Spielberg Honored By NAACP

Steven Spielberg, whose films include The Color Purple and Amistad, won a special honor at the 31st NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, while Denzel Washington took best actor for The Hurricane.

The NAACP honored Spielberg with a Vanguard Award for his "pioneering courage to promote social justice through creative endeavors."

"A couple of days ago, I was in the hospital," said 53-year-old Spielberg, who had a kidney removed last week. "This is the first time I've been out since my operation and it feels like a dream, an absolute dream."

Spielberg joked about how he explained to his children that he was forgoing rest to accept the award.

"I kinda just told them, I was coming here to accept the 'Will Smith Vanguard Award' and they understood that," he said.

Smith, an actor and singer, picked up his own Image Awards for the music to the movie Wild, Wild West, in which he starred. The movie also earned him awards for outstanding rap artist and outstanding music video.

Spielberg later went on to talk about promoting diversity in the industry.

"It's my responsibility and it's our responsibility as picturemakers, as network executives, as studio heads, to continue to expand the opportunities of the portrayal of diversity in all medium," he said. "And we still must acknowledge the painful absence of racial diversity within our very own industry."

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had announced a shortage of minority characters in television made it difficult for Image Award organizers to select nominees this year.

The organization has confronted the networks for months about the lack of diversity.

The issue of minorities in the entertainment industry came to a boil in July when NAACP and a coalition of Hispanic groups condemned a near-total lack of minority characters in fall series. The groups threatened lawsuits and boycotts.

But NAACP officials recently met with TV network executives who promised to work toward enhancing diversity on their shows.

Washington, who played a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder in The Hurricane, congratulated NAACP President Kweisi Mfume "for the great work he is doing in this town and in this country."

Earlier in the evening, comedian Steve Harvey won for best actor in a television comedy, while The Steve Harvey Show won for outstanding comedy series.

"This is from us, for us, that's why it means something to me," said Harvey, who plays the vice principal of an urban high school. The series appears on Warner Bros.' WB network.

Best actresses in a comedy series went to twins Tia and Tamera Mowry for their roles in Sister, Sister, also on the WB.

In the television categories, CBS had 18 nominations. ABC was next with 15, followed by HBO with 14, Warner Bros. with 12 and NBC with 10.

Although CBS had the most nominations, it was one of the lasmajor broadcasters to sign a commitment with the NAACP to use more minority characters this fall.

Agreements signed by Fox and CBS on Feb 3. are similar to those signed by NBC and ABC last month, focusing on changes in minority representation through the companies both on-screen and off.

CBS won for outstanding dramatic series for Touched by an Angel, and its co-star Della Reese won for best actress in a TV drama.

"It's so nice when your family says you're doing good," Reese said on Saturday.

Civil rights heroine Rosa Parks won for supporting actress in a drama series for her appearance on Touched by an Angel.

Outstanding actor in a drama series went to Eriq La Salle of ER.

Angela Bassett won outstanding supporting actress in the film Music of the Heart.

Halle Berry won outstanding actress in a television movie, mini-series or dramatic special for the lead role in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, an HBO movie about the first black woman nominated for an Academy Award as best actress. Berry also won a Golden Globe for her role.

The Best Man, about friends reuniting at a wedding, took outstanding motion picture. Outstanding actress and actor awards went to the film's Nia Long actor Terrence Howard, respectively.

The awards show is scheduled to air April 6 on Fox.

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