A-list cast of celebrities join telethon to fight cancer

PanARMENIAN.Net - An A-list cast of celebrities is joining a telethon to raise money and awareness to fight cancer, The Associated Press reports.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Samuel L. Jackson and Emma Stone are among the stars participating in the third Stand Up to Cancer telethon, the organization announced Wednesday.

Paltrow also is an executive producer for the fundraiser that will be carried commercial-free from 8-9 pm EDT Sept 7 on the four major broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, and more than a dozen cable channels.

Musical performances by Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Alicia Keys and Tim McGraw are planned, and more than 25 movie, TV and sports stars will be on hand to take phone pledges, said executive producer Joel Gallen.

Laura Ziskin, founder of Stand Up to Cancer and producer of its first two telethons in 2008 and 2010, lost her seven-year fight against breast cancer last year. The "Spider-Man" movie producer was 61.

Hope is the theme for this year's telethon, Gallen said. It will include information on how to prevent cancer and on the treatment research funded by Stand Up to Cancer, also known as SU2C.

The organization said it has awarded about $120 million in grant commitments to multidisciplinary research "Dream Teams" and to scientists seeking innovative approaches to end cancer's role as the world's leading cause of death.

Of the $180 million-plus that has been pledged, some larger donations are being made over a period of several years, a spokeswoman said.

Stand Up To Cancer, which also receives corporate donations, is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a philanthropic arm of the TV and movie industries.

The American Association for Cancer Research is the scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer and conducts scientific oversight of its research projects in conjunction with the SU2C advisory committee.