MacLaine, 77, will be presented with the prestigious
honor from the Los Angeles-based US film arts and education institute on June 7
in a ceremony to be broadcast later on TVLand, AFI said in a statement. She
will be the award's 40th recipient. "Shirley MacLaine is a powerhouse of
personality that has illuminated screens large and small across six
decades," Howard Stringer, chairman of AFI's board of trustees, said.
"From
ingenue to screen legend, Shirley has entertained a global audience through
song, dance, laughter and tears, and her career as writer, director and
producer is even further evidence of her passion for the art form and her
seemingly boundless talents." MacLaine, who won a best actress Oscar in
1984 for "Terms of Endearment," is also an outspoken activist, writer
and believer in reincarnation and extra-terrestrial beings. Her views have won
her both respect and a good measure of ribbing.
She made her Hollywood debut at age 19 with Alfred
Hitchcock in "The Trouble With Harry."
