Peter O'Toole, nominated seven times for a best actor Oscar but without a single win, will receive an honorary Academy Award this year.
"O'Toole's performances have ignited the screen for more than four decades," said Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
It will be presented during
the 75th annual Oscars ceremony on March 23. The citation will read: "Peter O'Toole - whose remarkable talents have provided cinema history with some of its most memorable characters".
O'Toole, 70, made his stage debut at 17. The Irish-born actor shot to international fame three years later, portraying legendary British adventurer T.E. Lawrence in David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia.
The performance brought him the first of his best actor Oscar nominations.
The others were for Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye Mr Chips, The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man and My Favourite Year.
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Darkness Falls, a horror filmed in Australia about a town haunted by a ghostly old lady, took top slot at the US box office in its first weekend.
The low-budget picture, with a little-known cast, pulled in US$12.5 million ($23.12 million).
Kangaroo Jack, also filmed in Australia, slipped to No 2, while Golden Globes glory helped to push the musical Chicago up to No 3.
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Russell Crowe has been told he will be welcome at the Bafta Awards on February 23, despite attacking a producer at last year's ceremony.
Crowe, 38, was furious last year when a poem he read during his best actor acceptance speech for A Beautiful Mind was edited out of the televised show by BBC producer Malcolm Gerrie. He manhandled Gerrie at the after-show party.
Crowe later apologised to Gerrie and invited him out for a "few quiet pints". But some movie industry insiders say the incident cost Crowe an Oscar later that year.
Bafta organisers want to bury the hatchet, and have even assured Crowe that he will be able to read some poetry.
