‘Town & Country’: Hollywood Philanthropy

As Hollywood enters its major awards season, Town & Country (March) laments that no honors are given to film and television celebrities who excel in philanthropy.

The magazine seeks to make up for the omission with its own awards, among them:

• Big spenders: Michael Eisner, chief executive of Disney, who the magazine says established a foundation now worth $140-million; David Geffen, co-founder of DreamWorks SKG studio, who has donated $40-million in the past seven years; Michael Ovitz, the entertainment-industry executive who donated $25-million to the University of California at Los Angeles; the film director Steven Spielberg, for donating $53-million to create the Righteous Persons Foundation to support Holocaust memorial efforts.
• Most-glamorous performance: Barbra Streisand, whose performances have raised significant sums for many groups, and Sharon Stone and Elizabeth Taylor for their efforts to call attention to the work of the American Foundation for AIDS Research.
• Best dramatic performance: Michael J. Fox, the actor who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and started his own charity to raise money to finance research on the affliction, and Mary Tyler Moore, international chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and a diabetic herself.
• Lifetime achievement award: Paul Newman, who was cited for donating $100-million in profits from sales of Newman’s Own food products.