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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Winfrey to host series recycling her old show (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Oprah Winfrey is repackaging her now-ended daytime talk show to make it a key part of the lineup for OWN, her struggling cable channel.

Winfrey said Friday she will host the new series that will recycle episodes of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" as a "classroom" intended to help viewers improve their lives. The show, titled "Own Your Life," will air weekdays at 8 p.m. ET starting Oct. 10.

Appearing at a session of the Television Critics Association to announce the revamped series and introduce Rosie O'Donnell and her new OWN show, Winfrey took the opportunity to reinforce her commitment to the channel.

Friends ask, "Are you enjoying your time in the Mediterranean?" Winfrey said. But she's not on holiday, she said, "I'm here," and working in the Los Angeles offices of OWN.

It was announced earlier this month that Winfrey was expanding her role at OWN beyond the position of chairman, taking on the additional roles of chief executive officer and chief creative officer.

Winfrey is claiming the title once held by Christina Norman, the former CEO who was dismissed in May in the wake of disappointing ratings for the channel. Norman's position has been filled in the interim by Peter Liguori, the chief operating officer for Discovery Communications.

OWN, which premiered Jan. 1, is a joint venture of Discovery and Winfrey's Harpo Inc. Since Winfrey's syndicated talk show ended in May, she has pledged to devote her full energies to OWN.

Acknowledging OWN's rocky start, Winfrey said Friday that one of her biggest concerns was "aligning" the channel's executive teams, "and now we have done that." She cited the help of two executives who are with her Chicago-based production company, Harpo: Sheri Salata and Erik Logan, who share the title of OWN president.

Putting Winfrey on camera, as well as more prominently at the company's helm, is an attempt to turn around OWN's fortunes.

Plans had been in place to pull from the "library" of more than 4,500 "Oprah Winfrey Show" episodes in a show titled "Oprah's Encore." But Winfrey said Friday she realized they could be better used if organized as an on-air educational tool about life.

"At Oprah's core, she is a teacher," Salata said in a release that announced a companion online course to the talk show reruns. Viewers can sign up "to reserve their spot" in class starting Friday at Oprah.com.

School starts with the show's premiere, OWN said. "Own Your Life" will be paired with "The Rosie Show," the new Rosie O'Donnell talk show that will air daily at 7 p.m. ET, right before "Own Your Life," and will also debut Oct. 10.

Appearing before the critics' group, O'Donnell said she was proud to join Winfrey, although she labeled the media queen "aspirational" and tagged herself "relatable."

She joked about viewers saying to themselves, "Oh, if I could only be Rosie O'Donnell: an overweight lesbian who yells too much," then added, "My job is mostly to entertain and be funny."

O'Donnell made that happen Friday, drawing laughs when she said her publicist had fretted that the TV group's members might resurrect O'Donnell's dust-ups with other celebrities.

"I want to thank you for not asking anything about Donald Trump or Barbara Walters," O'Donnell said, smiling.

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