The Globe has often reported the reclusive 88-year-old movie star is unwell and close to death, and editors are now urging readers to help them lobby Oscars bosses to give the actress an honorary Academy Award while she's still alive to accept it in person.

Launching the initiative this week (ends01Feb13), Globe editors write, "As the 88-year-old Hollywood icon faces her brave last days, Globe is kicking off a national campaign to get her the Academy Award she so richly deserves, but has been so cruelly denied for decades.

"Her closest brush with the movie academy's golden boy came with a Best Actress nomination for her 1959 romantic comedy Pillow Talk, co-starring Rock Hudson. However, French actress Simone Signoret trotted off with the statuette for Room at the Top."