Shirley MacLaine lands AFI award

MacLaine published her book, I'm Over All That - and Other Confessions, earlier this year

Shirley MacLaine is to be honoured with a lifetime achievement award by the American Film Institute (AFI).

The actress will be presented with the prize at a gala tribute in Los Angeles on 7 June next year.

"Shirley MacLaine is a powerhouse of personality that has illuminated screens large and small," said AFI chair Howard Stringer.

MacLaine has starred in more than 50 Hollywood movies during her career, and won an Oscar for Terms of Endearment.

She has been nominated for a further five Academy Awards, and recently received France's most prestigious cultural award, the Legion of Honour.

She made her professional debut dancing in a Broadway revival of Oklahoma! in the 1950s.

Her first film appearance was in Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry, which earned her a Golden Globe award for most promising female newcomer in 1955.

Her other credits include The Children's Hour opposite Audrey Hepburn, The Apartment, co-starring Jack Lemmon, Steel Magnolias and Postcards from the Edge.

She can next be seen in Richard Linklater's comedy Bernie - due out in March in the US - alongside Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey.

"There is only one Shirley MacLaine, and it is AFI's honour to present her with its 40th lifetime achievement award," said Mr Stringer.

Other recipients of the AFI lifetime achievement award have included Orson Welles, Bette Davis, Gene Kelly, Kirk Douglas, Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas and Sean Connery.