Governors Awards

The Academy Celebrates Spike Lee, Gena Rowlands And Debbie Reynolds At 2015 Governors Awards

By Michelle McCue | November 15, 2015

Filmmakers, Actors and Actresses and Hollywood’s A-listers turned out for the first Oscar awards show of the season – the 7th annual Governors Awards.

The star-studded evening was held in Hollywood, CA, on Saturday. (Nov 14, 2015)

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award went to Debbie Reynolds, and Honorary Awards were presented to Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.” The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs opened the 2015 Governors Awards with a tribute to the Paris tragedy and spoke about The Academy’s response to diversity in the film industry (17 of the 51 Governors are women) and their new initiative, A2020.

Wesley Snipes, Oscar-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson and Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington spoke as part of the award presentation to Honorary Award recipient Spike Lee.

Gena Rowlands received her Oscar from son Nick Cassavetes.

Zooey Deschanel performed the song “Tammy” to Debbie Reynolds who was unable to attend. Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda paid tribute and Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep presented the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Billie Lourd on behalf of Ms. Reynolds.

Producers Julie Lynn and Bonnie Curtis produced the 7th Annual Governors Awards for the Academy.

See the rest of The Academy’s videos here: www.youtube.com/user/Oscars/videos

Lee, a champion of independent film and an inspiration to young filmmakers, made an auspicious debut with his NYU thesis film, “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads,” which won a Student Academy Award in 1983. He proceeded to blaze a distinctive trail with such features as “She’s Gotta Have It,” “School Daze” and “Do the Right Thing,” which earned him a 1989 Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay. His work as a director ranges from the Oscar-nominated documentary feature “4 Little Girls” to such mainstream successes as “Malcolm X” and “Inside Man.” Lee’s other feature credits include “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Jungle Fever,” “Crooklyn,” “He Got Game,” “25th Hour,” “Miracle at St. Anna” and “Red Hook Summer.” He currently serves as the artistic director of the graduate film program at NYU.

Rowlands, an original talent whose devotion to her craft has earned her worldwide recognition as an independent film icon, received Academy Award nominations for her lead performances in “A Woman under the Influence” (1974) and “Gloria” (1980), both directed by her husband and frequent collaborator, John Cassavetes. She got her start on the New York stage and in live television in the 1950s and has appeared in 40 feature films to date, from “The High Cost of Loving” in 1958 to “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” which she starred in earlier this year. Her other notable films include “Lonely Are the Brave,” “Faces,” “Minnie and Moskowitz,” “Opening Night,” “Another Woman,” “Unhook the Stars,” “Hope Floats,” “Playing by Heart,” “The Notebook” and “Broken English.”

Reynolds, a Hollywood icon since she won hearts with her buoyant performance in “Singin’ in the Rain,” embarked on the role of a lifetime as a founding member of the Thalians, a charitable organization conceived and sustained by entertainers to promote awareness and treatment of mental health issues. She served as the group’s president almost continuously from 1957 to 2011, adding numerous terms as board chair and frequently presiding over its annual fundraising gala. Her tireless efforts have enabled the Thalians to contribute millions to the Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai and to UCLA’s Operation Mend, which helps military veterans recover from the physical and psychological wounds of war. Reynolds has appeared in more than 40 feature films, including “The Tender Trap,” “A Catered Affair” and “Mother,” and received a 1964 Oscar nomination for her lead performance in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”

Photos: ©A.M.P.A.S.