GALLERY: Oprah Winfrey Wins, Oscar Hopefuls Celebrate at 2011 Governor's Ball

Despite what could only be described as the week from PR hell, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had to take at least a little comfort -- OK, a lot of comfort -- knowing that it had its second most vital annual event to look forward to during the weekend: The Governors Ball, where Oprah WInfrey, James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith were bequeathed honorary Academy Awards.

Winfrey, who received the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, delivered an emotional acceptance speech invoking both the challenges of her upbringing and a current Oscar contender giving voice to those days.

"It is unimaginable that I would be standing before you, voted by the Board of Governors," Winfrey began before choking up. "Unimaginable," she repeated several times to a standing ovation. "When I say, 'Thank you,' the 'thank you' comes from a place even deeper than I know." Over at our sister site Deadline, Pete Hammond offered this bit from Winfrey's speech (excised from the Academy's unembeddable YouTube video): "When I saw The Help and read the book, it was my story. My grandmother was a maid. Her mother was a maid. Her mother before her was a slave. My mother was a maid. This is unimaginable... I will keep this Oscar on my desk to remind me to use our lives in service of one another. For me this Oscar will represent love from all of you."

Jones, who is presently appearing opposite Vanessa Redgrave in Driving Miss Daisy in London, sent his regards via satellite, while makeup kingpin Rick Baker led the tributes to his friend and mentor Dick Smith.

The room, meanwhile, was filled with many hopefuls from this year's Oscar crop (and, well, Sean Young); browse their likes in Movieline's 2011 Governors Awards gallery.

[Photos: Getty Images]