Academy to Honor Vanessa Redgrave

This is quite an unusual move, I’d say.  The AMPAS just sent out a release that it plans to honor Vanessa Redgrave in London:

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will celebrate the career of Oscar®-winner Vanessa Redgrave with its first-ever European tribute to an actor, on Sunday, November 13, in London. The event, hosted by David Hare, will include special guests Meryl Streep, Ralph Fiennes, Joely Richardson, James Earl Jones and Eileen Atkins. Past Academy President Sid Ganis will introduce the evening.

The salute will explore Redgrave’s dramatic range and exquisite skill. Hare has created three film sequences, each with its own narrative, showing the depth and array of characters that Redgrave has inhabited.

A member of the distinguished Redgrave acting family, Vanessa rose to prominence in 1961, playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Since then, she has made dozens of stage appearances and has appeared in more than 70 films. In addition to the Oscar she received for her supporting performance in “Julia” (1977), and her nominations for “Morgan!” (1966), “Isadora” (1968), “Mary, Queen of Scots” (1971), “The Bostonians” (1984) and “Howards End” (1992), Redgrave’s honors include Olivier, Tony®, Emmy®, Screen Actors Guild and Cannes Film Festival awards. She stars in “Anonymous,” now in release, and the upcoming “Coriolanus.” Redgrave is also appearing in the West End stage production of Driving Miss Daisy.

“An Academy Salute to Vanessa Redgrave” is an invitation-only event.

This is a Whoa, Dude moment because Redgrave is up for not one but two Oscars this year.  The first is for her spectacular performance in the badly reviewed Anonymous: it isn’t Redgrave’s fault that the movie had its problems – she was phenomenal in the role.  And also, for Coriolanus — the supporting nod many are expecting.  This tribute, though, makes Redgrave suddenly a major force in this year’s Oscar race, wouldn’t you say?