Honorary Oscars awarded

Angelina Jolie AP FILE PHOTO

LOS ANGELES – Angelina Jolie, Steve Martin, Angela Lansbury and Italian costume designer Piero Tosi will receive Oscar statuettes (today in Manila) at the Governors Awards.

Here’s what each of the honorees had to say:

Jolie was “surprised” when she learned she would receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Past recipients include Elizabeth Taylor, Oprah Winfrey and Paul Newman.

“Paul Newman has been a hero since I was a little girl,” Jolie said. “This award makes me feel like I am on the right path but also reminds me I have more to do.”

After five Tony awards, 18 Emmy nods and three Oscar noms, Lansbury would finally receive an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. “It was quite an emotional moment,” the 88-year-old actress said. “It’s a nod for everything I’ve done.”

Before becoming a TV star in “Murder, She Wrote,” Lansbury earned three Supporting Actress Oscar nominations for “Gaslight,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “The Manchurian Candidate.”

Martin had no idea what academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs was calling about. “I thought maybe they needed a favor or wanted me to introduce someone at the show.” The 68-year-old was touched when he learned he would receive an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

He’s hosted the Oscars three times, but has never been nominated for the award. “It doesn’t bother me that comedies don’t get recognized. “But on the honorary academy list, there are a lot of comedians.”

Tosi has earned five Academy Award nominations for films like “La Traviata” and “La Cage aux Folles.” He calls his honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement “the crowning of a career.”

“Given my young age, I was really shocked,” the 86-year-old said. The designer said he has been “fascinated by cinema” since he was a child.  AP