is the power of this art form. And that is why it that matters, that is why it matters to me. So making films is not what I do, it is who I am. I want you to know that I will always do everything I can for this art form, to support and champion new voices, to protect what makes cinema powerful.””
Other honorary Oscars went to choreographer Debbie Allen and production designer Wynn Thomas. Allen was honored for her work on Amistad, Fame, and Jo Jo Dancer as well as for choreographing 17 Oscar awards ceremonies. Recalling his childhood in inner-city Philadelphia, Thomas paid tribute to his mother and grandmother for instilling in him “a sense of fearlessness and determination that has never left me, that has helped me navigate the barriers and complexities of show business.
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was presented to Dolly Parton for her work on eradicating poverty and improving children’s literacy. Due to health issues, Parton was unable to accept her award in person, but she delivered remarks that had been video-recorded.