A-list activism takes a higher profile

Celebrity activism, however, is nothing new.

Jerry Lewis has hosted his Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon for 40 years. Paul Newman, through his Newman’s Own line of food products, has raised more than $200 million for charity since 1982. (And for years, good deeds have been done in stealth.)

“This is a kind of philanthropy that existed a long time, but as all forms of philanthropy now are becoming more prominent — donations and the people involved are becoming more substantial — this has taken on a life of its own and has become something that celebrities are compared with each other about how much they’re doing,” Shervish said.

Stars do seek similar recognition for their charity work, Pollick notes.

“They’re competitive,” Pollick. “It’s a good thing ... And it’s worked. They have become role models.”

Many stepped forward after three events: Sept. 11, 2001, the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a celeb-driven telethon helped raise $200 million in three months for victim relief and related efforts. Two star-studded televised concerts — NBC’s “Concert of Hope” to aid tsunami victims, and “Shelter from the Storm,” aired by six networks after Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast — raised a total of nearly $50 million.

Finding and fronting a cause
More celebrities also are becoming “students” of issues, such as AIDS, poverty and the environment, said Lisa Paulsen, CEO of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a charity that works with the likes of Tom Hanks and Katie Couric.

“They’re well-informed,” Paulsen said. “They study. They’re articulate.”

And they’re media-savvy.

U2 front man Bono was named one of Time magazine’s Persons of the Year (and landed on the cover) in 2005 for his campaign to raise awareness of poverty and AIDS. Michael J. Fox, afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, has become a vocal advocate for stem-cell research in the wake of Christopher Reeve’s death. Cher appeared on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” last month to bemoan the lack of safe helmets for U.S. soldiers.

Though Diane Lane says she was raised “never to showboat” her charitable work, she figured her clout was needed to motivate women to chop their locks. It didn’t hurt to go on live television, too.

“I think it’s more the example of encouragement,” she said.

MORE FROM CELEBRITIES

Celebrities Section Front

USO feeds troops starved for entertainment   Alexa Ray Joel staying with dad after pill scare   Quaid launches system to prevent drug errors Polanski begins house arrest in Swiss chalet 10 fresh faces to watch in ’10 Rolling Stones’ Wood arrested for assault U.S. skater Davis calls comedian Colbert ‘jerk’ McCartney pushes Meat-Free Monday to EU 'Family Ties' mom: ‘I am a lesbian’ Access Hollywood section Celebrities Section Front   Add Celebrities headlines to your news reader: