Pudding award for actress Theron

Theron and Walken will receive their prizes next month

Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Christopher Walken will receive 2008's Hasty Pudding award for "contribution to the world of entertainment".

The prize is handed out annually by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the oldest undergraduate drama troupe in the US.

Theron, 32, will lead a parade through the US college on 7 February before receiving her "pudding pot" trophy.

Actors Ben Stiller and Scarlett Johansson received the prize last year.

Troubled veteran

Theron won the best actress Oscar in 2004 for her performance as a serial killer in Monster.

Walken won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role as a troubled Vietnam veteran in 1978's The Deer Hunter and appeared in 2007 films Hairspray and Balls of Fury.

Walken will receive his award at a separate ceremony on 15 February.

Established in 1951, the woman of the year award has been given to actresses including Meryl Streep, Katharine Hepburn, Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Meg Ryan and Halle Berry.

The man of the year award has been running since 1963 and past recipients include Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins, Bruce Willis and Richard Gere.