Alan Alda to receive SAG's 2018 Life Achievement Award

Oct. 4 (UPI) -- M*A*S*H icon Alan Alda has been chosen as the recipient of the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

The prize is to be presented at the 25th annual SAG Awards ceremony, which is to be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Jan. 27.

"It is an honor and privilege to announce that our SAG Life Achievement Award will be presented to the fabulous Alan Alda," SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said in a statement Thursday. "He is an artist whose body of work is a testament to the craft and the magic of our business. His ability to make us laugh, to think and to feel is extraordinary. From theater to television, movies, and new media Alan's dedication and talent are exceeded only by his contributions to a just and caring society."

In addition to his Emmy-winning performance in the long-running, Korean War-set sitcom M*A*S*H, Alda also played a recurring role on The West Wing and appeared in episodes of ER, 30 Rock, The Blacklist, The Big C, Horace and Pete, The Good Fight and Ray Donovan.

His film credits include Gone Are the Days!, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Sweet Liberty, The Four Seasons, The Aviator, Bridge of Spies and The Longest Ride.

He will next be seen in Noah Baumbach's as-yet untitled film co-starring Scarlett Johansen and Adam Driver.

The 82-year-old actor revealed in July he had been diagnosed more than three years ago with Parkinson's disease.

Recent SAG Life Achievement recipients include Morgan Freeman, Lily Tomlin, Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett, Debbie Reynolds, Rita Moreno, Mary Tyler Moore, Betty White and James Garner.