The Brit was presented with the 2012 Edith Wharton Lifetime Achievement Award at a gala in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday (03Nov12) in honour of his glittering showbusiness career, which includes winning an Oscar for his 2001 film Gosford Park.
During the bash, Fellowes revealed his work has been heavily influenced by The Age of Innocence writer, telling the crowd, “It’s a lesson I learned from Edith Wharton to use tolerance, wit and humour while wielding the rod.”
The event, held at the Harvard Club of Boston, marked what would have been Wharton’s 150th birthday and raised money to maintain her former home, The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Past recipients of the lifetime achievement award include moviemaker Martin Scorsese, who directed a film adaptation of The Age of Innocence, and philanthropist/socialite Brooke Astor.
