The Paley Center for Media has announced The Paley Honors in Hollywood: A Gala Celebrating Women in Television will pay special tribute to legendary actress and producer Betty White.
Taking place on Oct. 12 in Hollywood, Calif., the gala event is designed to celebrate eight decades of groundbreaking accomplishments of women in television, across genres, and will feature a look back at White’s seven-decades long career.
“I am thrilled to be honored by the Paley Center,” Betty White said in a statement. “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.”
Presenters and participants for the event include Kristin Chenoweth, Nadia Comăneci, Allison Janney, Debra Messing, Rita Moreno, Wanda Sykes and Lynn Whitfield, with additional guests to include Pamela Adlon, Diane Guerrero, Marilu Henner, Linda Lavin, Wendi Mclendon-Covey and more.
They will look back over television history from the antics of Lucille Ball in “I Love Lucy” to Ellen Degeneres’ groundbreaking coming out moment on her sitcom to record-setting achievements from athletes like Billie Jean King and Jackie Joyner-Kersee and global reporting from the likes of Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters.
“The Paley Center is so proud to honor this incredible group of women at this once-in-a-lifetime event,” Maureen J. Reidy, The Paley Center for Media’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “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.”
Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Paley Center’s programming dedicated to women in television, as well as the expansion of the women’s collection in the Paley archive, which with more than 160,000 programs, is the nation’s largest publicly accessible archive of television and radio programming.
