Woody Allen is to be awarded the Golden Globes' Cecil B. De Mille Award at next years awards show, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced on Friday, 13 September. The prolific writer, director, producer and actor will be bestowed with the award at the 71st Annual Golden Globes ceremony taking place on 12 January 2014.

Woody Allen
Allen has been working in film for six decades

“There is no one more worthy of this award than Woody Allen,” HFPA president Theo Kingma said in the official announcement. He added, “His contributions to filmmaking have been phenomenal and he is an international treasure.”

The 77-year-old has worked in film for more than 50-years and after being at the helm of 55 films, the great filmmaker has carved himself a legacy that will not soon be forgotten. His film career began after he worked as a writer and stand-up comedian, when he was hired to write What’s New Pussycat in 1965, followed a year later by his directorial debut What’s Up, Tiger Lily?

Woody Allen Cinema Society
His work continues to inspire budding filmmakers

Beginning with Marx Brothers-influenced, often slapstick comedies such as Bananas and Sleeper, Allen gradually developed his writing style and in doing so, changed the face of comedy movies for good with his moving and still-hilarious tales of love and life with such titles as Manhattan and Annie Hall. To this day Allen remains active and regularly turns his vivid ideas into award-winning movies, with some of his most recent films including the Oscar-winning Vicky Christina Barcelona and most recently Blue Jasmine.

In winning the award, Allen joins the likes of Walt Disney, Sidney Poitier, Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Steven Spielberg and last year' winner Jodie Foster, not to mention the award's first recipient and namesake Cecil B. De Mille.

Woody Allen pic
He is a worthy winner of the lifetime achievement gong