September 6, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Americans find the actor Jerry Lewis to be the most effective celebrity spokesman for charity causes, according to a survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
Though older Americans came to know Jerry Lewis first as the star of The Disorderly Orderly and the slapstick comic to Dean Martin’s straight man, younger generations have been introduced to him through the annual telethons he plays host to for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The telethons raise tens of millions of dollars each year to fight neuromuscular diseases though research, treatment, and educational programs.
Chad Jester, president of the Nationwide Foundation, which operates the company’s philanthropic programs, said he thought the reason Mr. Lewis scored so well was the length of time he has worked on the telethon. “Jerry Lewis was doing this over a course of time. He didn’t do it for a couple years and then move onto something else. He had a heartfelt passion and stayed with it for decades.”
The other nine spots on the survey’s list went to, in order: Oprah Winfrey, Michael J. Fox, former president Jimmy Carter, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Bono of the rock group U2, Lance Armstrong, Katie Couric, and Rosie O’Donnell.
Nationwide’s survey, conducted through phone interviews with 462 American adults, also asked respondents what issues they found to be the most important.
Causes that help children and youths topped that list, followed by efforts for animals, antihunger causes, education and literacy, services for older people, religion, health and medicine, the environment, aid for disabled people, and women’s causes.
Younger people, ages 18 to 42, were more interested in international causes than older people were, the survey showed, and favored celebrities like Ms. Winfrey, Ms. Jolie, and Bono, who work in developing countries to ease poverty.
Americans ages 43 and older were more likely than younger people to prefer Mr. Gates, who works on international health and education issues; Mr. Carter, who supports Habitat for Humanity; and Mr. Fox, who created a nonprofit group to help find a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
The survey findings are posted online.
