It has been quite a year for Annette Bening with a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of Diana Nyad in the biopic Nyad.
She received another one from the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest social club in the United States and the third oldest theater organization in the world, preceded only by the Comédie-Française and the Oberammergau Passion Players. Its alumni are notable in many fields and includes four US presidents (John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy).
Bening won the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year award that has been bestowed annually since 1951 (see list below). Its first recipient was Gertrude Lawrence, an English actress, singer, and dancer, and has since been awarded to performers deemed to have made a lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment.
Bening, who earned her fifth Academy Awards nomination this year to go along with an Emmy and two Tony Awards nominations, will be honored at the famed Harvard society in Harvard Square next Tuesday, February 6th before attending this year’s student-written musical, Heist Heist Baby.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to honor Annette Bening in this milestone 175th anniversary year for the Hasty Pudding,” said Hasty Pudding president and Harvard senior Josh R. Hillers.
Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Recipients
- 1951 – Gertrude Lawrence
- 1952 – Barbara Bel Geddes
- 1953 – Mamie Eisenhower
- 1954 – Shirley Booth
- 1955 – Debbie Reynolds
- 1956 – Peggy Ann Garner
- 1957 – Carroll Baker
- 1958 – Katharine Hepburn
- 1959 – Joanne Woodward
- 1960 – Carol Lawrence
- 1961 – Jane Fonda
- 1962 – Piper Laurie
- 1963 – Shirley MacLaine
- 1964 – Rosalind Russell
- 1965 – Lee Remick
- 1966 – Ethel Merman
- 1967 – Lauren Bacall
- 1968 – Angela Lansbury
- 1969 – Carol Burnett
- 1970 – Dionne Warwick
- 1971 – Carol Channing
- 1972 – Ruby Keeler
- 1973 – Liza Minnelli
- 1974 – Faye Dunaway
- 1975 – Valerie Harper
- 1976 – Bette Midler
- 1977 – Elizabeth Taylor
- 1978 – Beverly Sills
- 1979 – Candice Bergen
- 1980 – Meryl Streep
- 1981 – Mary Tyler Moore
- 1982 – Ella Fitzgerald
- 1983 – Julie Andrews
- 1984 – Joan Rivers
- 1985 – Cher
- 1986 – Sally Field
- 1987 – Bernadette Peters
- 1988 – Lucille Ball
- 1989 – Kathleen Turner
- 1990 – Glenn Close
- 1991 – Diane Keaton
- 1992 – Jodie Foster
- 1993 – Whoopi Goldberg
- 1994 – Meg Ryan
- 1995 – Michelle Pfeiffer
- 1996 – Susan Sarandon
- 1997 – Julia Roberts
- 1998 – Sigourney Weaver
- 1999 – Goldie Hawn
- 2000 – Jamie Lee Curtis
- 2001 – Drew Barrymore
- 2002 – Sarah Jessica Parker
- 2003 – Anjelica Huston
- 2004 – Sandra Bullock
- 2005 – Catherine Zeta-Jones
- 2006 – Halle Berry
- 2007 – Scarlett Johansson
- 2008 – Charlize Theron
- 2009 – Renée Zellweger
- 2010 – Anne Hathaway
- 2011 – Julianne Moore
- 2012 – Claire Danes
- 2013 – Marion Cotillard
- 2014 – Helen Mirren
- 2015 – Amy Poehler
- 2016 – Kerry Washington
- 2017 – Octavia Spencer
- 2018 – Mila Kunis
- 2019 – Bryce Dallas Howard
- 2020 – Elizabeth Banks
- 2021 – Viola Davis
- 2022 – Jennifer Garner
- 2023 – Jennifer Coolidge
- 2024 – Annette Bening
Photos above shows Annette Bening with her real-world swimming coach and Olympic swimmer Rada Owen at the USA Swimming Golden Goggles Awards. Bening trained hard for a year in order to prepare for her role as Nyad.
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