Veteran comedian Jerry Lewis will be honored at the Academy Awards in February with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

The accolade, named after screen actor Jean Hersholt who served as president of theMotion Picture Relief Fund for 18 years, is awarded from time to time for those with outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes.

Last year's recipient was film mogul Sherry Lansing.

Lewis, 82, has raised over billion for the Muscular Dystrophy Association through his annual Labor Day telethon. He established the telethon in 1952.

Other notable Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipients include Gregory Peck (1967), Frank Sinatra (1970), and Paul Newman (1993).