Wallis Annenberg
Wallis Huberta Annenberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 15, 1939 |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation(s) | philanthropist President and Chairman of The Annenberg Foundation |
| Spouse | Seth Weingarten (divorced) |
| Children | Lauren Bon Roger Weingarten Gregory Weingarten Charles Weingarten |
| Parent(s) | Walter Hubert Annenberg Veronica Dunkelman |
Wallis Huberta Annenberg (born July 15, 1939, Philadelphia) is an American philanthropist. She serves as President and Chairman of the Board of The Annenberg Foundation, a multi-billion dollar philanthropic organization in the United States.[1]
Early life and education
Wallis Annenberg was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia on July 15, 1939,[2] the daughter of publishing magnate Walter Hubert Annenberg and his first wife, Bernice Veronica Dunkelman (known as Ronny), a socialite from a Toronto family. Her father owned a 15-acre (61,000 m2) estate called "Inwood" where Wallis was raised. When she was ten years old her parents divorced and her mother moved to Washington, D.C. and married Ben Ourisman, a Chevrolet car dealer.[2] Meanwhile, her father remarried in the year after the divorce to Leonore "Lee" Cohn, the niece of Columbia Pictures' president Harry Cohn.
She graduated from Pine Manor College in 1959 when it was a junior college.[3][4]
She had a brother, Roger, who committed suicide at a psychiatric institution in Bucks County, Pennsylvania at age 22 in 1962 while on leave from Harvard University for treatment of schizophrenia.[5][6][7] She named one of her sons after her brother.[2][8]
Marriage and divorce
While in Venice, she met Seth Weingarten who had just completed his undergraduate education at Princeton University and was looking forward to Yale Medical School. They quickly fell in love and, after only one year of studies at Columbia, Annenberg dropped out of school and married Weingarten.[2] They moved around the country, following her husband's career, and having four children in the process: Lauren (born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1961), Roger (who was named after Wallis' deceased brother), Gregory (born in New York City during Weingarten's residency at New York Hospital), and Charles (born in Roswell, New Mexico where Weingarten was serving as a medical officer at Walker Air Force Base).[2] Weingarten eventually accepted a position at UCLA (at the hospital now known as Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center) and they established a permanent home.
In 1975, she divorced Dr. Weingarten after which she worked for TV Guide, which her father owned at the time. She stayed for three years after its sale to Rupert Murdoch in 1988.[2]
She appeared on The Joan Rivers Show on the new Fox television network in 1986 alongside actresses Lucille Ball & Michele Lee.
Philanthropy
Annenberg today carries on her father's legacy as a public benefactor. As chairman and president of the Annenberg Foundation, she donates the family name and fortune to philanthropic and charitable projects, largely to the benefit of Los Angeles County. She is on the board of trustees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as well as at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. She is also a supporter of the Harlem Children's Zone, the Ojai Foundation's "Council project" for inner-city kids, and the Ocean Alliance.[2] There is the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and the Wallis Annenberg Concourse at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center as well as the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts which held its opening gala in October 2013.<ref>"Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts | Beverly Hills California". Thewallis.org. Retrieved 2013-10-13.</ref Despite the majority of her fathers muti billion dollars fortune being left to the foundation, Ms. Annenberg is worth a reported 500 million.
References
- ^ "Graphic: MOCA Board: Meet the billionaires - Data Desk - Los Angeles Times". Graphics.latimes.com. 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
- ^ a b c d e f g Colacello, Bob. "Bob Colacello on Wallis Annenberg". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ [2] [dead link]
- ^ "Walter Annenberg, 94, Dies; Philanthropist and Publisher - New York Times". Nytimes.com. 2002-10-02. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
- ^ "Gazette: The Good Citizen (Mar/Apr 2003)". Upenn.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
- ^ "In Billionaire's View, Smart Money Is On Education Walter Annenberg Has Donated Millions. Recent Recipients Include Phila. Public Schools. - Philly.com". Articles.philly.com. 1995-03-19. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
- ^ "Pine Manor College Alumni: Wallis Annenberg, Hillary B. Smith, Pauline Tompkins, Leslie Hindman by Books LLC | 9781158300976 | Barnes & Noble". Barnesandnoble.com. Retrieved 2013-10-13.