WASHINGTON, DC—AARP The Magazine announced today that Helen Mirren will receive the 2017 Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award. The AARP Movies for Grownups^® multimedia franchise was established in 2002 to celebrate and encourage filmmaking with unique appeal to movie lovers with a grownup state of mind—and recognize the inspiring artists who make them.

Mirren, an Academy^®, Golden Globe^®, Emmy^®, Tony^®, BAFTA^® & Olivier^® Award-winning actress will receive Movies for Grownups’^® highest honor on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, at the Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills. AARP The Magazine will host the 17^th annual Movies for Grownups^® Awards, where many other awards, including best actor, best actress and best director, will be presented. Event proceeds benefit AARP Foundation, which works to end senior poverty by building economic opportunity and social connections for vulnerable older adults in L.A. and across the country.

“I am greatly honoured by this award. I consider film to be a high art form, that informs, inspires, and entertains,” said Helen Mirren. “It is the ultimate mirror up to nature. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of that culture, both as performer and audience.” 

Simultaneously, AARP announced today that the Movies for Grownups^® Awards will be broadcast for the first time ever. Co-produced by the Great Performances series, the awards premiere Friday, February 23 at 9 p.m. on PBS, (check local listings), pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.

“One of the world’s most beloved actresses, Helen Mirren continues to dazzle audiences year after year with remarkable performances,” said Myrna Blyth, Senior Vice President and Editorial Director for AARP Media. “Ms. Mirren’s body of work, woven through film, television and stage, are a benchmark of artistic achievement. We are thrilled to share this special evening that honors Helen Mirren with viewers on PBS Great Performances.”

The recipient of an Academy^® and Golden Globe^® Best Actress Award for her landmark performance as Queen Elizabeth II in the movie, The Queen, Helen Mirren’s singular talent has been recognized with numerous awards worldwide. Two of her four Primetime Emmy^® Awards were earned for her breakout role as Detective Chief Inspector ‘Jane Tennison’ on the long-running, highly popular British television series, Prime Suspect, which aired on PBS in America. Also among Mirren’s many distinctions include four Movies for Grownups^® Awards, five BAFTA^® Awards, a Tony^® Award, and an Olivier^® Award. In 2003, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).

Mirren began her five-decade acting career on the stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her notable work in film includes The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, The Madness of King George, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, Gosford Park, The Last Station, Hitchcock and the action-comedies, Red and Red 2. Mirren can next be seen starring alongside Donald Sutherland in the upcoming Sony Pictures Classics film “The Leisure Seeker,” directed by Paolo Virzì, opening January 19^th.

Helen Mirren joins a prestigious list of previous AARP Movies for Grownups^® Career Achievement honorees, including Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Sharon Stone, Robert Redford and Robert De Niro.

“In keeping with our long history of showcasing the performing arts on public television, the Movies for Grownups Awards provides a welcome opportunity to recognize outstanding achievement in contemporary cinema,” said Great Performances executive producer David Horn.

Great Performances is produced by THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET. Throughout its more than 40-year history on public television, Great Performances has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America’s most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming.

With weekly news and reviews, nationwide screenings, and an annual awards event, AARP’s Movies for Grownups multimedia franchise continues to champion movies for grownups, by grownups.  For more information about AARP’s Movies for Grownups^® Awards, go online to www.aarp.org/moviesforgrownups.

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About AARP The Magazine’s Movies For Grownups® Awards’ Philanthropic Goals
The annual Movies for Grownups® Awards raises funds for AARP Foundation, AARP’s affiliated charity, which helps struggling people 50-plus around the country transform their lives through programs, services and vigorous legal advocacy. The Foundation works to increase economic opportunity and social connections to prevent and reduce senior poverty.

About AARP The Magazine
With more than 37 million readers, AARP The Magazine is the nation’s largest circulation magazine – and the definitive lifestyle publication – for Americans 50 and older. AARP The Magazine delivers targeted content in three demographic versions – for readers age 50 to 59, 60 to 69 and 70-plus – including health and fitness features, financial guidance, consumer information and tips, celebrity interviews, and book and movie reviews. AARP has been publishing a magazine for members since its founding in 1958. AARP The Magazine is published bimonthly in print and continually online. Learn more at www.aarp.org/magazine/.

About WNET
WNET is America’s flagship PBS station and parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21. WNET also operates NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend and a range of documentaries, children’s programs, and local news and cultural offerings. WNET’s groundbreaking series for children and young adults include Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase as well as Mission US, the award-winning interactive history game. WNET highlights the tri-state’s unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Theater Close-Up, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams and MetroFocus, the daily multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. In addition, WNET produces online-only programming including the award-winning series about gender identity, First Person, and an intergenerational look at tech and pop culture, The Chatterbox with Kevin and Grandma Lill. In 2015, THIRTEEN launched Passport, an online streaming service which allows members to see new and archival THIRTEEN and PBS programming anytime, anywhere: www.thirteen.org/passport.