VETERAN ACTOR and activist Harry Belafonte received an honorary Oscar for his humanitarian work at a star-studded Hollywood gala over the weekend.
Belafonte and three other cinematic legends were honoured at the Governor's Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday (Nov
.The actor and singer was given the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, while Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere and Irish actress Maureen O'Hara were given honorary awards, reported AFP
The 87-year-old was a prominent civil rights campaigner and friend of Martin Luther King Jr, who he helped financially support during his fight against segregation.
"Artists are the radical voice of civilization," Belafonte told the two-hour Governors Awards event in the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars are held every year.
"I really wish I could be around for the rest of this century, to see what Hollywood does with the rest of the century. Maybe, just maybe, it could be civilization's game changer," he said.
Among those paying tribute to him was British director Steve McQueen, whose 12 Years a Slave won the Best Picture Academy Award earlier this year.
"He [Belafonte] basically took those powers of celebrity and fame, and used them for a bigger cause than just his own," McQueen commented.