Warren Beatty has achieved success as an actor and director

They are receiving their accolades from the Kennedy Center for their contribution to cultural life.

Others who will be honoured include composer John Williams, singer Joan Sutherland and veteran acting couple Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.

The gala event will be held in Washington on 5 December.

Chairman of the John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Stephen Schwarzman, said the six were being recognised as "extraordinary individuals whose unique and abundant artistry has contributed significantly to the cultural life of our nation and the world".

Beatty, 67, who earned a best director Oscar for Reds, was called "a film artist whose talents are astonishingly diverse".

While Mr Schwarzman hailed Sir Elton John as "a pop music icon who also composes stunning musical film and theatre scores".

Among those film credits is the award-winning Can You Feel the Love Tonight from the Disney cartoon The Lion King.

'Music icon'

John Williams is best known for composing music to Star Wars, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, winning five Academy Awards for his work over five decades.

Davis, 86, and Dee, 79, started out on stage before embarking on screen careers, and are considered to have paved the way for black performers.

Both are also writers, while Davis is credited as a producer and director. The couple shared a PBS TV show Ossie and Rubie in the early 1980s.

Australian soprano Joan Sutherland, 77, ended her long career in 1990, having sung with the likes of Noel Coward and Maria Callas, performing with New York's Metropolitan Opera and La Scala in Milan.