The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today that Julie Andrews will be presented with the 48th AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film, at a Gala Tribute on Thursday, November 11, 2021, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. The event was originally scheduled for April 25, 2020. The air date for the premiere of the Emmy® Award-winning Tribute special on TNT and encore presentations on sister network Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will be announced in the coming weeks.
"Julie Andrews has lifted the spirits of the world for generations," said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. "Now, more than ever, AFI looks forward to gathering the globe to celebrate the many gifts and joy she has given us – proving her, of course, 'practically perfect in every way.'"
A three-time Academy Award® nominee, Andrews star turn in MARY POPPINS won her both a BAFTA and an Oscar®. From her early profound stage presence as Polly Browne in "The Boyfriend," Queen Guenevere in "Camelot," and Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway hit "My Fair Lady" to her timeless film performances as Maria von Trapp in THE SOUND OF MUSIC to her groundbreaking dual roles in the gender-bending VICTOR/VICTORIA, Andrews has proven herself an accomplished and versatile actress. Throughout an illustrious career that spans seven decades, she has won five Golden Globes, three Grammys® and two Emmys® for projects infused with her incomparable charm and recognized for their ability to enthrall audiences worldwide. The critically lauded Andrews is also a Kennedy Center honoree, a Disney Legend inductee and the recipient of a SAG Life Achievement Award.
On stage and screen, she has delivered transcendent performances known for their elegance, artistry and humor, with additional acting credits including: THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY (1964), TORN CURTAIN (1966), HAWAII (1966), THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE (1967), STAR! (1968), 10 (1979), LITTLE MISS MARKER (1980), S.O.B. (1981), THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN (1983), DUET FOR ONE (1986), ENCHANTED (2007) and AQUAMAN (2018). She has also starred in multiple, successful franchises, including THE PRINCESS DIARIES 1 and 2 (2001); SHREK 2 (2004), SHREK THE THIRD (2007) and SHREK FOREVER AFTER (2010); and DESPICABLE ME (2010) and DESPICABLE ME 3 (2017) and the upcoming MINIONS. Andrews also returned to Broadway in 1995 with a star turn in "Victor/Victoria." Andrews' second memoir, "Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years" — a follow-up to her successful 2008 New York Times Best Seller, "Home: A Memoir of My Early Years" — was released October 15, 2019. In 2020, Andrews voiced the sharp-tongued gossip writer in Regency London in Shonda Rhimes' new Netflix series BRIDGERTON, marking her continued evolution as an actress and icon.
The highest honor given for a career in film, the AFI Board of Trustees established the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1973. It is presented to a single honoree each year based on the following criteria as mandated through a resolution passed by the AFI Board of Trustees:
"The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time."
Most recently, the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute gathered American film's finest to honor Denzel Washington on June 6, 2019 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The event saw Mahershala Ali, Chadwick Boseman, Jodie Foster, Antoine Fuqua, Jamie Foxx, Morgan Freeman, Michael B. Jordan, Issa Rae, Julia Roberts and Cicely Tyson pay tribute to Washington's extraordinary life and body of work. The evening featured a musical performance from Jennifer Hudson Additional guests in attendance included Ed Begley, Jr., W. Kamau Bell, Joel Coen, Ava DuVernay, Carl Franklin, Antoine Fuqua, David Alan Grier, Keegan-Michael Key, Martin Lawrence, Frances McDormand, Stephen McKinley Henderson, John David Washington and Edward Zwick.
