Word: telethons
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...loyal to Gilda. But it was devastating not being in the movie. John was very hurt by it. We entered into what I like to call a show-business feud. Just like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. But just like Dean and Jerry, we reunited on the Jerry Lewis telethon...
Lewis is arguably the pioneer of the telethon - an indelibly American tradition that has since been adapted around the world to benefit various charities. But the first telethons managed to do without Lewis' particular brand of boosterism for a good four years after their debut in 1951, when a "television fund-raising marathon" - you can see why the name was shortened - aired to help raise money for victims of cerebral palsy. The event pulled in the then whopping amount of $276,408 and marked the creation of United Cerebral Palsy Inc. and its annual Weekend with the Stars telethons...
...1970s and '80s were a boom era for telethons in general, with airtime set aside for appeals for all kinds of products. A two-day telethon in 1975 raised $52,000 to help California's Fresno County Sheriff Guy Langley pay legal expenses after he was charged with laundering campaign funds. (He later pleaded no contest and resigned his position.) Australia held a telethon to fund its 1984 Olympic team. In Argentina, a fundraising program was broadcast to finance the country's two-month war in 1982 with England over the Falkland Islands. (The islands are now a self-governing...
Some might say, though, that the telethon isn't as lucrative a money-getting tactic as it once was. In fact, despite typical production goals of keeping costs at 25 cents to 33 cents of every donated dollar, it's hard to know how much donated money to bank on. Most telethons only collect between 60% and 75% of pledged dollars. During a 1983 Democratic National Committee fundraiser, 800,000 of the 1 million callers rang in just to declare their support for their Republican President Ronald Reagan. Still, Lewis' MDA program remains one of the most enduring hallmarks...
While some have called these programs an overly emotional guilt trip, the star power these occasions manage to draw doesn't hurt their cause. Frank Sinatra's performance in the 1976 MDA telethon proved particularly momentous for both the audience and Lewis himself. When Sinatra emerged, he brought Lewis' former comedic partner Dean Martin on the stage with him, bringing a tear to the host's already tired eyes. A lack of stars proved to be the downfall of a 1980 telethon to raise money for burn victims. After comedian Richard Pryor's nearly fatal burning accident that year, noted...