Elizabeth Taylor, Film Star and Humanitarian, Named Third Recipient of Philadelphia´s Marian Anderson Award, Honoring Artists Whose Leadership Benefits Humanity. Three-time Academy Award-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor, a leading activist in the promotion of AIDS awareness, medical research, and patient care, will be the third recipient of Philadelphia's Marian Anderson Award, Mayor John F. Street announced today.
The first recipient of the Marian Anderson Award in 1998 was Harry Belafonte, followed by Gregory Peck in 1999, both of whom accepted the award in person, as will Miss Taylor during special programs taking place June 25 and 26, 2000, in Philadelphia. "This quintessential movie star took the spotlight which has illuminated her acting career throughout her life and bravely turned it on the battle against AIDS, following the death of her close friend Rock Hudson," Mayor Street said in announcing Miss Taylor as the 2000 Marian Anderson Award recipient. "At a time when speaking out against this medical scourge took rare courage, she became a spokesperson and extraordinary fund-raiser in the battle against AIDS as the Founding National Chair of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR)."
Since 1985, amFAR has awarded over $83 million in grants to more than 1,700 research teams. More recently, she established The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation whose mission is to provide funding for direct services to people living with HIV/AIDS and also to HIV prevention.
"I am honored to have been chosen to receive this very special award," Miss Taylor said, "which is named in memory of Marian Anderson, a humanitarian and wonderful artist. The AIDS epidemic is far from over and I accept this award on behalf of all of you who continue to fight the fight against this dreadful disease."
An annual award with a double significance, Philadelphia's Marian Anderson Award honors artists whose leadership on behalf of a humanitarian cause or issue benefits society. Created in 1998, this extraordinary accolade, named for the great Philadelphian and American artist, is produced and administered by the Philadelphia Festival of the Arts., Inc. Accompanying the award is an honorarium of $100,000, underwritten by First Union.
In announcing the Award recipient for 2000, the Mayor also said, "I want to express our appreciation to the distinguished Marian Anderson Award Selection Panel for their deliberations which have given us this remarkable recipient. I want to thank its Chairman, filmmaker Jonathan Demme, and Gregory Peck and Harry Belafonte, the previous Award recipients who both joined this year's Selection Panel, as well as all of the other members of the Panel."
Demme, who has served as the Chairman of the Marian Anderson Award Selection Panel since its inception, said "We are delighted and honored that Elizabeth Taylor has agreed to accept the Selection Panel's invitation to receive the 2000 Marian Anderson Award. From her first film appearances as a child to her award-winning roles, she has proven to be an extraordinary and unique contributor to our film heritage. Her humanitarian contributions are no less singular, as, among other causes, she was at the forefront of the giant struggle to focus world's attention on the AIDS crisis. She then led the first public efforts to combat the AIDS epidemic long before it was acknowledged as acceptable.' On behalf of all of us, she has proven to be a formidable opponent in the fight against AIDS."
Marian Anderson's niece, Sandra Grymes, a member of the board of directors of Philadelphia Festival of the Arts, Inc., which produces the Anderson Award and its related festivities, added that "Elizabeth Taylor challenged our complacency and taught us to act with compassion in our collective fight against AIDS. She joins a roundtable of heroines who taught us to be humane. Our family is honored that she will receive the Marian Anderson Award."