Eddie Izzard to collect lifetime achievement award at South Bank awards

Eddie Izzard is to receive the outstanding achievement prize at this year’s South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

The honour is presented as the awards celebrate their 20th anniversary. To coincide with the anniversary the awards’ organisers have commissioned a special artwork celebrating the past 19 years of winners.

The graph, created by Anisa Haghdadi, links multiple winners and common themes from the ceremonies over the years. Haghdadi was a scholarship winner of the Sky Academy last year.

Izzard will collect his award at the ceremony on June 5, which will be held at the Savoy Hotel in London.

Melvyn Bragg, who hosts the awards, said: “Eddie Izzard is a marvel. He works across such a wide waterfront with an unmatchable, often uncatchable style and wit.”

Previous winners of the award include Tracey Emin and JK Rowling.

Nominees for this year’s award include the Almeida Theatre’s Oresteia, People, Places and Things, produced by the National Theatre and Headlong, and the Royal Court’s production of Hangmen.