Larry King getting 'True Grit Award' at Beverly Hills gala

Larry King is getting the "True Grit Award" during the annual Odyssey Ball benefiting the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Health Center.

Photo: Larry King getting 'True Grit Award' at Beverly Hills gala

"Larry King epitomizes the strengths and qualities that characterized my father, and for which the True Grit Award was created - uncompromising integrity and a commitment to the values of our great country," said Patrick Wayne, chairman of the John Wayne Cancer Institute.

Jamie Lee Curtis will host the black tie event April 14 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. There will also be a special tribute to the Wayne family to commemorate the centennial of John Wayne's birth.

Since the Odyssey Ball began 22 years ago, the gala has helped raise more than $14 million (EUR10.49 million) to support the John Wayne Cancer Institute's lifesaving cancer research and treatment programs.

"How fitting that in 2007, as we commemorate the centennial of my dad's birth, we also pay tribute to another great American, Larry King, with this award," Patrick Wayne said in a statement released Tuesday.

The CNN host of "Larry King Live" is celebrating his 50th year in broadcasting.

The institute was founded by the Wayne family in 1981 to honor the wishes of the actor, who died of stomach cancer in 1979.