Stevie Wonder, Meryl Streep, More Among Medal of Freedom Winners

Nineteen individuals will be named the recipients of the highest civilian honor in the United States.

President Obama will award the Medal of Freedom to a wide range of recipients representing arts, civil rights, philanthropy and politics.

Music legend Stevie Wonder, Broadway icon Stephen Sondheim, and three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep represent arts and entertainment, alongside actress Marlo Thomas, journalist Tom Brokaw, writer/activist Suzan Harjo, and author Isabel Allende.

Professional golfer Charles Sifford, who desegregated the Professional Golfers’ Association, is also an honoree, along with economist Robert Solow, scientist Mildred Dresselhaus, and political figures such as Ethel Kennedy, John Dingell, Abner Mikva, and Patsy Takemoto Mink.

In addition, five posthumous medals will be awarded, as choreographer/dancer Alvin Ailey will be honored alongside activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, and L.A. city councilman Edward R. Roybal, who also represented California's 30th district in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years.

It's an eclectic mix of deserving honorees who've made their respective marks on the world. And in Streep and Sondheim's case, this comes just in time to give a promotional boost to Into the Woods, the Streep-starring adaptation of Sondheim's Tony-winning musical due on Christmas Day.

The honorees will each receive their Medal of Freedom at a special ceremony at the White House on Monday, November 24.

Via: Entertainment Weekly

Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/FilmMagic