Roy Dotrice, who won a 2000 Tony Award for his performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten, will be honored with Shakespeare-at Play's Person of the Year Award on May 26.

Ted Kryczko, a spokesman for the organization, said the award celebrates not only outstanding achievement in theatre but also is meant to recognize an actor who exemplifies what is possible before a live audience. When contacted at his Los Angeles home, Dotrice — who will also celebrate his 79th birthday on Sunday — laughed and said, "I suspect that it's some kind of survival award."

       Those who will pay tribute to the actor at the L.A. ceremony include Gabriel Byrne, who starred with Dotrice and Cherry Jones in A Moon for the Misbegotten; Della Reese, Dotrice's co-star on the TV series "Touched By an Angel"; Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman, Dotrice's co-stars in the TV series "Beauty and the Beast"; Gary Oldman, a co-star in "The Scarlet Letter"; and Diana Douglas, Dotrice's mom.

     A U.K. native and star of the West End stage, Dotrice has also appeared in several Broadway shows, including Brief Lives, Mister Lincoln, A Life, Kingdoms, Hay Fever, The Homecoming and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Dotrice will return next month to the U.K. where he will star in the pre-West End run of Anthony Wilkinson's stage adaptation of the best selling novel "Ebenezer Le Page."

—By Andrew Gans