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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Helen Mirren, an Academy and Emmy Award winner, has been selected to receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award for career and humanitarian accomplishment, it was announced today.
She will be the 57th recipient of the SAG Life Achievement Award, the performer union's top accolade, at the 28th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.
The Life Achievement Award is presented annually to the actor who fosters the ``finest ideals of the acting profession,'' according to a release.
``I am honored to have been chosen to receive the SAG Life Achievement Award,'' Mirren said in a release. ``Since I was a young actor starting out, I have always been inspired by and learned from American screen acting, so this award is particularly meaningful for me.''
Mirren won an Academy Award in 2006 for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in ``The Queen'' and won SAG awards in 2001 for her roles in the 2001 film ``Gosford Park.'' She was nominated for an Oscar for her performances in ``The Madness of King George,'' ``Gosford Park'' and, most recently, for ``The Last Station.''
``Dame Helen Mirren is quite simply a brilliant and luminous talent. Her work runs the gamut of characters from a not-so-retired CIA super-killer and a ruthless Russian spy handler to a Hungarian cleaning lady and the most exquisite Elizabeth II,'' SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in a release. ``She has set the bar very high for all actors and, in role after role, she exceeds even her own extraordinary performances.''
Mirren won Emmy Awards for her roles in ``Prime Suspect'' and the HBO miniseries ``Elizabeth I.''
She won a Tony Award for her role on Broadway in ``The Audience.''
``I've always felt a kinship with Helen. She's the Queen of England and I'm the Queen of Queens,'' Drescher said. ``She won an Oscar and I'm left- hander of the year. It's uncanny. And, it is my deep, personal honor to be the first to congratulate Helen as the 57th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. Bravo, my dear.''