Kathy Bates takes Oscar role

Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her role in Misery

Oscar-winning Misery actress Kathy Bates is to announce the nominations for this year's 73rd Academy Awards.

Bates will join Robert Rehme - president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - on 13 February for a press conference in Beverly Hills.

Together they will unveil the shortlist of potential Oscar winners in nine of the 23 categories. The Oscars ceremony will take place on 25 March.

Misery was adapted from Stephen King's novel

Bates, 52, won the best actress Oscar in 1990 for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes in the screen adaptation of Stephen King's novel Misery.

The role as the obsessive fan who keeps writer Paul Sheldon - played by James Caan - captive remains her best remembered performance.

Bates's other notable films include Fried Green Tomatoes, Titanic, Annie and Primary Colours.

The Oscar nominations are traditionally announced by the president of the Academy and an invited former statuette winner.

Last year, Rehme was joined by Rain Man star Dustin Hoffman.

Celebrity line-up

The 2000 Oscars ceremony itself was hosted by comic actor Billy Crystal. This year, fellow comedy actor Steve Martin will be master of ceremonies.

Steve Martin will be host on the night

Joining Martin to present the individual statuettes will be a host of Hollywood stars, including Annette Bening, Jack Lemmon and Kate Hudson.

American Beauty star Bening, 43 - wife of actor Warren Beatty - picked up two Oscars in 2000 as the ambitious estate agent Carolyn Burnham.

Legendary actor Lemmon, 76, has been one of Hollywood's leading male stars for more than 40 years.

He has won two Oscars for Mister Roberts and Save the Tiger and been nominated for six others including his role in classic 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot.

Oscar hopefuls

Kate Hudson, 21, is one of Hollywood's brightest upcoming stars since her acclaimed performance in Almost Famous for which she was recently awarded a Golden Globe.

Kate Hudson won a Golden Globe

Other celebrities to present Oscars in 2001 include actress and singer Jennifer Lopez. Lopez is currently riding high in the US box office chart with her movie The Wedding Planner.

It will be her fourth outing as an Oscar presenter - she most recently presented the best original song award at the 71st Oscars.

Amongst the films most fancied for an Oscar nomination are Gladiator, Ridley Scott's film about a Roman general who falls from favour

Gladiator has already won a best film award at the Golden Globes and has 14 Bafta nominations.

Almost Famous - Cameron Crowe's fictionalised story about his experiences as a teenage rock journalist in the 1970s - is also in the running.

Gladiator is building up for a big Oscar presence

As well as Hudson's Golden Globe for best supporting actress, the won another for best comedy film.

Also tipped is Ang Lee's critically acclaimed Chinese-language film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which won the Golden Globe for best foreign language film and has 14 Bafta nominations.

The Academy Award ceremony will be held at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles.