Sir Lenny Henry has been announced as the recipient of the special recognition award at this year’s National Television Awards (NTAs).
The 64-year-old comedian and actor will be presented with the honour during the annual event on Thursday night at the OVO Arena Wembley in London.
Organisers said the gong marked his “trailblazing career in UK television”.
Among those congratulating Sir Lenny for his achievements will be Hollywood star Whoopi Goldberg, who said: “If you want to know what a superhero looks like, take a look at Sir Lenny Henry.”
Sir Lenny Henry is to be presented with the NTAs’ coveted gold Special Recognition Award, honouring his trailblazing career in UK television. pic.twitter.com/jj0b3jHwO7
— National TV Awards (@OfficialNTAs) October 13, 2022
Born in Dudley, Sir Lenny won the talent competition New Faces in 1975 and started working in television when he was 16 years old.
He went on to feature in numerous TV shows including Broadchurch, The Syndicate, The Long Song and most recently The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power.
In 2016, the actor received a Bafta Award for outstanding contribution to television.
He also co-founded the charity Comic Relief alongside filmmaker Richard Curtis in 1985 and set up the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity at Birmingham City University.
Sir Lenny received a knighthood from the Queen at Windsor Castle in 2015.
The announcement comes after Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly revealed they had tested positive for Covid and would miss the ceremony, where they usually dominate.
On Wednesday night they said on their shared Instagram account: “Sadly, it’s true… We even get ill together!
“After feeling unwell a few days ago we both tested and we’re positive for Covid.”
The presenting duo have won the best TV presenter category for the past 20 years, and this year they face competition from Alison Hammond, Bradley Walsh and Graham Norton.
The Wanted’s Tom Parker has also been posthumously shortlisted for a Channel 4 documentary about his final months.
He will go up against Kate Garraway, who won the authored documentary category last year for a programme about her family’s life after her husband, former political adviser Derek Draper, spent a year in hospital being treated for coronavirus.
Elsewhere at the event, LGBTQ+ teen series Heartstopper, which launched on Netflix in April, has been shortlisted for the new drama prize alongside prison drama Time, crime thriller Trigger Point and medical memoir This Is Going To Hurt.
Heartstopper’s lead actors, Joe Locke, who played Charlie Spring, and Kit Connor, who portrayed Nick Nelson, have both been nominated for the rising star award.
They will compete against Charithra Chandran, who played Edwina Sharma in the second series of Bridgerton, and Paddy Bever, who stars as Max Turner in Coronation Street.
Bridgerton, Call The Midwife, Peaky Blinders and The Split are all in the running for the returning drama category.