The George Eastman Museum will honor Julia Roberts with the George Eastman Award on Thursday, May 2. The award recognizes her distinguished contribution to the art of cinema. Tickets will go on sale to the public on March 18 and will be available here.
In accepting the honor, she will join the company of film legends such as Lauren Bacall, Louise Brooks, Charlie Chaplin, Gary Cooper, Cecil B. DeMille, Michael Douglas, Michael Keaton, Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish, Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Mary Pickford, Martin Scorsese, James Stewart, Meryl Streep, and Gloria Swanson. The George Eastman Award was established in 1955 as the first retrospective award to honor film work of enduring artistic value.
For more than thirty years, Julia Roberts has brought a cast of unforgettable characters to the screen. Her performances have brought her four Academy Award nominations and an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, as well as nine Golden Globe nominations and three Golden Globes.
“We are thrilled to present Julia Roberts with the George Eastman Award,” said Bruce Barnes, Ron and Donna Fielding Director, George Eastman Museum. “The depth and breadth of her career and the range of the characters she portrays on screen are a true testament to her natural talents and her well-honed craft. We look forward to recognizing her contribution to the art of cinema.”
After her breakthrough as Daisy in Mystic Pizza (1988), Roberts received a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting performance in Steel Magnolias (1989). Her role as Vivian Ward inPretty Woman (1990) established Roberts as a Hollywood star and earned her another Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
In the following decade, Roberts played leading or major roles in The Pelican Brief (1993), Something to Talk About (1995), Michael Collins (1996), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), and Runaway Bride (1999). Her powerful and inspirational portrayal of the heroic protagonist in Erin Brockovich (2000), directed by Steven Soderbergh, earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and her third Golden Globe. Teaming again with Soderbergh, she gamely played the stunning and steely Tess Ocean in Ocean’s Eleven (2001).
Since 2004, while devoting time to her family, Roberts has played leading or key roles in Closer (2004),Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), Duplicity (2009), Eat Pray Love (2010), and Ben Is Back (2018), among many other motion pictures. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and a Golden Globe nomination for August: Osage County (2013).
Most recently, Roberts has been the lead actress and executive producer in Homecoming (2018)—an Amazon Prime television series. The series was nominated for three Golden Globes this year, including Best Television Series–Drama and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series–Drama for Roberts.
Julia Roberts will accept the George Eastman Award in a ceremony on May 2, at 8 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum. The ceremony will feature a compilation of highlights of her work and a conversation with Roberts, followed by a gala in the museum.
The event is open to the public, and tickets begin at $125. Tickets will go on sale to the public on March 18 at 10 a.m. Members of the museum will have access to advance ticket sales, beginning March 11.To become a member of the George Eastman Museum, visit eastman.org/membership or call (585) 327-4833 for more information.
Ticket Information:
All ticket levels include reserved seating for the award ceremony, admittance to festive gala, and valet parking.
- Patron tickets: $300
- Supporter tickets: $150
- Friend tickets: $125
Visit eastman.org/eastmanaward2019 for more information and to purchase tickets.
About the George Eastman Award
The George Eastman Award for distinguished contribution to the art of cinema was established by the Eastman Museum in 1955 to raise awareness of the imperative of the film preservation. The first two presentations of the award in 1955 and 1957, known as the Festival of Film Artists, recognized the legends of the silent film era (1915–1930). Since then, the George Eastman Award has recognized a range of actors, directors, and cinematographers.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography and motion picture film. Its holdings comprise more than 450,000 photographs, 28,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program and, through its joint master’s degree programs with the University of Rochester, makes critical contributions to the fields of film preservation and of photographic preservation and collection management. For more information, visit eastman.org.
