Golden Globes: Viola Davis to Receive Cecil B. DeMille Award

Viola Davis will receive the 2025 Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 82nd annual Golden Globes.

The actress, activist, producer, philanthropist, and best-selling author, is part of the select group of creatives to have achieved EGOT status, having won an Emmy, a Grammy, Oscar and two Tony Awards. Davis won a best supporting actress Golden Globe in 2017, her first such award, for her performance in Fences, opposite fellow Cecil B. DeMille winner Denzel Washington.

A Juilliard graduate, Davis first made her name in theater, and made her Broadway debut in 1996, in the original Broadway production of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars. She transitioned successfully to feature films in the 2000s, starring in Antwone Fisher, Solaris, Traffic, The Help, Prisoners, Widows, Air and The Woman King. In all, she’s been nominated for an Oscar four times, winning in 2017 for Fences.

Davis has also found huge success on television, starring in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, United States of Tara and most notably, How to Get Away with Murder. In total, she had been nominated for an Emmy five times, winning the award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series in 2015 for How to Get Away with Murder.

Created in 1952, and named after the legendary filmmaker, the honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award has been given to 69 people who meet the criteria of being the greatest and most iconic Hollywood talents. Past winners include Walt Disney, Jack Warner, Sidney Poitier, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, Jane Fonda and Eddie Murphy.

“Viola Davis is a luminary whose profound talent has continuously shifted the lens through which we see and understand film,” said Helen Hoehne, president of the Golden Globes, in a statement. “Presenting her with the 2025 Cecil B. DeMille Award is not only an honor but a reflection of our admiration for her relentless dedication to her craft and her monumental impact on the industry. Viola’s courage in portraying complex, powerful characters has broken barriers and paved new paths, making her an emblem of excellence and an ideal recipient of this prestigious award.”

Davis, along with the yet-to-announced 2025 Carol Burnett Award winner, honoring television achievements, will be feted at a gala dinner on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The gala will be the first time ever the Golden Globes will host a special evening dedicated to these two most historic awards. Davis will also be recognized during the televised ceremony.

The 82nd annual Golden Globes will air Sunday, Jan. 5, on CBS, and stream on Paramount+ for Paramount+ With Showtime subscribers.

Nominations for The Golden Globes will be announced on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024.

Dick Clark Productions, which produces the Golden Globes, is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns The Hollywood Reporter.