Tom Cruise and Dolly Parton are finally getting Oscars

Euronews

8 hours ago

He's one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood history, considered one of the last great Movie Stars and has defied death for more than three decades in the Mission: Impossible franchise... And yet, Tom Cruise has yet to win an Oscar – despite four nominations.
Now, that Golden Baldie dearth is about to be rectified as the 62-year-old actor will finally receive an Academy Award this year.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Cruise will get an Honorary Oscar in November to celebrate his entire career, praising Cruise for his dedication to his craft, including performing all his own stunts, and helping the film industry recover following the COVID-19 period.
Indeed, Cruise – who can currently be seen in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning - famously played a large part in kick-starting the box office during the pandemic when Top Gun: Maverick opened in late spring 2022. The sequel to the 1986 adventure went on to gross $1.5bn worldwide.
Cruise previously earned lead actor Oscar nominations for Born On The Fourth Of July and Jerry Maguire, a supporting actor nod for Magnolia, and a best picture nomination as a producer on Top Gun: Maverick.
The leading man is one of four honourees, alongside choreographer and actress Debbie Allen (Fame, Ragtime, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling), pioneering Black production designer Wynn Thomas (Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, A Beautiful Mind), and country singer - and complete legend - Dolly Parton.
'This year's Governors Awards will celebrate four legendary individuals whose extraordinary careers and commitment to our filmmaking community continue to leave a lasting impact,' said Janet Yang, Academy President.
'The Academy's Board of Governors is honored to recognize these brilliant artists. Debbie Allen is a trailblazing choreographer and actor, whose work has captivated generations and crossed genres. Tom Cruise's incredible commitment to our filmmaking community, to the theatrical experience, and to the stunts community has inspired us all. Beloved performer Dolly Parton exemplifies the spirit of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award through her unwavering dedication to charitable efforts. And production designer Wynn Thomas has brought some of the most enduring films to life through a visionary eye and mastery of his craft.'
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is also an Oscar statuette and is presented to Hollywood figures renowned for 'promoting human welfare and contributing to rectifying inequities'.
Parton's charitable and philanthropic work include the Dollywood Foundation, founded in 1988. The institution champions the education of children in her home state of Tennessee. As for her literacy initiative, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, it has distributed more than 285 million books globally since 1995.
Besides her music career, Parton has starred in films like 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias, and earned two original song Oscar nominations for '9 to 5', and 'Travelin' Thru from Transamerica' from the film Transamerica.
The four honorees will be presented with their Honorary Oscars at the Governors Awards ceremony on 16 November.
A collection of rare scientific papers written by mathematician, computer scientist and Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing has sold for a record £465,400 (€544,400) at auction in Lichfield, UK.
The documents were discovered in a loft at a property in Bermondsey, London, and were almost destroyed during a house clearance.
Some of the rare items that went under the hammer included a personal signed copy of Turing's 1938 PhD dissertation, "Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals", which sold for £110,500 (€129,200), as well as his paper "On Computable Numbers" - also known as "Turing's Proof" - which introduced the world to the idea of a universal computing machine in 1936.
The collection also included "The Chemical Basis Of Morphogenesis", which sold for £19,500 (€22,800). Dating from 1952, it is Turing's last major published work.
The treasure trove of Turing material had originally been gifted to Turing's friend and fellow mathematician, Norman Routledge, by Turing's mother, Ethel. Routledge kept the papers and, on his death, they were taken to his sister's loft.
Hansons Auctioneers had estimated the lots would sell for £40,000 to £60,000 each, but "On Computable Numbers" alone sold for £208,000 (€243,000).
Jim Spencer, director of Rare Book Auctions, said of the papers, which were brought to experts in a carrier bag: 'Nothing could've prepared me for what I found in that carrier bag. These plain, academic papers were absolutely electrifying – they are the very bedrock of modern computing. Handling them was both humbling and haunting.'
He continued: 'Knowing the tragic arc of Turing's life only adds to the emotional weight. He was treated appallingly despite all he had done and yet, here, his ideas remain alive, relevant, and revolutionary.'
Spencer added: 'This was the most important archive I've ever handled. The papers came within inches of being destroyed, and instead they've captured the world's imagination. It's a once-in-a-lifetime discovery – not just for collectors, but for the sake of preserving the story of one of the greatest minds in history.'
Turing is widely regarded as the father of computing science and played a central role in breaking the Enigma code, used by the Nazis during the Second World War.
After the war, he was convicted of being involved in homosexual acts and accepted a procedure commonly referred to as chemical castration as an alternative to prison. Truing took his own life on 7 June 1954, aged 41.
Following a campaign in 2009, British prime minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology for the 'appalling way' Turing was treated after the war. Queen Elizabeth II granted a pardon in 2013.
The "Alan Turing law' is a term used informally to refer to a 2017 law in the UK that retroactively pardoned men convicted under historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts.