Burt Reynolds to Present SAG's 44th Life Achievement Award and Denis Leary to Introduce the Filmed Tribute to Charles Durning at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards�
2008 SAG Awards� will be Simulcast Live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 27
Los Angeles, California � Burt Reynolds will present Screen Actors Guild's 44th Life Achievement Award, and Denis Leary will introduce the filmed tribute to Charles Durning at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards�, executive producer and director Jeff Margolis announced today.
TNT and TBS will simulcast the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards� live from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center Sunday, Jan. 27, at 8 pm ET/PT, 7 pm CT and 6 pm MT. Voted on entirely by nearly 100,000 members of Screen Actors Guild, the 14th Annual SAG Awards� will recognize the outstanding performances of 2007 in five film and eight television categories.
Screen Actors Guild is honoring Charles Durning for his career achievement and humanitarian accomplishments. Past recipients of SAG's Life Achievement Award include Julie Andrews, Shirley Temple Black, James Garner, Karl Malden, Clint Eastwood, Edward Asner, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, Kirk Douglas, Elizabeth Taylor, Angela Lansbury, Robert Redford and George Burns.
Burt Reynolds and Charles Durning are longtime friends and frequent collaborators. Both were twice nominated, and Reynolds received an Emmy� for their respective roles as Wood Newton and Dr. Harlan Elldridge in the comedy series "Evening Shade." The two co-starred in the features "Stick," "Starting Over," "Sharkey's Machine," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "Forget About It," as well as the "Hard Time" series of telefilms. Reynolds also directed Durning in "The Last Producer." Their seventh film together is the upcoming "Deal."
Reynolds was nominated for Actors� in 1998 for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role and Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for his portrayal of Jack Horner Boogie Nights. The role also earned Reynolds an Oscar� nomination and a Golden Globe�. Reynolds' prolific credits include "Deliverance," "The Longest Yard," the three-film blockbuster "Smokey and the Bandit" series, "Semi-Tough," "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "The Cannonball Run."
Denis Leary and Charles Durning first starred together in 2000 in the filmed adaptation of David Mamet's "Lakeboat." In 2004, Leary cast Durning as the father of Leary's troubled firefighter Tommy Gavin on the hit FX series "Rescue Me," a role Durning played for the past four seasons. For his portrayal of Tommy Gavin, Leary has been honored with Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. He also shared an Emmy nomination for writing the series pilot with Peter Tolan, with whom he also co-created the ABC series "The Job," with Leary starring. "Rescue Me" has been honored with the Producers Guild of America's Visionary Awards and was named Outstanding Television Program by the American Film Institute.
Leary has starred in such Oscar-nominated box office hits "Wag the Dog," "A Bug's Life" and "Ice Age." Other credits include "The Thomas Crown Affair," "Suicide Kings," "Ice Age 2: The Meltdown," "Jesus' Son" and Ted Demme's "The Ref" and "Monument Avenue." His successful one-man shows "No Cure For Cancer" and "Lock n' Load" are now featured on "The Complete: Denis Leary DVD." Leary can next be seen in HBO's "Recount" alongside Kevin Spacey and has also begun working on "Ice Age 3."
Other memorable performances for Charles Durning include starring roles in "To Be or Not to Be," "The Sting," "Dog Day Afternoon," "The Muppet Movie," "Tootsie" and ""Home for the Holidays." Additional credits include "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," "State and Main" and his Tony-winning performance in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," to name a few.
The 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards� are produced by Jeff Margolis Productions in association with Screen Actors Guild. Jeff Margolis is the executive producer and Kathy Connell is the producer. Yale Summers, Daryl Anderson, Shelley Fabares, Paul Napier and JoBeth Williams are producers for SAG. Gloria Fujita O'Brien and Mick McCullough are supervising producers. Benn Fleishman is executive in charge of production.
Screen Actors Guild is the nation's largest labor union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labor movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists' rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century. With 20 branches nationwide, SAG represents nearly 120,000 actors who work in motion pictures, television, commercials, industrials, video games, Internet and all new media formats. The Guild exists to enhance actors' working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists' rights. Headquartered in Los Angeles, SAG is a proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO. More information is available online at www.sag.org .
TBS, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is television's top-rated comedy network. It serves as home to such original comedy series as "My Boys," "The Bill Engvall Show," Tyler Perry's "House of Payne," "10 Items or Less" and "Frank TV"; hot contemporary comedies like "The Office," "Sex and the City," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Family Guy," "King of Queens," "Seinfeld" and "Friends," with "My Name Is Earl" joining the line-up in 2008; specials and special events, such as "Funniest Commercials of the Year" and The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas; blockbuster movies; and hosted movie showcases.
Turner Network Television (TNT), television's destination for drama and one of cable's top-rated networks, offers original movies and series, including the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama "The Closer," starring Golden Globe� winner and Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards� nominee Kyra Sedgwick, and "Saving Grace," a provocative new drama starring Oscar winner and Screen Actors Guild Awards� nominee Holly Hunter. TNT is also home to powerful one-hour dramas, such as "Law & Order," "Without a Trace," "Cold Case," "ER" and "Charmed"; broadcast premiere movies; compelling prime-time specials, such as the "Screen Actors Guild Awards"; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is available in high-definition.
|