Look To The Stars News: Paul Newman

Oprah Awarded Honorary Oscar For Charity Work

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Oprah Winfrey was presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award – a special Oscar for her charity work – at a dinner in LA on Saturday night.

The award – which in the past has been presented to Jerry Lewis, Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, Sherry Lansing, Quincy Jones, Bob Hope, Audrey Hepburn, Charlton Heston and many others – is named after screen actor Jean Hersholt, who served as the president of the Motion Picture Relief Fund for 18 years.

“I never imagined myself receiving an Oscar, especially for what I’m considering my calling,” she said as she accepted the award. “All of us can make a difference through the life we lead. We’re all here to help each other.”

LTTS Exclusive: Bring On The New Orleans Funk For Charity

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:30:00 +0000

On Thursday, November 3, Look To The Stars’ Allison DiLiberto attended the 2nd Annual Jam For The Kids at Manhattan’s Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel (88 9th Ave), which benefited The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

Brother Joscephus & The Love Revival Revolution Orchestra, courtesy Jeffrey Ufberg Photography

2nd Annual Jam to Benefit Newman's Hole In The Wall Gang Camp

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:53:00 +0000

Tonight at 7PM, supporters of The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, will gather for the 2nd Annual Jam For The Kids! at Manhattan’s Hiro Ballroom, located within The Maritime Hotel, for a full night of funky New Orleans style music, featuring Papa Grows Funk, with special guests Brother Joscephus & the Love Revival Revolution Orchestra and Charlie Dane.

Founded in 1988 by Paul Newman, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, located in Ashford, CT, is a nonprofit, year-round center serving children and their families coping with cancer, sickle cell anemia, HIV/AIDS, hemophilia and other serious and life-threatening illnesses. Proceeds from this event will go to support summer camp sessions for the children, so they can enjoy more than they or their parents ever thought possible and experience the joy of camp free of charge.

Actress Rashida Jones teams up with International Rescue Committee

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:20:00 +0000

NEW YORK – Actress Rashida Jones has become an IRC Voice—joining other prominent young artists who use their voices to spotlight the critical needs of refugees and others uprooted by violence and natural disasters, the International Rescue Committee has announced.

Jones recently returned from Thailand, where she visited IRC humanitarian aid programs for tens of thousands of refugees from Myanmar (Burma) – her first trip as an IRC Voice.

“It was great to see the IRC in action – delivering health care and water to refugees who would otherwise have no access to these basic services,” says Jones.

Oprah Winfrey Awarded Humanitarian Award

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Oprah Winfrey is to be this year’s recipient of the prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Since receiving her Oscar nomination for her debut film performance in “The Color Purple,” actress, television host and producer Winfrey has gone on to establish herself as one of the most influential figures in entertainment and philanthropy. She has been especially dedicated to supporting educational initiatives and raising awareness of issues that affect women and children, both in the United States and around the globe. Her philanthropic efforts have included Oprah’s Angel Network, the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, which opened in 2007.

Meat Loaf And Friends Record Charity Single

Mon, 23 May 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Rocker Meat Loaf and his fellow Celebrity Apprentice contestants John Rich, Lil Jon and Mark McGrath have recorded a charity single together.

All four competitors from the current season of the reality show, will donate the proceeds from sales of ‘Stand in the Storm’ to the charities they have been raising cash and awareness for on Celebrity Apprentice.

Meat Loaf’s donation will go to the Painted Turtle (one of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang camps for ill children); John Rich’s to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Lil Jon is donating to the United Methodist Children’s Home of North Georgia while Mark McGrath is donating to the Save The Music Foundation.

Paul Newman's Charity Pledges Help To Christchurch Earthquake Victims

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 19:55:00 +0000

Paul Newman’s Newman’s Own Foundation has pledged NZ$330,000 to community groups helping those affected by the Christchurch earthquake.

The earthquake struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch on February 22, leaving over 160 people dead and destroying the homes and livelihoods of thousands of others.

Newman’s Own Foundation president Robert Forrester is currently in the city, and is asking community groups to contact the charity for funding: “Paul was committed to helping make the world a better place. He believed in sharing his good fortune with those in need.”

Kyle Petty To Attend Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Kyle Petty will be a special guest at a celebrity charity poker tournament hosted by Tiffany Michelle on Thursday, March 3, in Las Vegas.

