The Newport Beach Film Festival has revealed the names to be honored in this year’s Icon and Artists of Distinction categories ahead of next week’s U.K. and Ireland Honors event, hosted by Nick Mohammed and Edith Bowman.
This year, the Icon Award will be presented to comedian and actor Jennifer Saunders. The Icon Award is the most prestigious award issued at the event, with previous recipients including Stephen Fry, Bill Nighy, Lesley Manville, Richard E. Grant and Patrick Stewart.
The BAFTA Award winning and BAFTA fellow Saunders’ roles include sitcom “Absolutely Fabulous” and sketch comedy series “French and Saunders,” with collaborator Dawn French. In addition, Saunders has starred in global blockbusters such as “Shrek,” “Sing” and “Death on the Nile,” as well as Richard Eyre’s feature film “Allelujah!” and Harlan Coben’s Netflix series “The Stranger,” amongst many other projects.
Saunders can next be seen in…