Francis Ford Coppola To Be Given Lifetime Achievement Oscar

Francis Ford Coppola is being given the lifetime achievement award at this year's Oscars, which will air in February 2011. The Oscar-winning director will receive the award ahead of the ceremony at a dinner set to take place in Los Angeles in November.

Coppolla is best known for his work on the "Godfather" trilogy. He also wrote and directed Vietnam War movie "Apocalypse Now" and the 1974 thriller "The Conversation."

The Irving Thalberg Memorial Award will be the sixth Academy Award Coppolla has earned.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science states that the reason Coppola is being given the award is because he is a "creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production."

Other people who will be receiving prestigious awards at the event include director Jean-Luc Godard, actor Eli Wallach and movie historian Kevin Brownlow.