Honorary Oscars for Bacall, Corman, Willis

Overnight AP news from the Academy Board of Governors.

Actress Lauren Bacall, producer-director Roger Corman and cinematographer Gordon Willis are the first Oscar winners of the season.

Bacall made her screen debut with Humphrey Bogart in “To Have and Have Not” in 1944. She went on to star in more than 30 films, including such classics as “The Big Sleep” and “Key Largo.” Corman has directed more than 50 films and produced more than 300 during his five-decade career, including “It Conquered the World” and “The Little Shop of Horrors (1960). Willis is a two-time Academy Award nominee for “Zelig” and “The Godfather, Part III.”

Producer John Calley (Postcards from the Edge, The Remains of the Day) will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter makes clear AMPAS efforts to embrace a more diverse audience with 10 BP nominees don’t extend to retaining the best aspects of its 81-year heritage.

In a break with tradition, this year the Academy’s honorary awards will be handed out at the new event in November. While the awards will be acknowledged during the Oscarcast on March 7, the show won’t devote the same amount of time to toasting the honorees on air as in past years.

Changing the awards format to include a broader range of movies is fine. It’s a shame the Academy can’t find a way to open a bigger umbrella without leaving its legends out in the rain.