Samuel L. Jackson, Dennis Leary and Kate Bosworth saluted their movie star pal Kevin Spacey on Wednesday night (09Apr14) at a special gala hosted by officials at New York's Museum of the Moving Image.

Kim Cattrall, Tony Bennett, Penn Badgley, Chazz Palminteri and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg were also among the guests who turned out to honour the two-time Oscar winner as he was presented with a career achievement award.

A number of his film co-stars took the stage to reminisce about their experiences of working with Spacey in between clips of films such as Margin Call, American Beauty, Glengarry Glen Ross, L.A. Confidential and Beyond The Sea.

Leary recalled how the actor's famous mimicry skills would keep them entertained in between takes on 1994's The Ref, and he couldn't help but take a swipe at his old friend as he closed his speech, quipping, "Kevin, I love you like a brother and I'm so happy that you've reached the age now that they're giving you glass awards, and I hope some day soon we can work together again."

Spacey's The Negotiator and A Time To Kill co-star Jackson praised the 54 year old for making acting "exciting", adding, "He makes it fun. He reminds us why we wanted to do it in the first place... He lights up the screen alongside any of the greats, because he is just that."

Meanwhile, tribute notes from U2 rocker Bono and former U.S. President Bill Clinton were also read out to the crowd.

Speaking to Wenn before the gala kicked off, Spacey admitted that following in the footsteps of previous honourees such as Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Steven Spielberg meant a lot to him having trained and perfected his craft in the Big Apple.

He said, "It's humbling, when I look at the list of people who have gotten this award in the past... But I love this city, I love New York, I love film and it's a big deal."

But the night wasn't without drama - museum co-chairman Herbert S. Schlosser, 88, fainted downstairs at the Manhattan event before the dinner even got underway and had to be taken to hospital by paramedics.