 Ray is the second film personality after Chaplin to have been awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford University . He was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985 and the Legion of Honor by the President of France in 1987 . The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 1965 and the highest civilian honour , Bharat Ratna , shortly before his death . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded Ray an Honorary Oscar in 1992 for Lifetime Achievement . It was one of his favourite actresses , Audrey Hepburn , who represented the Academy on that day in Calcutta . Ray , unable to attend the ceremony due to his illness , gave his acceptance speech to the Academy via live video feed from the hospital bed . In 1992 he was posthumously awarded the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing at the San Francisco International Film Festival ; it was accepted on his behalf by actress Sharmila Tagore . 
