Oprah Winfrey Receives Honorary Academy Award

USMagazine, Sunday, November 13, 2011, 11:41am (PST)

What's even better than an aha moment? Winning an Academy Award! 

Oprah Winfrey received an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in L.A. on Saturday The 57-year-old was nominated for an Academy Award in 1986 for her role in The Color Purple, but over the weekend she won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, granted for efforts that promote hope around the world and goodwill for the film industry.

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"I never imagined myself receiving an Oscar, certainly not for doing what I believe is a part of my calling, a part of my being," she said, as excerpted by the Hollywood Reporter.

"It's unimaginable that I would be standing before you, voted by the board of governors. So when I say thank you, the thank you comes from a place deeper even than I know, because it's not just from me, it's from everybody who made me possible," Winfrey gushed.

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James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith were also honored at the awards.

The ceremony occurred just four days after Brett Ratner resigned as 2012's Academy Awards producer; on Wednesday, Eddie Murphy announced that he was resigning as the show's host. 

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On Thursday, the Academy confirmed that Billy Crystal would be replacing Murphy as next year's host and emceeing the show for his ninth time.

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