Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann to receive honorary Oscars

As Samuel L. Jackson might say, it's about motherf---ing time.

The screen icon will receive an honorary Oscar in 2022, alongside Elaine May and Liv Ullmann, the Academy announced Thursday. Danny Glover, meanwhile, will be presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his activism and charitable efforts. The honors will be presented at the Academy's 12th Governors Awards ceremony (which was skipped this year due to the pandemic) on Jan. 15, 2022.

"We are thrilled to present this year's Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society," Academy President David Rubin said in a statement. "Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May's bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann's bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover's decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his dedication to recognizing our shared humanity on and off the screen."

John Lamparski/WireImage; Jim Spellman/WireImage; RYAN MCCUNE/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images; Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images L-R: Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann.

Jackson is known for playing Nick Fury in many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, his frequent collaborations with Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee, and numerous other roles; he is generally considered to have the highest-grossing filmography of any actor. He received his sole competitive Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for Tarantino's Pulp Fiction.

May has been nominated twice, for Best Adapted Screenplay for 1978's Heaven Can Wait and 1998's Primary Colors. She began her career as part of the hugely successful comedy team Nichols and May (alongside the late Mike Nichols), and later directed four films, including Mikey and Nicky and The Heartbreak Kid.

Liv Ullmann is best known for her many collaborations with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, including Persona, Cries and Whispers, and Scenes from a Marriage. She has also received two Oscar nominations, Best Actress for The Emigrants (1971) and Bergman's Face to Face (1976).

Glover has never been nominated for an Oscar, but has been an iconic screen presence for many years, with credits including the Lethal Weapon series, The Color Purple, To Sleep With Anger, and The Royal Tenenbaums, among many others. A lifelong activist, his humanitarian efforts include serving as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program and advocating for health care and education access in the United States and Africa.

Glover will be the 41st recipient of the Hersholt Humanitarian Award, which was most recently presented to Tyler Perry and the Motion Picture & Television Fund at this year's Oscars ceremony.

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