Sidney Poitier will receive the BAFTA Fellowship, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts' highest honor, at the film academy's main awards ceremony in London Feb. 14.
The award will coincide with the anniversary of Poitier's first major BAFTA award for his 1958 role in The Defiant Ones. Throughout his career, Poitier has received five BAFTA noms, including one for his role in 1967's In the Heat of the Night.
"I am extremely honored to have been chosen to receive the fellowship, and my deep appreciation to the British Academy for the recognition," said Poitier in a statement.
BAFTA's Amanda Berry referred to Poitier as "one of the cinema's true greats," and said the actor was "a luminary of film whose outstanding talent in front of the camera, and important work in other fields, has made him one of the most important figures of his generation."
Poitier joins other award winners such as Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Lee, Martin Scorsese, Alan Parker and Helen Mirren.