The Victory Junction Black Ace Charity Poker Tournament will take place at the Hard Rock Casino at 7:30pm on Thursday to raise money for Kyle Petty’s Victory Junction Gang.

Scheduled to appear at the tournament are a growing list of NASCAR stars, professional Poker Pros and Hollywood personalities including: Richard Petty, Tiffany Michelle, Kyle Petty, Layne Flack, Vanessa Rousso, David Williams, Antonio Esfandiari, Maria Ho, Ryan Newman, Penn Jillette, C. Thomas Howell, Shaun Sipos, Bob Guiney and more.

Oprah Named As Top In Giving Back List

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 15:00:00 +0000

LookToTheStars.org is excited to announce that our partners at the Giving Back Fund have announced their fourth annual Giving Back 30, a list of celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity according to public records.

The organization has ranked Oprah Winfrey as this year’s top giver, replacing last year’s number 1, Paul Newman. Oprah is reported to have donated over $40 million to education and women’s and children’s programs in 2009 – the most recent year financial information was available.

Following Oprah on the list were autor Nora Roberts, who gave away $4.45 million to literacy causes through her Nora Roberts Foundation, and Meryl Streep, who donated $4 million to the Arts.

Newman's Own Gives $300 Million To Charity

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Earlier this week, during its “Over the Moon Celebration,” Paul Newman’s Newman’s Own brand announced that it surpassed over $300 million in charitable giving.

To cross the milestone, and in the company of dedicated individuals and organizations that made it possible, Newman’s Own Foundation awarded $1.4 million in grants. The evening’s reception was co-chaired by Joanne Woodward Newman and Clea Newman Soderlund, Paul Newman and Joanne’s youngest daughter.

“When people would thank Paul for his charitable giving, he would always reply that he didn’t think he was doing anything special,” said Robert Forrester, president of Newman’s Own Foundation. “He believed that the real thanks should go to those people and organizations… who work every day to make ours and the future’s a better world. For Paul, it was a privilege to be just one among these many. That’s how we all feel today as we carry on this unique and wonderful philanthropic legacy.”

Celebrity Guests Pay Tribute To Rocky Horror For Charity

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:30:00 +0000

A astonishing array of celebrities hit the stage in LA last Thursday, October 28, for a special charity tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Directed by High School Musical creator Kenny Ortega, the evening raised money for the Painted Turtle Summer Camp for critically ill children.

The show featured a massive number of stars strutting their stuff and doing the Time Warp for a good cause, including the Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Billy Idol, Jason Segal, Julian McMahon, Lea Michele, Jorge Garcia, Ricki Lake, Mario Lopez, Matthew Morrison, Evan Rachel Wood and many more.

Paul Newman’s Charity Donates Fire Trucks to Australia

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Australia’s bushfire-ravaged communities will get a lift in fire fighting efforts thanks to a donation from Newman’s Own Foundation.

Newman’s Own, founded by late actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman, distributes the profits from the sales of a range of sauces and dressings and an all natural product line of food and beverages to various charities around the world. In 25 years, the foundation has donated over $290 million.

Recently, the Foundation has provided fire fighting equipment and money for fire station upgrades in hopes that this will help in Australia’s annual bushfire season. The secretary of the Fire Brigade Employees Union in New South Wales state, Jim Casey, believes the Australian bushfire seasons is getting longer and fires more frequent and intense. The worst occurred in February 2009 – the deadliest fire season for people and homes in Victoria state.

Hugh Grant Accepts Donation From Paul Newman's Charity

Tue, 25 May 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Hollywood actor Hugh Grant collected a $116,000 grant for Marie Curie Cancer Care from Newman’s Own Foundation.

Marie Curie Cancer Care will use the money to fund two Marie Curie Nurses for two years, who will provide free nursing care to terminally ill people in their own homes.

Stevie Wonder Named As United Nations Messenger Of Peace

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:00:00 +0000

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated Grammy Award-winning songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder as a United Nations Messenger of Peace with a special focus on people with disabilities.

Recognized for his ability to focus attention on and mobilize support for civil and human rights issues, Stevie Wonder joins ten other United Nations Messengers of Peace who advocate on behalf of the Organization.

