Screen Actors Guild to honor Rita Moreno

LOS ANGELES, July 22 (UPI) -- Entertainer Rita Moreno is to be presented with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in Los Angeles this winter, the union announced.

The honor is given annually to an actor who fosters the "finest ideals of the acting profession," SAG-AFTRA [American Federation of Television and Radio Artists] said in a news release Sunday.

Moreno, 81, has earned an Oscar, two Emmys, a Tony, a Grammy, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of the Arts during her six-decades-long career.

She is to receive SAG-AFTRA's top accolade at the 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Jan. 18.

"I am simply delighted that Rita Moreno is the 50th recipient of our SAG Life Achievement Award -- the most prestigious honor we bestow,"

Ken Howard, SAG-AFTRA co-president, said in a statement.

"She is an extraordinarily versatile, talented and generous actor whose career is notable for its courageous choices and for the breadth, depth and quality of her many demanding and commanding roles."

"No one is more deserving of this honor than the fabulous and accomplished Rita Moreno, an iconic talent whose excellent work includes hit movies, highly rated television series, landmark public television programs and award-winning recordings," said Roberta Reardon, SAG-AFTRA co-president.