John Calley receives Thalberg award from the Academy

John Calley, the Oscar nominated producer of " The Remains of the Day" and "Angels & Demons" among others is among the recipients of this year's testimonial awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

.The other recipients are Lauren Bacall, Roger Corman and Gordon Willis.

The LA Times revealed that Calley, born in 1930, will receive the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, while the aforementioned three will be given Honourary Awards.

The Thalberg Award is given periodically, honouring creative producers "whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production," according to a statement from the academy.

Irving G. Thalberg was a highly successful MGM producer in the 1920's and 30's, and Calley joins an illustrious list of recipients including Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg.

The Honourary Award meanwhile, is given to individuals for their "extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the academy." This years recipients certainly fulfil the criteria- Bacall is an icon, having made her feature film debut in 1944, Corman a producer/director who can claim to having provided "big breaks" for Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese among other Oscar winning directors, and Willis is an Oscar-nominated cinematographer.

In a break from the norm, the awards will be bestowed on November 14th at a non-televised dinner in the Governer's Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland. The recipients will also be acknowledged on March 7th at the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony.