Actor Denzel Washington to receive Cecil B. DeMille award at next Golden Globes

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced today (in a press release announcement) that it will present two-time Golden Globe winning actor Denzel Washington with their highest achievement of the year - the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards this coming January. The 2016 Golden Globe Awards, hosted by comedian/actor Ricky Gerviais, will be aired on NBC live on Sunday, January 10, 2016, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

Lorenzo Soria, President of the HFPA, made the following statement, "Washington's long and storied career is earmarked by his countless roles in front and behind the camera. It is the HFPA's privilege to honor his contributions to the entertainment industry with the Cecil B. DeMille Award."

The Cecil B. DeMille Award is the most prestigious honor given by the HFPA, as determined by the HFBA Board of Directors. The honor is given out once a year to a exceptionally talented person for outstanding contributions to the movie and television industry. Recent recipients include George Clooney, Jodie Foster, Woody Allen, Morgan Freeman, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg, Anthony Hopkins, Warren Beatty, Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Barbra Streisand and Al Pacino.

Denzel Washington has garnered seven Golden Globe Award nominations during his tenure as an actor/producer in the entertainment industry. He has won two Golden Globes. The first in 1990 for his work in the civil war movie "Glory," winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. And the second Golden Globe Award was bestowed upon Washington in the year 2000, for his performance as the imprisoned boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter featured in the motion picture "Hurricane," and winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in Motion Picture - Drama. Washington has also won two Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, an NAACP Image Award, an BAFTA Award, a Grammy Award and two Emmy nominations.

The Cecil B. DeMille Award, is named after its first recipient, director Cecil B. DeMille, which was bestowed upon the filmmaker in 1952.