1981: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, two legends of the screen and among the original founders of BAFTA, are presented with the Fellowship by Academy chair Mike Wooller and actress Deborah Kerr (Awards host David Frost, presented with a Fellowship himself in 2005, is also pictured).
AWA R D S N O T E S
1976: Although not strictly a Film Awards photograph, this picture of Sir Charles Chaplin receiving his Fellowship from HRH Princess Anne and Sir Richard Attenborough (vice-president of the Academy) in 1976 is historic for several reasons. Not only was this the royal opening of BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, but it also marked the first time that the Mitzi Cunliffe-designed ‘mask’ trophy was presented as a ‘BAFTA’. The now internationally-recognised trophy had originally been designed for the Guild of Television Producers and Directors Awards. In the background is Lady Chaplin (Oona O’Neill).
The first Fellow of the Academy was Alfred Hitchcock in 1971. The award was presented in recognition of the very highest standards of work in film and/or television. The first woman to be presented with the Fellowship was French actress Jeanne Moreau in 1996. The OBCC was first presented at the Awards in 1979. It was originally called The Michael Balcon Award, in honour of the great British producer who was also one of the founding members of BAFTA. The award has been increasingly used to honour the often unsung heroes and heroines of British cinema.
1993: Two for one – Lord Attenborough was made a Fellow in 1983, with Dame Maggie Smith joining him in 1996. They are pictured together here at the 1993 ceremony, where the Fellowship was actually presented to Sir Sydney Samuelson.
2002: James Ivory, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and Ismail Merchant have fun with the press. Merchant Ivory Productions is the only film company to be presented with the Fellowship in the history of the award, illustrating just how important their movies were in helping to revive a flagging British film industry in the 1980s and 1990s.