Look To The Stars News: Martin Sheen

Sir Paul McCartney Busy With Charity Campaigns

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:30:00 -0000

Sir Paul McCartney will appear in an advertising campaign in Britain this month to encourage people to support the Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The campaign, organized by ParalympicsGB, will ask people to donate cash to help disabled athletes who want to compete in the games, and McCartney hopes his input will help the future of disability sport.

“I met leading Paralympic dressage rider Sophie Christiansen and was completely blown away by her skill, dedication and the fact that she had won a gold medal for Britain, so I felt I had to do something,” said the 66-year-old ex-Beatle. “My suggestion was simple. Why not create an ad that would highlight the work of ParalympicsGB and call on the British public to donate much needed money.”

McCartney has also been on the campaign trail for Canadian Harp seals in the last few days. He appeared in a special video shown during an anti-seal hunting video played at a rally in Brussels on Tuesday, urging demonstrators fight for a European seal products import ban.

“Stopping the import of seal fur into the European Union could really put an end to this brutality once and for all,” he said. “Please ask the EU to ban this terrible trade today.”

It is not the first time the singer has campaigned for an end to the slaughter of thousands of Harp seals that takes place in Canada every year. He visited the country with ex-wife Heather Mills in 2006 to ask Prime Minister Stephen Harper to end the “heartbreaking” hunt that has left a “stain” on the Canadian character.

Other celebrities to support the end to the slaughter include Slash, Martin Sheen, Mick Jagger, and Brigitte Bardot.

Martin Sheen To Receive Two Humanitarian Awards

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:58:45 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Veteran actor and former President of the United States (at least on TV’s The West Wing) Martin Sheen is to be honored for his humanitarian work – not just once, but twice!

It has just been announced that the actor is to collect the Marlon Brando Award for his career and humanitarian efforts at the fourth annual Stella By Starlight gala benefit on March 17, and follows hot on the heels of the news that the 67-year-old is to receive the University of Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal at a ceremony on May 18.

“He has used [his] celebrity to draw the attention of his fellow citizens to issues that cry out for redress,” said University President Rev. John Jenkins. “Such as the plight of immigrant workers and homeless people, the waging of unjust war, the killing of the unborn, and capital punishment”.

As well as donating time and money to many charities – such as PETA, Earth First, and Help Darfur Now – Sheen has also been involved in many protests involving causes he is passionate about. In 1995, while protesting the annual slaughter of Canadian seals with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the actor was attacked by angry hunters. Then, in 2007, Sheen was arrested while protesting against nuclear weapons in Nevada.

Former recipients of the Laetare Medal include John F. Kennedy, former Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, and former US House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill.

Daytime's Brightest Stars Shine For One Night Only Performance

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:36:55 -0000

Written by Crystal A. Johnson

Young & Restless (Y&R) star Judith Chapman has gathered award-winning daytime television actors to perform a play to benefit micro-loan charity Kiva.

The inspiration to help others in a very unique way came one night when Chapman (who plays Gloria) watched a very special reading of Daniel Berrigan’s play The Trial of the Catonsville 9, which was based on the author’s experience of protesting the Vietnam war in the Catonsville incident.

Performed by the Actor’s Gang in Los Angeles, the performance Chapman saw featured the talent of Martin Sheen, Beau Bridges, Neil Patrick Harris and others. Moved by the story and the caliber of talent, Chapman decided to put together a production of the same play with daytime’s best and brightest for a worthy cause.

The cast features many daytime Emmy award winning actors. Fellow Y&R stars to perform include Christian LeBlanc (Michael), Michelle Stafford (Phyllis), Vincent Irizarry (David), Kristoff St. John (Neil), Greg Rikkaart (Kevin), Daniel Goddard (Cane), Eyal Podell (Adrian), and Emily O’Brien (Jana). Soap veterans John Hale (ex-Mike) of General Hospital and John Callahan (ex-Edmund) of All My Children will also perform. Further soap actors are to be announced later.

Berrigan’s play is a period piece which epitomizes the climate of the times and the common sentiment about the Vietnam War. The story centers around the May 17, 1968 incident when nine men and women entered the Selective Service Offices in Catonsville, Maryland, removed several hundred draft records, and burned them with homemade napalm in protest against the war in Vietnam. The nine were arrested and, in a highly publicized trial, sentenced to jail.

This act of civil disobedience intensified protest against the draft, prompted debate in households in Maryland and across the nation, and stirred angry reaction on the part of many Americans. It also propelled the nine Catholic participants – especially priest brothers Daniel and Philip Berrigan – into the national spotlight.

The proceeds for the one-night-only production of The Trial of the Catonsville 9 will go to Kiva, an organization that enables people in the West make small loans to individuals around the developing world so that they might grow a business and become more self sustaining. The event will take place on January 19, 2008 at the Palm Canyon Theatre in Palm Springs, CA. For more information on the Actors Gang, go to: http://www.theactorsgang.com/main.htm

Natural Heroes' Stories Told By Green Stars

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:14:28 -0000

Written by Elizabeth Willoughby

“All over the world, ordinary citizens are finding ways to bring clean air and water back to their communities, preserve open spaces, protect endangered species, and ensure that their schools and neighborhoods are healthy.” The show Natural Heroes’ stories is back for its third season, narrated by a host of celebrities, and jointly made by award-winning non-profit organization Green Treks Network and KRCB Public Television.

The show’s stories span all types of environments, across the globe:

Plantations: impoverished coffee farmers gaining little from the increased sale price of coffee, American apple farmers losing their land and others who hold the answers to renewal, and the largest urban garden in the US, the South Central Farm in LA, where Daryl Hannah, Joan Baez, Martin Sheen and Willie Nelson profile the benefits, supporters, evictions, developers and farmers.

Oceans: Papua New Guinea where the Titan people, after 40,000 years, are running out of fish on their coral reefs, the continuing decline of native fish populations all over the world and its impact on the dependant communities, and the threat to Moss Beach, California’s surf and rocky tide pools.

Wilderness: New Zealand looking to the wilderness for answers, and Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula where people, industry and nature seek a way to live in harmony.

Solutions: from pilots in the skies to an outdoor learning centre for urban kids, from the Power Shift, narrated by Cameron Diaz, where homes generate more power than they use, to fourth generation fisherwoman, Diane Wilson, who puts her life at risk to battle the giants of the petro-chemical industry and their toxic waste.

Out to educate people, Green Treks focuses on “the interconnectedness of environmental, societal, economic and individual health,” and KRCB with information and culture in partnership with community.

“People from all walks of life are taking environmental stewardship seriously” — Green Treks and KRCB are bringing those people’s efforts to us.

Look To The Stars News: Martin Sheen

Sir Paul McCartney Busy With Charity Campaigns

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Martin Sheen To Receive Two Humanitarian Awards

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Daytime's Brightest Stars Shine For One Night Only Performance

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