Velko Kanev, the beloved Bulgarian actor who starred in a number of all-time favorites, will get the Icarus award, a local theatrical version of the Oscars, posthumously.

The Bulgarian Actors Union will honor the late legend of the country's theater and cinema with the special prize for theatrical honor and dignity.

The annual ceremony organized by the Bulgarian Actors Union on the International Day of Theater will take place under the motto "Icarus 2012 – awards before the last adieu" in reference to doomsayers' forecasts for the end of the world.

Kanev, who died in December at the age of 63 after a lengthy and public battle with vocal cords cancer, blazed a trail in the history of Bulgaria's theater and cinema.

He became a member of the troupe of the National Theater in 1979, where he performed a number of emblematic roles. But it was cinema that made Kanev a true celebrity and a beloved actor for generations of Bulgarians.

One of these movies – "Orchestra without a Name," has been voted in spectators rankings as an all-time favorite among Bulgarian films.

In 1981, after the huge success of the movie, with three other actors, who participated in it, Kanev founded the pop band NLO (UFO), which also became hugely popular, and turned into a top TV show.

In 2008, Kanev celebrated his 60th anniversary on the stage of the National Theater with the solo play "12 Angry Monologues." He planned to work on a sequel of "Orchestra without a Name" which was set to reunite the characters 30 years later.