The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) on
Thursday announced that Lily Tomlin will receive its 2016 SAG Life
Achievement Award.
“Lily Tomlin is an extraordinary
actress, as equally adept at narrative drama as in comedy roles,”
SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said in a statement. “But it
is through her many original characters that Lily's creative genius
fully shines. She has an ability to create diverse and distinct
characters that are at once familiar, eccentric and oh so honest –
in a way that illuminates life's hidden corners.”
Tomlin is the first openly gay actor to
receive the recognition.
Previous recipients include Elizabeth
Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews,
Sidney Poitier, Angela Lansbury, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore and
Carol Burnett.
The 76-year-old Tomlin is best known
for her work on NBC's Laugh-In and films such as 9 to 5.
She currently stars opposite Jane Fonda in the Netflix comedy Grace
& Frankie.