Oscar for Beatty

Warren Beatty is to recieve the ultimate accolade from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year - he's getting a lifetime achievement award. The 63 year-old, who reputation for womanising equals his track-record as a filmmaker, has produced and acted in modern classics like the dramas Bonnie and Clyde and Reds, but he's also a talented comic actor as the supremely camp Shampoo will testify. The award, named The Thalberg after ex-MGM chief Irving Thalberg, was devised in 1937 and has graced the mantelpieces of such luminaries as Walt Disney, Cecil B DeMille, Clint Eastwood, Billy Wilder and Alfred Hitchcock. The Oscars, held this year on March 26, could be a double celebration for Beatty and his wife Annette Bening. Though the nominations are yet to be announced, she's being hotly tipped for her role in Sam Mendes' stunning debut American Beauty.