A Mighty Heart Donation
Talk about heart-warming.
Barbra Streisand has endowed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with a $5 million philanthropic gift in order to establish the Barbra Streisand Women's Cardiovascular Research and Education Program.
"Women need to be educated about female cardiovascular disease, and the medical community must be propelled toward change," Streisand said. "Just like with breast cancer, the impetus must come from women themselves striving to become empowered to reduce their risks for heart disease."
The program will seek to empower and educate women about cardiovascular disease and raise awareness of overall heart health.
Maude, Merv & M*A*S*H man entering Emmy Hall of Fame
Each year, the Emmys honor the best in current TV. They also recognize the all-time greats. This year Bea Arthur, Larry Gelbart, Merv Griffin, Daniel Burke, Tom Murphy and Sherwood Schwartz will be entering the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Hall of Fame. Grand choices, in my opinion, with only a minor quibble which I’ll mention later.
According to ATAS chairman and CEO John Shaffner , “The Hall of Fame is a special recognition for those who have made significant contributions and have left an indelible mark on the television business.” As Maude in the 1970’s and Dorothy on The Golden Girls in the 1980’s (into the ’90s) Beatrice Arthur, made her mark. She was more effective on TV than she was in the theater, and she was a dynamo on stage.
But Maude was a larger than life role, and a controversial one at that. Then, on The Golden Girls with Rue McClanahan (reteaming from their years on Maude), Betty White and Estelle Getty, she was an older, wiser but still a smart and tart leader. In recent years, she’s been spunky on Malcolm in the Middle, and a pain on Curb Your Enthusiasm. She’s definitely earned her place in the Hall of Fame.
Writer Larry Gelbart has a great resume, including films like Tootsie and Oh, God, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and City of Angels on Broadway, but it was what he did transferring M*A*S*H from film to TV that’s most important to the Academy. He has also contributed to numerous comedy variety shows, writing material for Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Fanny Brice and Barbra Streisand (yeah, both!), not to mention many other show biz luminaries. With Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Carl Reiner and Neil Simon, he was one of the writers on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows.
Merv Griffin is so deserving of the Hall of Fame. The man was a leader in creating the talk show as we know it today, and he created Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and the current syndicated game Crosswords (I’m not sold on this one yet, but Jeopardy is genius!). He was also a singer, host, emcee and TV personality.
If truth be told, Sherwood Schwartz is being honored for being prolific, having endurance, and making the most of reruns. Nobody would ever consider awarding Gilligan’s Island or The Brady Bunch prizes for excellence in TV (although Sherwood did win an Emmy in 1961 as a writer on The Red Skelton Show). Still, Sherwood Schwartz is a Hall of Famer for his creativity and pleasing the public. Those theme songs — which he composed — will live on forever…whether we like it or not. Oh, and remember It’s About Time? I don’t remember much, but that damn title song is still in my head! (”It’s about time, it’s about space…”)
The other Hall of Fame winners were industry executives at ABC when Cap Cities ran the network, Daniel Burke and Tom Murphy.
TV Obits: Morse, Schwed, Kepler, Horton, Barrows, Hemion
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
- Barry Morse: He’s probably best known has the relentless Lt. Gerard on the classic series The Fugitive. He also appeared in many other series, including The Twilight Zone, Playhouse 90, Naked City, The Untouchables, The Outer Limits, The Invaders, Space 1999, Sirens, La Femme Nikita, and many more. He died at age 89 in London.
- Mark Schwed: He was an on-air reporter for both E! and TV Guide Channel, a veteran writer at TV Guide, and a columnist for The Palm Beach Post and The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. He was found dead in his apartment after calling in sick to work. He was 52.
- Shell Kepler: She is probably best known for her longtime role as Nurse Vining on General Hospital and Port Charles. She also appeared on Three’s Company and CHiPs. She died at the age of 49 in Portland, OR.
- Louisa Horton Hill: She was the wife of director George Roy Hill and appeared in many classic shows, including The Philco Television Playhouse, Suspense, Lights Out, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The United States Steel Hour, Kraft Television Theatre, Inner Sanctum, and The Defenders. She died at age 87 in Englewood, NJ.
- Robert Guy Barrows: He was a television writer who wrote for such shows as Bonanza, The Green Hornet, Mission: Impossible, Daniel Boone, The Fugitive, Ben Casey, Run For Your Life, Big Valley, and Alias Smith and Jones. He died of complications from cancer surgery at age 81.
- Dwight Hemion: He was a veteran director who directed such specials as Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, My Name is Barbra, Color Me Barbra, Barbra Streisand: The Concert, The Kennedy Center 25th Anniversary, The American Teacher Awards, Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas, The Earth Day Special, EPCOT Center: The Opening Celebration, Disneyland, The Kraft 75th Anniversary Special, The ABC Comedy Hour, The Tonight Show, and many others. He died at age 81.
Mariah Carey Celebrates Sixth No. 1 Album
Mariah Carey Celebrates Sixth No. 1 Album
Celebrating her own success, Mariah Carey made her way to a big CD release party in downtown New York City on Tuesday evening (April 22).
Dressed in a sexy black outfit with diamond encrusted hoop earrings, the Grammy-winning singer was running a bit late for her late night affair - but still made an effort to pose for photographs along the way.
And Mimi had good reason to be in high spirits, as she scored her sixth No. 1 album on the U.S. pop chart Wednesday, sending her straight into the record books.
According to Reuters, “E=MC2 sold 462,971 copies during the week ended April 20, the best debut sales week of her career and the strongest week by any artist so far this year.”
As a result, the 38-year-old diva “is now tied with Madonna and Janet Jackson for the second most No. 1 albums among female artists. Barbra Streisand, with eight, leads the pack.”