Kennedy Center Taps Redford, Turner
Thirteen years after his old outlaw buddy lassoed the prize, the Sundance Kid is ready to ride off with a Kennedy Center Honor.
Robert Redford, along with music icons Tony Bennett and Tina Turner, tops the list of this year's honorees for the nation's most prestigious performing arts award.
Also making the cut this year: Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Julie Harris and supreme ballerina Suzanne Farrell.
"We honor five extraordinary American artists whose unique and abundant contributions to our culture have transformed our lives," Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman announced Tuesday.
Recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts, the recipients are voted on by a committee of fellow artists and previous honorees.
This year's crop of winners will be honored at both a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice Sept. 3, and at a star-studded gala performance attended by President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush the following night.
Here's a look at the winners of the 28th annual Kennedy Center Honors:
Robert Redford: The multihyphenate was hailed by Schwarzman for his "extraordinary support of independent film." Redford, 68, founded the Sundance Institute and Film Foundation in 1980, whose annual film festival has become a cornerstone of independent and innovative filmmaking. He's been nominated for three Academy Awards as both an actor and director for his work in The Sting, Quiz Show and Ordinary People, for which he received an Oscar for Best Director. He received an Honorary Oscar in 2002.
Tony Bennett: "A singer's singer whom even the great Frank Sinatra called the best there is," Schwarzman said of the 79-year-old crooner. Bennett's legendary career has spanned more than five decades and thrived off his interpretations of the American standards "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," "The Lady Is a Tramp" and "The Way You Look Tonight." The legendary songster has earned 11 Grammy Awards.
Tina Turner: One of the world's best-selling musicians, the 66-year-old siren has earned seven Grammy Awards and spent three decades on top of the charts. Known for jukebox mainstays like "Private Dancer," "What's Love Got to Do With It?" and "Proud Mary," Schwarzman said Turner's "sizzling talent and indomitable spirit has made her one of the world's best-loved entertainers." She was a 1991 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Julie Harris: A star of stage and screen, Harris earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her acting debut in 1952's The Member of the Wedding. Praised by Schwarzman as "one of this country's most acclaimed and revered actors," the 79-year-old actress was a regular on the hit series Knot's Landing throughout the 1980s. Harris has starred in over 60 films in her 50-year career and is a six-time Tony winner and three-time Emmy recipient
Suzanne Farrell: The longtime dancer, 50, received the National Medal of Arts in 2003 for her influential ballet career and was considered to be the genre's most important dancer by legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Schwarzman said "her profound artistry has inspired the creation of masterpieces." She is credited with teaching ballet to a new generation of American dancers.
The Kennedy Center Honors have been handed out since 1978. Previous recipients include Clint Eastwood, Johnny Carson, Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Elton John, Warren Beatty and Butch Cassidy himself, Paul Newman.
CBS will broadcast the gala event in the last week of December.
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