Vanessa Redgrave to Receive Academy Fellowship at BAFTA Awards, 2/21

Tony Award Winning actress Vanessa Redgrave will be awarded by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with the Academy Fellowship at the Orange British Academy Film Awards ceremony at London's Royal Opera House. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 21.

From Alfred Hitchcock in 1971, the Academy Fellowship has been awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image. Previous recipients of the Fellowship include Charlie Chaplin, Lord Olivier, Billy Wilder, Woody Allen, ElizaBeth Taylor, and Judi Dench. Last year's Fellow was Terry Gilliam.

David Parfitt, Chair of the Academy said: "We are absolutely thrilled to be awarding the fellowship to Vanessa. She is a hugely talented and respected actress who has served as an inspiration to the British film industry."

Vanessa Redgrave said of the news, "I'm truly delighted, it's such an honour to be recognised in this way. Looking through the list of past recipients shows what a wonderful accolade this is, and the fact that Alfred Hitchcock was the very first recipient makes it even more special, as my father made his first film with him."

Vanessa Redgrave is one of the most successful actresses of her generation and has experience on stage, television, and film. She has been nominated for BAFTA, Oscar, Tony, Golden Globe, and Emmy awards throughout the years.

Redgrave attended to school at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Her breakthrough came in 1967 with "Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment," which earned her a BAFTA nomination along with the first of six Oscar and eleven Golden Globe nominations. She also received nominations for her role in "Isadora and Mary, Queen of Scots. After receiving the Actress Award from BAFTA in 1966, Vanessa won the best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in "Julia," and a BAFTA Actress in a Supporting Role nomination in 1987 for "Prick Up Your Ears."

More recent work of Redgrave's includes "The Gathering Storm" (2002), for which Vanessa was BAFTA-nominated and Joe Wright's "Atonement and Venus," alongside Peter O'Toole and Leslie Phillips.

On stage, Redgrave has also flourished. In 2007 she received a Tony nomination for her role in Joan Didion's one woman play THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING which played in both London and New York. In 2003, Redgrave had won a Tony award for her role in Eugene O'Neill's LONG DAY"S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT.

Upcoming projects of Redgrave's include "Letters to Juliet" with Amanda Seyfried and Gael Garcia Bernal, and "The Whistleblower" with Rachel Weisz and Monica Bellucci.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards will be hosted by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One from 9pm on Sunday 21 February. A Red Carpet Special hosted by George Lamb will be on BBC Three starting at 7.30pm.