Tom Hanks has been selected by the American Film Institute's (AFI) Board of Trustees to receive the 30th AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor given for a career in film. The tribute on June 12, 2002, will be held in the new Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles. AFI's Life Achievement Award and the Academy Awards are the only two film award programs to be presented at the Kodak Theatre.
AFI has also entered into a multi-year relationship with USA Network to air the Life Achievement Award tributes. USA Network has set the initial broadcast for June 23, followed by three encore performances on June 24, 29 and 30.
"Tom Hanks is American film's Everyman for a new generation," said AFI Chairman Howard Stringer. "It is fitting that he receive the 30th AFI Life Achievement Award from the nation's preeminent cultural arts organization as his talent and commitment to his craft is only matched by his great respect for and understanding of American history.
"AFI is also pleased to have established relationship with USA Network. Barry Diller was one of the architects of the first Life Achievement Award in 1973, so we enjoy a rich past together and look forward to an enduring future."
Tom Hanks has an off-screen appeal that reminds people of former Life Achievement Award recipients James Stewart and Henry Fonda. Hanks has been nominated five times for the Academy Award(R) and has won two Oscars, becoming the first man since Spencer Tracy to receive back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actor.
