And the Oscar goes to…Angelina Jolie! The Governors Awards are still two months away, but fans don't have to wait to find out who's taking home one of the coveted honorary statues. On Thursday, Sept. 5, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Jolie — along with Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin, and costume designer Piero Tosi — had been selected by the Board of Governors to receive trophies at the Nov. 16 ceremony in L.A.
"The Governors Awards pay tribute to individuals who've made indelible contributions in their respective fields," Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in an announcement about the recipients. "We couldn't be more excited for this year's honorees and look forward to bringing their peers and colleagues together to celebrate their extraordinary achievements."
Jolie, 37, is set to receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the fifth annual event. Named for the Danish actor and philanthropist who served as president of the Motion Picture Relief Fund, the award is given to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry." Past recipients have included Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Lewis, Quincy Jones, Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, and Audrey Hepburn.
Jolie has certainly proven herself worthy of such company. In recent years, the Maleficent actress has become as famous for her philanthropy as for her film career. She's a noted advocate for many causes, including the Prevent Sexual Violence Initiative, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The star — who has one other Oscar, a Best Supporting Actress award for the 1999 film Girl, Interrupted — even hinted last year that she might want to give up acting to devote more time to her humanitarian work and her family. (She and fiance Brad Pitt have six kids, three of whom are adopted from other countries.)
"I've enjoyed being an actress," she told Britain's Channel 4 News in 2012. "And I am so grateful to the job. I've had great experiences, and I have even be able to tell stories and be a part of stories that mattered…It's a really lucky profession to be a part of. But if it went away tomorrow, I would be very happy to be home with my children."
"I wake up in the morning as a mum," she continued, "and I turn on the news like everybody else, and I see what's happening, and I want to be part of the world in a positive way."
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