Kline, Weaver Named Pudding Man, Woman of the Year

The Hasty Pudding Theatricals announced Monday that it has selected three-time Academy Award nominee Sigourney Weaver and Academy Award winner Kevin Kline as its woman and man of the year.

The festivities will begin on Feb. 9 at 2 p.m., with a parade led by Weaver through Harvard Square.

After the parade, Weaver will travel to the Hasty Pudding Theater, where she will receive a "Pudding Pot," a small trophy honoring the actress chosen by the nation's oldest theatrical society.

Kline will receive his "pot" on Feb. 17, prior to the opening performance of "Paradise Lost-and-Found," the Pudding's 150th production. Tickets to the performance are $100, and the show is almost sold out.

Although Weaver and Kline have both experienced significant success on screen in the past few years, Pudding members said that their strong track records in theater and film over the past 20 years are what separated them from the pack.

"This being our 150th year, we wanted to honor actors who have made lasting contributions to theater as well as film," said Hayle Chun '98, a producer of "Paradise Lost-and-Found" and a member of the Pudding selection committee.

"We don't always pick a specific person because they've had a great year, although both Kline and Weaver did great this year in The Ice Storm," said Pudding Press Manager Carolyn A. Cassidy '99.

The decision to select Weaver and Kline was made by the executive board of the Pudding last spring, Chun said.

"It's always a highly debated process," Chun said. "But this year's choices were fairly unanimous."

Weaver will join the ranks of Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster and Julia Roberts as a "Woman of the Year Award" winner. The female award was established in 1951.

"We've wanted to have her for a long time," Chun said. "It's difficult to find a woman who has had credibility in the acting industry as long as she has."

Weaver's roles run the gamut from action heroine (most notably in the Alien series) to character actress (with Golden Globe award-winning performances in Working Girl and Gorillas in the Mist) to comedienne (in Ghost-busters and Dave), She also won a Tony award for her work in Hurlyburly.

"She established herself as the only bankable female action star in the 1980s," Chun said. "She also proved that she could handle dramatic roles."

The "Man of the Year" award was established 12 years after its female counterpart, in 1963. Past recipients include Paul Newman, Robert Redford, StevenSpielberg, Robert DeNiro and Harrison Ford.

Kline has also had a distinguished career intheater and film. Before coming to Hollywood, heearned two Tony Awards for his roles in On theTwentieth Century and The Pirates ofPenzance.

In 1988, he won an Academy Award for hisperformance in A Fish Called Wanda.Subsequent films have included The Big Chill,Cry Freedom and the 1997 flick In andOut, for which he received his fourth GoldenGlobe nomination.

"He's an actor's actor," Chun said. "He's doneeverything from Shakespeare to Chekhov.

Kline has also had a distinguished career intheater and film. Before coming to Hollywood, heearned two Tony Awards for his roles in On theTwentieth Century and The Pirates ofPenzance.

In 1988, he won an Academy Award for hisperformance in A Fish Called Wanda.Subsequent films have included The Big Chill,Cry Freedom and the 1997 flick In andOut, for which he received his fourth GoldenGlobe nomination.

"He's an actor's actor," Chun said. "He's doneeverything from Shakespeare to Chekhov.