Saturday 12 December 2015

Celebrities who have promoted animal rights

Brian May and Friend (Photo courtesy of Brian May Holding Animals)

SAVE ME
Updating the ‘Celebrities who have donated blood or supported blood donation’ post, prompted me to construct a similar list of celebrities who have promoted animal rights. As with the Alan Freeman playlists, this was something I wanted to create and expand on the forums, but which did not grow as hoped. Instead, my existing knowledge, Wikipedia and the blogs(1) have formed the bulk of the list – with brief comments. My hope is that I can add comments to more of the celebrities in time, but maintaining the flow of posts remains my priority. Some celebrities attract publicity for the wrong reasons, but many use their income and media attention to support a worthy cause or social issue. Examples can be seen in my previous ‘blood donation’ post and below are those who care about animal welfare:

Ed Asner (b.1929), star of Lou Grant, Rich Man, Poor Man and Up, as well as former president of the Screen Actors Guild, is a board member for the wildlife conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife.

▩  Dan Ackroyd, Casey Affleck, Pamela Anderson, Christina Applegate, Ron Artest, the late Bea Arthur, Ed Asner, Teri Austin

Bob Barker (b.1923), presenter of the American version of The Price is Right for 35 years, closed each show urging viewers to spay and neuter their pets.
Kristen Bell (b.1980), American actress, has been a vegetarian since she was 11 years-old and fostered animals from Michigan Humane Society. She now supports the San Diego-based Helen Woodward Animal Center.
Sophia Bush (b.1982), American actress who starred in One Tree Hill and Partners, is an advocate for pet adoption in the US, as well as supporting PETA(2) and other charities.

▩  Alec Baldwin, Brigitte Bardot, Kim Basinger, Victoria Beckham, Ed Begley Jr, Shari Belafonte, Traci Bingham, Linda Blair, Elayne Boosler, Lamon Brewster, Pierce Brosnan
▩  The late Dixie Carter, Julie Christie, Simon Cowell, James Cromwell, David Crosby, David Cross, the late Robert Culp

Ellen DeGeneres (b.1958), an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer who starred in the popular sitcom Ellen, makes pet care and animal rights issues a regular element of her syndicated TV talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

▩  Doris Day, Laura Dern, Kara DioGuardi, David Duchovny
▩  Edie Falco, Mike Farrell, Sadie Frost

Ryan Gosling (b.1980), Canadian actor, is a supporter of PETA who wrote a newspaper article taking a stand against the horrifying conditions in which commercial animals are kept before they meet the unfortunate fate of becoming our food.

▩  Jennie Garth, Sara Gilbert, Steve-O (Glover), Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Gonzalez, Cathy Guisewite, Tim Gunn

Emmylou Harris (b.1947), country singer, has her own shelter for rescuing dogs from euthanasia.

▩  Daryl Hannah, Woody Harrelson, Anne Heche, Tippi Hedren, Katherine Heigl, Hulk Hogan, Earl Holliman, Linda Hunt, Anjelica Huston, Chrissie Hynde
▩  Kevin James, Angelina Jolie, Shirley Jones

Ke$ha (Sebert)(b.1987), American singer, has spoken out against cruelty to wild animals, as well as supporting cruelty-free cosmetics.

▩  Khloe Kardashian, Casey Kasem, Diane Keaton, Alicia Keys, Joanna Krupa
▩  Cloris Leachman, Sheryl Lee

Ice-T (b.1958, Tracy Marrow), American rapper and actor, and his wife Coco, have helped raise money for animal shelters.
Dr Brian May CBE (b.1947), Queen guitarist, has campaigned against the Conservative government’s policies on fox hunting and badger culling. He converted his estate into a sanctuary for hedgehogs and other wildlife, and also has an excellent ‘soapbox’ on his official website(3).
Sarah McLachlan (b.1968), Canadian singer-songwriter and supporter of the ASPCA.

▩  Ali MacGraw, Holly Madison, Bill Maher, Dave Matthews, Paul McCartney, the late Linda McCartney, Stella McCartney, Rue McClanahan RIP, Eva Mendes, Cesar Millan, Heather Mills, Moby, Sophie Monk, Pink (Alecia Moore), Mary Tyler Moore, ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosely, Olivia Munn

Willie Nelson (b.1933), Country singer-songwriter, is a dog lover who lends his name to the Best Friends Animal Society.

▩  Kathy Najimy, Dave Navarro, Kevin Nealon, Bebe Neuwirth
▩  Tito Ortiz, Carre Otis
▩  Hayden Panettiere, Alexandra Paul, Bernadette Peters, Wolfgang Petersen, Brad Pitt, Victoria Principal
▩  Maggie Q (Quigley)

Rachael Ray (b.1968), American celebrity chef, who was concerned by the number of pets that end up in shelters because irresponsible owners abandon them. To help create awareness, she started her own line of fund raising pet food.
Russell Simmons (b.1957), co-founder, with Rick Rubin, of the hip-hop music label Def Jam. He has been vegan since 1999 and advocates ahimsa and veganism, citing animal rights along with the environmental and health benefits. Simmons is a supporter of Farm Sanctuary, an organization working to end cruelty to farm animals.

▩  Dennis Rodman, Charlotte Ross, Isabella Rossellini, Mickey Rourke, Rene Russo

Ian Somerhalder (b.1978), star of The Vampire Diaries, promotes pet adoption and supports no-kill animal shelters.
Howard Stern (b.1954), shock jock, and his wife Beth, have helped raise money for animal rescue and adoption.

▩  Roselyn Sanchez, Boston guitarist Tom Scholz, Ally Sheedy, Martin Sheen, Alicia Silverstone, Karina Smirnoff, Martha Stewart, Jerry Stiller, Hilary Swank, Loretta Swit
▩  Jason Taylor, Charlize Theron, Maura Tierney, Christy Turlington

Betty White (1922), star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Golden Girls, has worked with various animal organisations, including more than forty years with the Morris Animal Foundation.

▩  Persia White, Kate Winslet, Montel Williams, Robin Williams, JoAnne Worley, Noah Wylie

(1) Thanks to:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/7-celebrity-activists-who-love-helping-animals.html#ixzz3oZQMYz7q
http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/11-celebrities-who-speak-for-animals
http://www.animalsmattertoo.com/celebrities.htm
(2) PETA is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, led by Ingrid Newkirk
(3) Brian May’s Soapbox, a part of his official website: http://brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbmay15b.html

W14-15.10.15/P15.10.15/RP12.12.15

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