LONDON — Angelina Jolie can add royal recognition to
Hollywood stardom. The Oscar-winning actress has been named an honorary dame —
the female version of a knight — by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
Jolie, a United Nations special envoy, received the honor
on Friday for her work combating sexual violence in war zones.
Jolie, who won a supporting actress Academy Award in 2000
for "Girl, Interrupted," has spoken of scaling back her movie roles
to focus on humanitarian work. She said that "to receive an honor related to
foreign policy means a great deal to me, as it is what I wish to dedicate my
working life to."
Because she is not a British or Commonwealth citizen,
Jolie won't be entitled to use the title "dame" before her name.
Previous U.S recipients of honorary knighthoods include director Steven
Spielberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and former President Ronald Reagan.
Jolie, who was in London this week to co-host an
international summit on sexual violence, was among hundreds of people
recognized in the queen's annual Birthday Honors List for services to their
community or national life.
Most of the honors go to people who are not in the
limelight — from soldiers and civil servants to academics and entrepreneurs —
but there is always a sprinkling of famous names.
Three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis was made a
knight "for services to drama" and can now call himself Sir Daniel.
The actor, who won Academy Awards for "My Left Foot," "There
Will Be Blood" and "Lincoln," said he was "entirely amazed
and utterly delighted in equal measure."There were damehoods for novelist
Hilary Mantel, author of the prize-winning Tudor page-turners "Wolf
Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies," and for fashion designer Zandra
Rhodes.
Actress Maggie Smith, who plays the imperious Dowager
Countess of Grantham on TV's "Downton Abbey," was made a Companion of
Honor, an award limited to 65 people "of distinction."
"Homeland" star Damian Lewis was named an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE.
The British actor said he was "very surprised but
very happy" with the honor.
"I decided to do the very un-British thing of
accepting the compliment," Lewis said.
OBEs also went to Beatles expert and author Hunter
Davies, musician Talvin Singh, and John Simpson, longtime editor of the Oxford
English Dictionary.
In the field of science, there was a knighthood for
physicist Thomas Kibble, whose work contributed to the discovery of the Higgs
boson — the so-called "God particle."
Among those honored for charity work was the late Stephen
Sutton, a teenager who raised 4 million pounds ($6.8 million) while battling
terminal cancer. Sutton, who died in May at age 19, was named a Member of the
Order of the British Empire, or MBE.
Sylvia Lancaster, who founded a campaign against hate
crime after her daughter, Sophie, was attacked and killed by a gang of youths
in 2007 because of her Goth appearance, received an OBE.
Recipients covered a wide range of achievements, from
confectioner Chantal Coady, honored "for services to chocolate
making," to civil service debt manager Barry Cox — "for services to
debt" — and Arthur Dean, president of the Dwarf Sports Association. He was
recognized for services to people with restricted growth and to disabled sport.
Britain's honors are bestowed by the monarch, but
recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made
by the government and the public.
In descending order, the honors are knighthoods;
Commander of the Order of the British Empire or CBE; OBE; and MBE. Knights are
addressed as "sir" or "dame." Recipients of the other
honors have no title, but can put the letters after their names.
source:sunherald.com
