Film Society to honor Meryl Streep

NEW YORK, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York has announced plans to honor Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep at a gala tribute next spring.

The event is slated to take place April 14.

Each year since 1972, when it first organized the event with a presentation to Charles Chaplin, the society has saluted a major figure in the film industry.

"The Film Society of Lincoln Center is thrilled to pay tribute this year to America's premiere actress, Meryl Streep," gala tribute director Wendy Keys said in a statement.

"While her luminous on-screen presence is never less than dazzling, you always feel her keen intelligence and wit, her extraordinary level of insight. She truly embodies every character she plays and what an extraordinary range of characters."

The list of former honorees includes Fred Astaire, Alfred Hitchcock, Federico Fellini, Bob Hope, Claudette Colbert, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Martin Scorsese, Michael Caine, Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda, Mike Nichols and, most recently, Diane Keaton.