MONTREAL, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels and Robbie Robertson of The Band were honored with Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Tuesday in Montreal.
Also receiving Governor General's Performing Arts Awards were Mark Starowicz, head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. documentary programming unit; actor, director and playwright Jacques Languirand; actor Albert Millaire; and ballerina Joysanne Sidimus.
Canadian Opera Company Conductor and Artistic Director Richard Bradshaw received the National Arts Center Award and the father/son team of Georges and Sherif Laoun won the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts.
Michaels pitched "SNL" to NBC in 1975 and has been its executive producer for the past 32 years. He is already a member of the Order of Canada and has been inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
Robertson burst onto the international music scene in the 1960s and '70s with The Band, which backed Bob Dylan and had a string of hits on its own. He has been a musical contributor to many Hollywood films such as "Raging Bull" and "Gangs of New York."
