British actress Helen Mirren will receive a lifetime achievement award from the European Film Academy when it hands out its annual movie prizes in December, the organization said Tuesday.
The 67-year-old, best known for her Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in The Queen, will attend the awards ceremony held on Dec. 1 in Malta.
"It was discovering the immense diversity of European filmmaking that gave me an enduring love and respect for the art form," Mirren said in response to the announcement of the European Achievement in World Cinema honour.
"This award is therefore a very meaningful honour," she added in a statement.
Mirren began her film career in the late 1960s, with titles including Michael Powell's Age of Consent, and established her reputation in 1980 with gangster movie The Long Good Friday also starring Bob Hoskins.
Her portrayal of the current monarch won her a best actress Academy Award, and she was nominated for the same award again for The Last Station.
Mirren will portray the queen on stage in a play written by the script writer of The Queen, Peter Morgan. The Audience opens in London in 2013. -
