Jeff Bridges received the 2019 Cecil B. DeMille Award at Sunday evening’s 76th annual Golden Globe Awards, while Carol Burnett became the inaugural recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s achievement award for television that is named in her honor.
Chosen by the HFPA Board of Directors, the Cecil B. DeMille Award is given annually to an individual who has made a lasting impact on the world of entertainment. Honorees over the decades have included George Clooney, Robert De Niro, Audrey Hepburn, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Sophia Loren, Sidney Poitier, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Barbra Streisand, Denzel Washington, Robin Williams, Oprah Winfrey, and many others.
“This is really a wonderful honor,” Bridges told the crowd at the Beverly Hilton. “I seem challenged up here because there are so many people to thank. This is a collaborative art form here.”
He gave particular thanks to his wife Susan.
“Forty-five years of support and love, I wouldn’t be up here without you,” he said.
Bridges’ work has earned him a Golden Globe — for “Crazy Heart” — and four nominations, for “Starman,” “The Fisher King,” “The Contender,” and “Hell or High Water.” Bridges also won an Oscar for his work in “Crazy Heart.”
His other credits include “The Big Lebowski,” “True Grit” and “The Fabulous Baker Boys.”
In 1983, Bridges founded the End Hunger Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to feeding children around the world. Bridges produced “End Hunger,” a three-hour live television broadcast focusing on world hunger which featured Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, Burt Lancaster, Bob Newhart, Kenny Loggins and other leading film, television and music stars in a production designed to educate and inspire action.
Bridges, 69, is currently the national spokesman for the Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry campaign, which is fighting to end childhood hunger in America.
“Bridges’ brilliant body of work across diverse genres has captured the hearts and minds of audiences worldwide for more than six decades,” HFPA President Meher Tatna said. “We look forward to celebrating “the Dude” and his remarkable career and philanthropic achievements at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards.”
The HFPA announced last month the creation of the Carol Burnett Award, which is the television-achievement equivalent of the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Burnett, 85, is its inaugural recipient.
“For more than 50 years, comedy trailblazer Carol Burnett has been breaking barriers while making us laugh,” Tatna said when announcing the honor. “She was the first woman to host a variety sketch show, `The Carol Burnett Show.’ She was also the first woman to win both the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and Kennedy Center Honors. And now we add another first to her running list: the first recipient — and namesake — of the new Golden Globe top honor for achievement in television, the Carol Burnett Award. We are profoundly grateful for her contributions to the entertainment industry and honored to celebrate her legacy forever at the Golden Globes.”
Burnett told the crowd that she grew up loving movies, until her family got a television set when she was a teenager, “and then I had a new love.”
“When a comedy/variety show that half a century later still connects with people in a way, that makes me proud,” she said.
She lamented that a series like hers would never make it on the air Sunday, noting the expense alone would chase networks away. She said the show had a 28-piece orchestra, 12 dancers and an average of 65 costumes a week, along with two guest stars weekly.
“Sad to say that Sunday’s audiences might never have known what they’re missing, so here’s to reruns and YouTube,” she said.