Robert Redford to receive honorary Cesar Award

Legendary actor Robert Redford is set to receive an honorary Cesar award, France's equivalent of the Oscars.

The veteran actor will receive the honour at the 44th annual Cesar ceremony, which will take place on February 22 in Paris.

"An iconic actor, an exceptional director, a passionate producer, founder and president of Sundance, the most revered festival of independent films in the world, Robert Redford has left his mark through all his endeavours in the film world," Alain Terzian, the president of the Academy of Arts and Techniques of Cinema, said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.

"Robert Redford is definitely a monument. Many of his films, in front or behind the camera, have now become classics. Rare are the careers which have had such a lasting impact on the History of Cinema," Terzian added.

Redford, who began his acting career on Broadway in the play "Tall Story" in 1959, was previously honoured with the Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Redford said last summer that he planned on retiring after his latest film, "The Old Man and the Gun" directed by David Lowery, but he later said he had perhaps spoken too soon.

Past recipients of the honorary Cesar include Penelope Cruz, George Clooney, Michael Douglas, Meryl Streep and Sean Penn.