Robert De Niro to be honoured with 2019 SAG Life Achievement Award

Hollywood veteran and double Oscar winner Robert De Niro will receive the Life Achievement Award from Screen Actors Guild (SAG) at the 26th edition of the ceremony next year.

According to a press release issued on Tuesday, the actor has been named the 56th recipient of SAG-AFTRA's highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.

The 76-year-old De Niro will be presented the honour on January 19, 2020.

The SAG Life Achievement Award is given annually to an actor who fosters the "finest ideals of the acting profession".

"I have been a member of this union for over 50 years. It's an honor to receive this award from SAG-AFTRA," De Niro said in a statement.

The star of "Taxi Driver," "The Deer Hunter" and "Silver Linings Playbook" will add the award to his impressive catalog honours, which also includes a Golden Globe, the Cecil B DeMille Award, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, a GLADD Excellence in Media Award and the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Chaplin Award.

In a reference to his roles in films "The Godfather 2", "Raging Bull" and "The Intern", Gabrielle Carteris, president of SAG-AFTRA, said it was her privilege to announce SAG-AFTRA's highest honour for "one of the most singular talents of our generation".

"Robert De Niro is an actor of extraordinary depth and ability. The characters he creates captivate our imaginations. From the smoldering inferno of young Vito Corleone to the raging bull Jake Lamotta and everybody's grandpa Ben Whittaker, he continues to touch our hearts and open our minds to new and exciting worlds of understanding and emotion," Carteris said.

De Niro will next be seen in frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese's gangster drama, "The Irishman".

SAG -- the awards of the actors, by the actors, for the actors in film and television -- is one of the biggest ceremonies in the Hollywood awards season.

Nominations will be announced on December 11.