SANDY COHEN
>>LOS ANGELES : Cancer research advocates and more than 60 celebrities ranging from Jennifer Aniston to the US presidential candidates made history on Friday night with a live telethon that aired simultaneously on America's three television networks. Jack Black, Halle Berry, Keanu Reeves and presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama were among those participating in ''Stand Up to Cancer,'' an hour-long, commercial-free fundraising show spearheaded by entertainment-industry heavyweights whose lives have been touched by the disease.
''This is an absolutely historic night, thanks to the unbelievable generosity of the three networks,'' producer and cancer survivor Laura Ziskin told the audience at the Kodak Theatre before the show began, referring to ABC, NBC and CBS. ''We hope we're going to make you laugh, and I know we're going to make you cry, so I have some party favours,'' she said as she tossed packets of Kleenex into the crowd.
Cancer survivors Lance Armstrong and Elizabeth Edwards kicked off the programme with statistics: Cancer kills 550,000 Americans and six million people worldwide each year.
''That's the equivalent of 9/11 every two days,'' Armstrong said.
Patrick Swayze, Billy Crystal, Salma Hayek and Christina Applegate urged viewers to call in and donate, while Neil Patrick Harris, America Ferrera, Christina Ricci and Kirsten Dunst answered phones.
A visibly pregnant Jennifer Garner, along with Berry, Forest Whitaker and Casey Affleck, read personal accounts from those battling cancer. Black provided a dose of comic relief: ''I usually watch these things at home in my underwear,'' he said, adding that the celebrities answering phones may have some of the fattest pockets around. AP
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Next
