Helen Mirren to get SAG lifetime honour

Britain's Helen Mirren will get a lifetime achievement award from her fellow actors at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards ceremony next year, organisers said on Thursday.

Mirren, an Oscar winner, has played more than 70 roles ranging from Queen Elizabeth to a secret services assassin over her 45-year career across film, television and theatre.

"Dame Helen Mirren is quite simply a brilliant and luminous talent," said Fran Drescher, president of the SAG-AFTRA union for Hollywood actors.

"She has set the bar very high for all actors and, in role after role, she exceeds even her own extraordinary performances," Drescher added in a statement.

Mirren, 76, will add the award to her Oscar, four Emmys, five SAG awards and a Tony. She started her career on the British stage in the 1960s and had a breakthrough role in television as a troubled police detective in "Prime Suspect" before moving into movies such as "The Queen", "Gosford Park," "RED," and "F9: The Fast Saga".

Mirren said she was honoured to get the award, which will be handed out at the SAG ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb 27.

“Since I was a young actor starting out, I have always been inspired by and learnt from American screen acting, so this award is particularly meaningful for me,” she said in a statement.

Previous recent SAG lifetime achievement honorees include Robert De Niro, Alan Alda, Carol Burnett and Lily Tomlin.