Turner Classic Movies, TCM for short, today announced that the fourth annual Robert Osborne Award will be given to Donald Bogle. Bogle, considered to be among the foremost authorities on African Americans in Hollywood, will receive the award at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival prior to a screening of “Carmen Jones.” That 1954 feature first ignited Bogle’s interest in Black artists in the movies.
The award, recognizing an individual who has helped keep the cultural heritage of classic film alive for future generations, has been previously awarded to director Martin Scorsese, film preservationist Kevin Brownlow and film author and historian Leonard Maltin.
Bogle is a pioneer in the study of Black artists working in cinema. He is also an award-winning author, having written nine books, including (but not limited to) “Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies” and “Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. The latter will this year celebrate its 50th anniversary.
He also penned “Hollywood Black: The Stars, The Films, The Filmmakers” for TCM as well as the definitive biography of “Carmen Jones” star Dorothy Dandridge. She was the first African American to be nominated for an Oscar in the lead acting category.
Bogle first appeared on TCM in 2006 as Robert Osborne’s co-host for TCM’s 38-film series “Race and Hollywood,” which traced the depictions of African Americans in Hollywood from the silent period up to the 1980s.
“For more than five decades, Donald Bogle has been shining a light on the influence Black artists have had on cinema since the dawn of the medium. There has been no more important historian for the contributions of African Americans in Hollywood, making him the perfect candidate for the Robert Osborne Award,” said Ben Mankiewicz.
The TCM Primetime Anchor and Official Host of the TCM Classic Film Festival further stated, “We have relied on his extensive film knowledge on air and at the festival for nearly 20 years, and I can confidently say that Bogle is the only writer I’ve worked with to have had a book optioned by Whitney Houston.”
Robert Osborne served as the primetime host and anchor of TCM for over 22 years, during which time millions of viewers discovered the world of classic film. He dedicated his life to preserving and sharing the movies he loved. TCM Primetime host Ben Mankiewicz will serve as the official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival, which will take place April 13 through April 16 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel serving as the official hotel and central gathering point.
This year’s theme is “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” celebrating film legacies: stories told and retold over generations that have shaped our identities, shared culture, and values. The festival will put a special spotlight on the legacy of Warner Bros. to mark the studio’s 100th anniversary.