Messengers of Peace are individuals who possess widely recognized talents in the fields of art, academia, literature, sports and entertainment, helping to raise worldwide awareness of the Organization’s ideals and activities. Through their public appearances, contacts with the international media and humanitarian work, they expand public understanding of how the United Nations helps to improve the lives of people everywhere.

Giving Back Fund Releases 2009's Top Celebrity Givers

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Look To The Stars is proud to announce that our partners at the Giving Back Fund have announced their third annual Giving Back 30, a list of celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity according to public records.

Readers may have been surprised to learn that Paul Newman replaced Oprah Winfrey as the most generous celebrity of 2008. Oprah had occupied the number one spot by a wide margin for the first two years of the list.

Before his death, Newman made a donation of nearly $21 million to his self-named Newman’s Own Foundation. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were second with a $13.5 million donation to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which distributed $6.4 million to charity, including a $2 million grant to The Global Health Committee for an Ethiopian clinic project, a $1 million grant to the Make it Right Foundation founded by Pitt, and $500,000 to the Armed Services YMCA USA.

Jane Seymour To Host Charity Weekend

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:30:00 +0000

On October 3rd and 4th, Jane Seymour will welcome celebrities and guests from around the world in Sedona, Arizona, to help make a difference in the lives of children with serious and life threatening illnesses at the “Tee It Up For Children’s Laughter” Charity Weekend.

All proceeds from the charity event will benefit Camp Soaring Eagle. Camp Soaring Eagle is working to be the next member of the internationally acclaimed Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, which were created as a result of the vision and hard work of the late Paul Newman.

Celebrity Guests Include:

Paul Newman Honored At Star-Studded Charity Event

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:30:00 +0000

A group of entertainment’s finest turned out to a special evening to raise funds for Paul Newman’s Hole In The Wall Camps in New York on Monday, June 8.

Hosted by Robert Redford and Julia Roberts, the event featured performances from Jerry Seinfeld, James Taylor, Harry Connick Jr., Yo Yo Ma, Art Garfunkel and Joshua Bell. Attendees also included Bill Clinton and Kristin Chenoweth.

“We’ve done a lot of these galas,” said Julia Roberts. "And I’ve never stood up without my buddy Paul Newman. It seems so much easier to sing and dance and make a fool of yourself when he’s right next to you. He encourages fun, more than any person I’ve ever met. "

Paul Newman Honored With Nature Preserve

Mon, 11 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

The town of Westport, Connecticut, is to honor the late Paul Newman by creating a 37-acre nature reserve adjacent to his former home.

The new Newman/Poses Preserve will include walking paths, benches, and a ban on development and building. The idea came from Newman’s widow, Joanne Woodward, who wrote to the local council in January.

“The Poses land is a truly beautiful piece of land that Paul, our children, and I have had the privilege of enjoying for many, many years,” she said. “Preserving the Poses property in its natural state is something I very much believe Paul would have loved to see happen. Paul always expressed regret that he was not able to accomplish this himself, so I think if there were to be anything at all done by the town to honor Paul’s memory this would be a very generous and appropriate tribute to him. He would, I believe, be particularly pleased that such a gesture would benefit all of Westport’s residents.”

Movies That Make A Difference

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:30:00 +0000

Look to the Stars likes to keep a look out for break-out informative films.

In 2007, we showcased Cover, a film by Actor/Director Bill Duke. Cover put the spotlight on the dangers of keeping secret when you have AIDS from your partner. We got a number of comments from our readers about this article.

In October of 2008, we deemed Trouble the Water an important film. It is a documentary about Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. Trouble the Water went on to receive an Oscar nomination. Danny Glover is among the executive producers of the piece.

Jerry Lewis Awarded Oscar For Charity Work

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Actor Jerry Lewis was awarded a very special humanitarian award at last night’s Oscars.

The 82-year-old actor received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his untiring work in hosting the annual telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) as an advocate of “Jerry’s Kids” – a role he has taken on every year since 1966.

“For most of my life I thought that doing good for someone didn’t mean you would receive commendation for that act of kindness,” Lewis said in his acceptance speech. “At least until now. This award touches my heart and the very depth of my soul because of who the award is from, and those who will benefit.”

Paul Newman Inspired African Version Of Hole In The Wall Camps

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Paul Newman would be very pleased with the development of Children In The Wilderness (CITW) camps – not only because it was his idea behind them, but because they are changing the lives of some of southern Africa’s most vulnerable children.

