Beatty directed and starred in the 1990 film Dick Tracy

The actor and director, 69, will pick up the Cecil B. De Mille award in recognition of films such as Dick Tracy, Bonnie and Clyde and Shampoo.

The trophy will be added to the star's collection, which already includes a best director Oscar, a Bafta fellowship and five other Golden Globes.

Previous winners of the award include Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino.

Beatty began his career almost 40 years ago, taking small roles in US television dramas before making the transition to the big screen.

Powerful figure

But it was 1967's Bonnie And Clyde - which he produced and starred in - that cemented his reputation as a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood.

The film received 10 Oscar nominations, and eventually won two - although Beatty lost the best actor award to Rod Stieger, who appeared in In The Heat Of The Night.

He continued to be an influential actor and producer throughout the 1970s, with films including McCabe and Mrs Miller, The Parallax View and Shampoo - which he also wrote.

The Hollywood legend won a best-director Oscar for Reds in 1981 and is the only person to be nominated for Oscars as a producer, director, writer and actor in the same film - a feat accomplished twice, for Reds and for Heaven Can Wait in 1978.