The Paley Center for Media is set to host the Paley Honors in Hollywood: A Gala Celebrating Women in Television, which will celebrate the brilliant work of trailblazing females in the industry. The event will also feature a special tribute to the legendary Betty White.
The celebration will take place on October 12 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles and will be the first of its kind to celebrate eight decades of groundbreaking accomplishments of women across a variety of genres including drama, comedy, music, variety, news, talk, and sports.
The evening will celebrate icon Betty White and take a look at her career as an actress, entertainer, and producer which encompasses over seventy years including her Emmy Award-winning performance on the classic sitcom “The Golden Girls,” as well as roles on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Hot in Cleveland.”
“I am thrilled to be honored by the Paley Center,” said White. “To be acknowledged for working in a business I love for as long as I have is truly a privilege. I’m proud to share this evening with these amazing and talented women.”
“The Paley Center is so proud to honor this incredible group of women at this once-in-a-lifetime event,” said Maureen J. Reidy, President & CEO of The Paley Center for Media. “No other medium has brought people together the way television has, and this is the perfect time to celebrate the pioneering entertainers, groundbreaking series, and current hit shows that have sparked conversations, educated audiences, and thrilled generations.”
Kristin Chenoweth, Nadia Comăneci, Allison Janney, Debra Messing, Rita Moreno, Wanda Sykes, and Lynn Whitfield will also take part in the celebration with more participants to be announced at a later date.
Other guests set to appear include Pamela Adlon, Shiri Appleby, Mädchen Amick, Julie Bowen, Ilene Chaiken, Tyne Daly, Dana Delany, Catherine Dent, Kim Dickens, Lisa Edelstein, Michelle Forbes, Emma Frost, Sharon Gless, Misha Green, Diane Guerrero, Marilu Henner, Aphrodite Jones, Linda Lavin, Zoe Lister-Jones, Susan Lucci, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Niecy Nash, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Erica Tazel, Robin Tunney, Lindsay Wagner, and others.
From Lucille Ball in “I Love Lucy” to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” to the unforgettable moment when Ellen DeGeneres came out as gay on “Ellen,” the evening will be a journey through the groundbreaking contributions that have come from women in television. The celebration will also put a spotlight on the amazing performances from today’s brightest stars including Claire Danes in “Homeland,” Taraji P. Henson in “Empire,” Tatiana Maslany in “Orphan Black,” Mandy Moore in “This Is Us,” Gina Rodriguez in “Jane The Virgin,” and Kerry Washington in “Scandal” — just to name a few.
In addition to actresses, the event will recognize the record-breaking athletic achievements of sports stars such as Nadia Comaneci, Peggy Fleming, Billie Jean King, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Lisa Leslie as well as the huge strides in journalism from Maria Bartiromo, Julie Chen, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Diane Sawyer, María Elena Salinas, Leslie Stahl, and Barbara Walters.
Proceeds from the benefit will go to the Paley Center’s programming dedicated to women in television and the expansion of the women’s collection in the Paley Archive, the nation’s largest publicly accessible archive of television and radio programming.