Robert Redford, theOscar-nominated actor and Oscar-winning director, will receive an honoraryAcademy Award at this year's ceremony on March 24. He joins thepreviously announced Sidney Poitier, who will also receive an honorary Oscar,and Arthur Hiller, who has been voted recipient of the Jean HersholtHumanitarian Award.

Redford's citationwill read: "Robert Redford - Actor, Director, Producer, Creator ofSundance, inspiration to independent and innovative film-makerseverywhere."

Redford's Sundance FilmFestival is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, havingessentially unveiled a host of film-makers from Steven Soderbergh to QuentinTarantino, Bryan Singer to Kenneth Lonergan.

Redford's actingcareer has encompassed classics such as Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, The Sting, All The President's Men, The Way We Were and ThreeDays Of The Condor. He was nominatedfor Best Actor for The Sting.

He won an Academy Award forhis first directing job Ordinary People in 1980 and a further nomination in 1994 for Quiz Show; his other credits include A River Runs ThroughIt (1992), The Milagro BeanfieldWar (1988), The Horse Whisperer (1998) and The Legend Of Bagger Vance (2000).