LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood veteran Sidney Poitier -- the only black performer to win an Oscar for best actor -- will receive an honorary statuette during the Academy Awards ceremony in March, organizers said on Wednesday.
Poitier will be given the special Oscar "for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen, and for representing the motion picture industry with dignity, style and intelligence throughout the world," said Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Poitier, who turns 75 next month, won his best actor Oscar in 1964 for director Ralph Nelson's Lilies of the Field. In 1959, he was nominated for his lead role in The Defiant Ones. His other feature credits include A Raisin in the Sun, To Sir, With Love, In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
The 74th annual Academy Awards will be presented at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood on March 24.
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