Friends Board Member Sherry Lansing, former CEO of Paramount Pictures and current CEO of The Sherry Lansing Foundation, received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 79th Academy Awards on
February 25, 2007.

 

 

 
In celebration of this award, we present the following tribute of Sherry's contributions to Friends over the last decade.

As the first woman to run a major studio, Sherry Lansing oversaw some of Paramount Pictures’ largest success stories, including blockbuster hits Forrest Gump, Braveheart, and Titanic. However, she also has been one of cancer research’s biggest stars, dedicating tremendous time, resources, and attention to a topic that strikes close to home; her mother died of ovarian cancer at the early age of 64.

In addition to serving on Friends’ Board and Executive Committee, Sherry is also a Trustee of the American Association for Cancer Research, on the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee, and has founded two cancer organizations: Stop Cancer and The Sherry Lansing Foundation. She has been recognized with many top honors for her achievements, including the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship, the Milestone Award from the Producers Guild of America, the YWCA Silver Achievement Award, and now an honorary Oscar - the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
 

Highlights of Sherry Lansing’s involvement in Friends of Cancer Research:

> Friends Board Member and Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing helped to organize a meeting between the major Hollywood studio heads and Vice President Al Gore.  The top executives put box office politics aside to discuss ways the entertainment industry could come together to help fight cancer.

 February 19, 1997 Friends Board Member and CEO of Paramount Pictures Sherry Lansing helped organize a meeting with top Hollywood executives and Vice President Al Gore to discuss how the entertainment industry could help in the fight against cancer.  In addition to Friends Chair Ellen Sigal and MPAA President Jack Valenti, participants also included  included Bob Iger, CEO of ABC; Frank Mancuso, Chairman and CEO of MGM Pictures; Lew Wasserman, Chairman Emeritus, Universal Studios; and Peter Chernin, Chairman, Twentieth Century Fox. This remarkable turnout on very short notice was entirely due to Sherry Lansing’s tireless and compelling personal involvement.

> Sherry Lansing (far right) speaks with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Connie Mack (R-FL) at a Senate hearing organized by Friends of Cancer Research.  Under the leadership of Sherry Lansing, Friends of Cancer Research’s Creative Community Task Force Co-Chairman, the entertainment industry helped encourage a remarkable 60 Senators to join a letter from Senator Mack (R-FL) to Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), Appropriations Chairman, to increase the budget for FY1998 by $2 billion.

 May 7, 1997 Friends of Cancer Research choreographed and recruited witnesses to a special US Senate hearing on cancer research for Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) in which Sherry Lansing helped to organize and participate in.  The hearing began with remarks by Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who shared their commitment to eradicating this dreadful disease.

The first panel followed with remarks by Dr. Richard Klausner, Director of the National Cancer Institute; ABC’s Sam Donaldson; Sherry Lansing, Chairman of Paramount Pictures; Helene Brown, speaking for the American Cancer Society; and Ellen Sigal, Chair, Friends of Cancer Research.
The media response to the hearing was extraordinary, with major segments on CNN, ABC (Good Morning America) and MSNBC, which were in turn picked up by local newscasts throughout the country.

> Above: Sally Field, Jack Klugman, Sherry Lansing, and Olivia Newton-John at a special field hearing with Senator Specter coordinated by Friends of Cancer Research.

May 29, 1997 Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) hosted a second special field hearing on cancer research in Los Angeles, CA. Two star-studded panels of witnesses testified including Sally Field, Diane Keaton, Jack Klugman, Steven Weber, Judd Rose and Olivia Newton-John, recruited by Sherry Lansing, Chairman of Paramount Pictures and Friends of Cancer Research Creative Community Task Force Co-Chairman. The two panels were rounded out by Doctors Stephen Foreman (City of Hope); Owen Witte (UCLA) and Harold Freeman (Columbia) and Sheriff Sherman Block, two-time cancer survivor and head of the nation’s largest Sheriff’s Department for over 15 years.


Media coverage included a story in the Los Angeles Times and coverage on local NBC, ABC, and FOX affiliates, and E!Entertainment TV.

> Sherry Lansing addresses an audience of over 250,000 cancer advocates in Washington D.C. who were part of THE MARCH: Coming Together to Conquer Cancer.  Speakers also included Vice President Al Gore, Sam Donaldson, Aretha Franklin, and Friends Chair Ellen Sigal, among others.

Sept. 25-26, 1998 Friends of Cancer Research was a member of The MARCH.. .Coming Together to Conquer Cancer, the first national effort to raise awareness about cancer research.  Friends Chair Ellen Sigal co-chaired a research task force formed in conjunction with the MARCH that issued a report documenting the need and opportunities to accelerate progress in the war on cancer and providing a road map by which to achieve a cure. Friends Board Member Sherry Lansing spoke at the event and also helped to present the task force report to Pete Domenici (RNM), Chairman Senate Budget Committee; John Kasich (R-OH), Chairman House Budget Committee, and John Porter (R-IL), Chairman House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.

 

On July 22, 2002, The Los Angles Times published an op-ed written by Friends of Cancer Research Board Members Sherry Lansing, Chairwoman of Paramount Studios, and General Norman H. Schwarzkopf.  The op-ed discussed the importance of participating in clinical trials

 

May 2003 Sherry Lansing delivered opening remarks at a unique interactive health forum staged by Friends of Cancer Research and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.  Entitled "Confronting Cancer Today," the event took place on May 8, 2003, at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA.  Participants included an ensemble of the foremost cancer experts from scientific and academic centers, FDA, and industry.  The renowned leaders presented cutting-edge innovations in cancer science and discussed the processes of translating research to diagnostics, prevention, and treatment.  

November 2005 Sherry Lansing joined Friends of Cancer Research policy efforts to rally the advocacy community to speak out against the NIH funding cuts.

> Friends of Cancer Research President Marlene Malek with Sherry Lansing and Friends Chair and Founder Ellen Sigal at a special tenth anniversary dinner in Sherry's honor.

 September 2006 Friends of Cancer Research presented Sherry Lansing with a special Tenth Anniversary Award.  Friends Chair and Founder Ellen Sigal commented, “I could not think of anyone more fitting to honor with our 10th Anniversary Award than a leader in the fight against cancer and a dear friend who has been an integral and active part of Friends since its very beginning ten years ago.”  Dr. Sigal continued, explaining “As the first woman to run a major studio, Sherry Lansing oversaw some Paramount Pictures’ largest success stories - working with the biggest Hollywood stars of our time and getting her very own star on Hollywood Boulevard this past year.  However, Sherry has also been one of cancer research’s biggest stars, dedicating tremendous time resources, and attention to a topic that unfortunately strikes close to home for so many of us, and especially for her and her sister with the loss of their mother to ovarian cancer.

Sherry, Congratulations on this well-deserved honor and thank you for all you do.