Academy defends Winfrey as honorary Oscar winner (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Film academy president Tom Sherak is coming to Oprah Winfrey's defense.

Sherak says Winfrey is "one of the most philanthropic performers in the world" and thus deserving of the academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted Tuesday to present Winfrey with an Oscar statuette at the annual Governors Awards in November. James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith will also receive honorary Oscars at the private ceremony.

Blogs have been abuzz with criticism over the academy's selection of Winfrey for the award. One newspaper entertainment critic called it "a boneheaded move."

Sherak said the academy's board of governors "felt very strongly" about honoring Winfrey and are "very happy" about the decision.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith have been picked to receive honorary Oscars.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says the three will be honored with Oscar statuettes at the Governors Awards in November. The academy's Board of Governors voted Tuesday to recognize the entertainment industry veterans.

Winfrey will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, which honors philanthropic and humanitarian contributions. The 57-year-old media mogul, who was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar for 1985's "The Color Purple," supports various charitable and educational causes, including her own namesake foundations and Academy for Girls in South Africa.

Jones and Smith will receive honorary Oscars for their outstanding careers.

Jones has appeared in more than 50 films. The 80-year-old actor — voice of Darth Vader — was nominated for an Academy Award in 1971 for "The Great White Hope." His other credits include "Field of Dreams," `'Patriot Games" and "The Hunt for Red October."

Smith was NBC's first makeup man when he started his career in 1945. He won an Oscar in 1984 for his work on "Amadeus" and was nominated again in 1989 for "Dad." Known as the "godfather of makeup," he also worked on "The Godfather," `'The Exorcist" and "Taxi Driver." Smith also helped train many of today's top movie makeup artists.

Smith, Jones and Winfrey will receive their statuettes on Nov. 12 at the 3rd annual Governors Awards dinner at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center, just above the Kodak Theatre, where the Academy Awards are presented.

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Oscar statue from 1940s fetches $89,625 in Dallas auction (Reuters)

DALLAS (Reuters) – If you can't win an Oscar, why not buy one?

That's exactly what an avid movie buff did when a golden statue from the 1942 Academy Awards went up for auction on Friday.

A coveted collectible since Oscars are rarely for sale, the statue fetched $89,625, making it the star of bidding at Heritage Auction's movie and music auction in Dallas.

Nearly 800 items were up for bid, including items owned or worn by celebrities such as Elton John, Michael Jackson and Paul Newman, and guitars owned by Elvis Presley.

Heritage declined to release the identities of buyers. The company hosts auctions throughout the year, including a recent auction of dinosaur bones and an upcoming John Wayne auction in Los Angeles.

The Oscar statue was a rare item to turn up for sale, said Margaret Barrett, director of music and entertainment for Heritage Auctions.

A rule adopted in 1950 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences prohibits Academy Award winners or their heirs from selling a statue without first offering it back to the academy for a price of $1.

This Oscar, presented before that rule was enacted, was won by Nathan Levinson for best sound recording for the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy.

The film is a musical biography of entertainer George M. Cohan, starring James Cagney, who also took home an Oscar for best actor. The film earned eight nominations and won three Oscars, including Levinson's and Cagney's.

The Academy, which has given out about 2,800 of the hand-crafted statues since the awards began 1929, gave permission for the Oscar to be put up for auction and was offered by a private collector.

RARE MARILYN MONROE MEMORABILIA

The auction also featured Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, including rarely seen photographs from the private collection of Hollywood photographer Richard C. Miller, who died last year at the age of 98.

"Some of these images were from 1946, when she first started modeling," Barrett said. "Some of them appeared on the covers of old girlie magazines and haven't been seen since."

Marilyn Monroe was still known as Norma Jeane Dougherty when Miller started photographing her as a fresh-faced young model for the Blue Book Model Agency.

"He liked working with her because she was so photogenic," said Margaret Miller, one of photographer's two daughters.

Several of the old images, including Marilyn in the surf wearing a red bathing suit and Marilyn wearing a wedding dress, sold for about $1,500.

Miller again photographed her on the set of the film Some Like It Hot in 1959, and his photo of her in a sequined dress sold for $2,868.

Fetching $19,120, the most of any item from the Miller collection, was a model release form she signed with Miller in 1946 as Norma Jeane Dougherty.

The form was one of the more expensive items in the auction, along with a Pierrot costume worn by Elton John in two music videos in the 1980s. The costume sold for $14,340 and was presented to John by a German Pierrot in the 1970s.

(Editing by Karen Brooks and Cynthia Johnston)

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