A project of Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust, the camps host impoverished children who have lost parents to the AIDS epidemic or other disease. At the camps they are brought face to face with the fascinating world of the local wildlife and receive environmental education. In the process they gain awareness and a sense of responsibility which the environment would presumably benefit from in the future.

For most of the year the camps are filled with tourists, like Paul Newman and his family many years ago while travelling in Africa. That’s when he got the idea. Now, selected camps are shut down to paying guests for a few weeks per year and opened up to children for the CITW project.

Stars Pay Tribute To Paul Newman

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:30:00 +0000

An awe-inspiring array of stars paid tribute to Paul Newman at a benefit gala for one of the actor’s summer camps for sick children in California last night.

Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Sean Penn, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis, Danny Glover, Danny DeVito, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening and Billy Crystal were just some of the stars who performed a reading of The World of Nick Adams, an adaptation of a number of Ernest Hemingway’s autobiographical stories at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.

“We expected Paul to be with us and so this kind of turned into kind of a tribute,” said Danny Glover. “This is the first time we are doing this without Paul — there is a void there, without a doubt.”

Celebrities To Pay Tribute To Paul Newman

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:00:00 +0000

An awe-inspiring array of stars will pay tribute to Paul Newman at a benefit gala for one of the actor’s summer camps for sick children in California next month.

Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Sean Penn, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis, Danny Glover, Danny DeVito, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening and Billy Crystal will perform a stage reading of The World of Nick Adams, an adaptation of a number of Ernest Hemingway’s autobiographical stories, written by Newman’s longtime friend A.E. Hotchner at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco on October 27. Proceeds from the evening will go to the The Painted Turtle, one of Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang camps for ill children.

Founded by Newman and Herb Alpert in 1999, The Painted Turtle provides the 17,000 chronically ill children in California who would otherwise be unable to attend summer camps with an empowering, renewing experience completely free of charge.

Paul Newman - A Life Spent Giving

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Actor and philanthropist Paul Newman leaves behind a legacy modern celebrities will find hard to match.

83-year-old Newman – who passed away after a short illness on Friday – made his movie debut in 1954, and went on to become one of the most well known faces to grace the silver screen, appearing in over 50 films. Born in Ohio, Newman made his acting debut at the age of seven, but didn’t start acting professionally until after serving as a gunner in the Pacific in World War II. When the acting bug did bite, it went on to net Newman 10 Oscar nominations in his five-decade-long career – winning the best actor accolade for his role opposite Tom Cruise in The Color Of Money in 1986 – two Golden Globe awards, a Screen Actors Guild award, a Cannes Film Festival award and an Emmy award.

But it is Newman’s humanitarian and philanthropic efforts that gained him true popularity in the American heart. Much has been written about his Newman’s Own Food Company, the initiative he established in 1982 to manufacture his special salad dressings. Over $200 million were generated by the company for charity over the years, and earlier in 2008 the actor announced he had signed ownership of the company to charity. He wrote a book – titled Shameless Exploitation in the Pursuit of the Common Good – about his work with the company, explaining that the inspiration behind his humanitarian outlook was the death of his son from a drug overdose in 1978, which led him to set up the Scott Newman Center for Drug Abuse Prevention. Much of the money Newman raised went to the Hole in the Wall Gang summer camps he established in 1988. The camps allow ill children to participate in activities such as boating, fishing, swimming, archery, arts and crafts, woodworking, performing arts, horseback riding, overnight camping and group adventures, all while receiving superior 24-hour medical care free of charge. More than 100,000 children from 31 countries have attended the Hole in the Wall camps.

Giving Back Fund Announces Top 30 Celebrity Givers

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:30:00 +0000

The Giving Back Fund has released its second annual Giving Back 30 survey, a ranking of the celebrities who have made the largest donations to charity in 2007 according to public records.

Heading the list was Oprah Winfrey, who donated $50.2 million to the Oprah Winfrey Foundation and Oprah’s Angel Network to “support the
inspiration, empowerment and education of women, children, and families around the world and to encourage people around the world to make a difference in the lives of others”. Coming in second was Herb Alpert, who donated a total of $13 million to the Herb Alpert Foundation, followed by Barbra Streisand, who gave over $11 million to the Streisand Foundation.