Vanessa Redgrave Awarded BAFTA Fellowship

FEB 13, 2010 - The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced that it has awarded British actress Vanessa Redgrave (pic) an Academy Fellowship to be presented later this month in honour of a career spanning six decades.

The fellowship was its highest honour and among its previous recipients are Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor and Julie Christie.

"I'm truly delighted, it's such an honour to be recognised in this way," Redgrave, a member of the famous British acting dynasty, said in a statement. "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, 73, has been nominated for an Oscar six times and won once for her performance in Julia.

In recent years she has enjoyed success on the stage, notably in "The Year of Magical Thinking" and in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night. She is also well known for her political activism and campaigned against the wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

Redgrave will receive her fellowship on Feb 21, when the winners of the 2010 BAFTA awards are announced.