Celebrities

Warren Beatty is a talented actor that has starred in several critically acclaimed movies and has also directed and produced others. Some of his movies include ‘Dick Tracy’, ‘Heaven Can Wait’, and ‘Bonnie & Clyde’. Last week the 71 year old actor was given the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 4 hour ceremony, held in Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre Thursday night, included clips from Beatty’s films, taped tributes from the likes of Barbara Streisand, Gene Hackman and presidential nominee John McCain, as well as testimonials from guests in attendance, including Quentin Tarantino, Robert Downey Jr. Halle Berry and former AFI Lifetime Achievement Award winners Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson.

Halle Berry, who co-starred with Beatty in his 1998 political comedy “Bulworth”, called him “a true legend” and a man “willing to take a risk to say something meaningful to the audience through his film.” Veteran actor and fellow Oscar recipient Dustin Hoffman called Beatty, “a very human human being - a political activist of no short order, a proven artist of Herculean proportions, the husband of Annette Bening, the father of Kathlyn, Benjamin, Isabel and Ella, and the best friend of Jack Nicholson.”

Hoffman went on to mention that Nicholson, a die-hard fan of the Los Angeles Laker’s, was late for the event attending the team’s championship game against the Boston Celtics across town. “Warren, I’m here and I was here for dinner” the 70 year-old actor noted.

Preceding Beatty’s acceptance speech was former President Bill Clinton, who took the stage to a standing ovation. After telling a story about meeting Beatty in 1972 while doing campaign work for former Senator George McGovern (who also spoke at the evening’s event) Clinton told the audience, “I saw ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ and it made me feel grateful that I had found a less lethal way to escape rural poverty and obscurity. I later learned it was only slightly less lethal.”