Screenwriter-producer-director
Ernest Lehman has been voted an Honorary Award by the Board of Governors of
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"Ernest Lehman
has written and produced some of the most memorable films ever made," said Academy
President Robert Rehme. "He is not only a prolific screenwriter, but an accomplished
novelist, journalist and motion picture producer, whose films rank as genuine
classics." Lehman has been nominated six times for Academy Awards, four times
in the category of Best Screenplay (Sabrina, North by Northwest,
West Side Story, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and twice
in the category of Best Picture (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and
Hello, Dolly!).



Academy rules state that Honorary Awards, in the form of Oscar statuettes, may
be given for "exceptional distinction in the making of motion pictures or for
outstanding service to the Academy." Previous recipients include Kirk Douglas,
Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, Stanley Donen and
Elia Kazan. Lehman's Honorary Award will be presented at the 73rd Academy Awards
Presentation on March 25, 2001, at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium.