Viola Davis is set to receive the 48th Chaplin Award as she is feted by Film at Lincoln Center.
After securing EGOT status at the 2023 Grammys after she won the best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording award for her memoir, Finding Me, Davis will be honored at a gala evening on April 24 at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City.
“Viola Davis brings her tremendous skill and fierce emotional intelligence to everything she does. The range of her accomplishments is remarkable — as an actor in film, television, and theater; as a producer opening doors for new voices; and as an inspirational memoirist. She is truly a force. We are honored to dedicate an evening to celebrating her achievements and talents at the 48th Chaplin Award gala,” Lesli Klainberg, president of Film at Lincoln Center, said in a statement on Thursday.
The Hope actress has netted four Academy Award nominations, and finally won her first Oscar in 2017 for best performance in the film adaptation of Fences. (She was a notable snub in the 2023 Oscar nominations for her starring role in The Woman King.)
Davis is also a five-time Emmy nominee, four of which she received for her portrayal of Annalise Keating in How to Get Away With Murder. Then, in 2015, she won the award for best lead actress in a drama series for her starring role in Peter Nowalk’s series.
Proceeds from the Chaplin Award Gala will support Film at Lincoln Center’s year-round cinematheque programs, contemporary film series, student programs, and film festivals such as the New York Film Festival and New Directors/New Films.
This year, Davis also received the Chairman’s Award at the Palm Springs Film Awards to recognize her work as an actor and producer for The Woman King. Her next film is AIR, an upcoming American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Ben Affleck and written by Alex Convery, to be released by Amazon Studios on April 5.
Additional credits include Widows, Suicide Squad, Ender’s Game, Prisoners, Beautiful Creatures, Doubt, Get On Up, Blackhat, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Knight and Day, Nights in Rodanthe, Madea Goes to Jail, Law Abiding Citizen, Disturbia, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Never Back Down, Far From Heaven, and others.
Davis and her husband Julius Tennon founded JuVee Productions, with an eye to supporting diverse creators and their narratives. The Los Angeles-based company produces film, TV and digital content across all entertainment platforms.
The Chaplin Award gala was first held in 1972, with namesake Charlie Chaplin the honoree. Since then, recipients have included Cate Blanchett, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Federico Fellini, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sidney Poitier, Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Helen Mirren and Spike Lee.
