Actor Anthony Anderson Will Host Red Carpet Make-A-Wish Masquerade Gala in L.A. Saturday
Actor Anthony Anderson got his first acting kid as an infant "as the prettiest baby in the world." At least that's what his mother thought when she convinced an L.A. Director to cast her son as Crying Baby in a '70s production of a little-known play "Beans and Things."
"I think someone was secretly pinching my thighs to get me to cry on cue," Anderson joked in an interview with Los Angeles. It was his first gig, likely unpaid and booked well before he fell in love with acting as a nine-year-old kid growing up in Compton watching his mother Doris Bowman on stage in a community theater production of Raisin in the Son."I went to a rehearsal with my brothers and looked up on stage and said that is what I am going to do for the rest if my life," Anderson remembers.
He got his first break at 25 when he was cast on In the House with LL Cool J and his career took off. He played a detective on Law and Order and landed roles in a slew of feature films, including Me, Myself & Irene ; Kangaroo Jack ; Hustle & Flow ; The Departed ; Transformers , and Scream 4 - a list that is continuing to grow with a new action movie "G-20" shot largely in Cape Town and co-starring Viola Davis.
In 2014, he landed the starring role on ABC's "black-ish" that aired for eight wildly successful seasons that featured 175 episodes before its April 19, 2022 finale, and earned him 11 Television Academy Awards and Nominations. Throughout all of this success, he was an active philanthropist with a plethora of charities , including his own, The Anthony Anderson Family Foundation.
When asked why he spends so much time helping others, Anderson answered: "I stand on the shoulders of those before me. Because of my celebrity, it's my responsibility, my duty, to give back to my community.
But he holds a special place for Make-A-Wish in Greater Los Angeles. On Saturday, for the second year in a row, he will host the charity's annual red carpet Masquerade Gala at the Fairmont Century Plaza, saying, "Make-A-Wish is a way for children to reclaim their childhoods and families to regain a sense of control."
The star-studded night will honor actress Ashley Park of Emily in Paris fame, who, as a child, was the recipient of a life-altering Wish. "When I was 15, I was diagnosed with Leukemia, and after many long months of going through treatment and being isolated in the hospital, my wish take my whole family to New York to see a Broadway show. After many months apart, it brought my family joy to experience this wish together," Park said."This wish changed the course of my life. Make-A-Wish taught me by example how to care and give to others when they need it the most."
Designer Kendra Scott will also be honored for her extensive work with Make-A-Wish, along with Kev Zoryan , who recently retired as Managing Director and Head of US Asset Management for Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing but remains the Founding Director of the Real Estate Cabinet at Make-A-Wish Greater Los Angeles. Other special guest include Emmy award-winning actress, producer and dancer Julianne Hough .
Since its inception in 1983, Make-A-Wish Greater Los Angeles has granted over 10,000 wishes. The honorees, said Viviane Krief Woodcock, Gala Co-Chair and Board Member of Make-A-Wish Greater Los Angeles, are "remarkable" people whose contributions have "enriched the lives of many" children battling critical illnesses. Funds raised from Saturday's event "will directly benefit wish-granting efforts in the Greater Los Angeles area." Tickets and sponsorship are still available at wish.org/LA/Gala2024 .
Anderson isn't just the entertainment at the event. He hosted a sick boy during his many years volunteering with Make-A-Wish Greater Los Angeles on set during the filming of "black-ish" a few years back. Like Anderson himself, his character Andre "Dre" Johnson in the series had a "shoe fetish," and on that day, costume designers had outfitted him in a pair of $2000 Givenchy tennis shoes. The sick child remarked how much he liked them, prompting Anderson to take them off, have costumes dust his "foot funk" off the new sneakers, and hand them over.
"The kid then asked me about my sweater," Anderson said. "I told him, 'Slow your roll, son, this is make A wish.'" He stayed in touch with that child for years and it fills him with joy to remember everyone in his family's laughter that day. "It's an amazing program to be part of."
