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Tony Martin, Cyd Charisse Martin and Doctor Named
Icons of Successful Aging
UCLA Center on Aging, totally supported by
contributions, raises funds
June 8, 2005 - The UCLA Center on Aging raised
nearly $360,000 during its ninth Annual ICON Award event. Held at the
Beverly Hilton Hotel on June 4, more than 400 people gathered to honor
this year's ICON Award recipients, Dr. William Dignam, long time faculty
of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and entertainment
legends Cyd Charisse Martin and Tony Martin.
"Tonight's ICON Award marks the UCLA Center on
Aging's ninth year in applauding individuals who have continued to make
outstanding contributions to society throughout their lives," said Dr.
Gary Small, director of the UCLA Center on Aging. "This year's honorees
fulfill the promise for this evening -- to show us the results of
'living better longer' -- Bill Dignam representing the best in medical
education, and Cyd Charisse Martin and Tony Martin as the finest in
musical entertainment."
Dr. Dignam has been on the faculty of the UCLA
School of Medicine before the first class of medical students was
admitted. A professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Dignam is a role
model to hundreds of medical students and physicians. He has
participated in more than 30,000 births and trained dozens of leading
physicians in his field, many of whom came to UCLA specifically to learn
from him. He has served on numerous boards and committees, and has
taught and conducted research on three continents. Today, at age 85, he
is active as a teacher and serves on various committees that shape
medical education at UCLA.
Both Cyd Charisse Martin and Tony Martin are world
renowned entertainers who personify elegance and sophistication. Trained
in ballet since the age of eight, Cyd Charisse Martin is best known for
her dance roles opposite Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in such popular
Hollywood musicals as The Band Wagon, Brigadoon, It's Always Fair
Weather, and Silk Stockings. After the Hollywood musical passed from
popularity, she continued to work abroad through the 1960s and '70s, and
later introduced a nightclub act with her husband, Tony Martin. In 2000,
she received the Nijinsky Award from Princess Caroline of Monaco for her
lifelong contributions to dance.
Tony Martin is known for his work as an actor and musician, but
primarily as a vocalist. He landed his first job as a vocalist on George
Burns and Gracie Allen's radio show, and later starred in several
musicals as well as made a number of hit records on the Decca label. But
it wasn't until the late 1940s when he went on to great success in the
recording industry, earning 17 gold records. He also made 25 films, many
of them musicals. He received the "Ella" Lifetime Achievement Award in
1992 and remains an active entertainer, still charming audiences with
his famous voice and debonair presence.
Former ICON recipients include Gail and Gerald
Oppenheimer, Robert Ahmanson, Colonel Buzz Aldrin, Norman Corwin, Hugh
Downs, Nanette Fabray MacDougall, Art Linkletter, David Haft, George
Page, Pascal, Dr. S. Jerome Tamkin, and John Wooden.
In addition to dinner and dancing, the evening's
program included a special performance by Tony Martin, who sang some of
his favorites including "There's No Tomorrow" (O Sole Mio), "Begin the
Beguine," and "You Stepped Out of a Dream." Renowned philanthropists and
former ICONs Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer as well as television and radio
personality Art Linkletter were the program presenters.
The Annual ICON Award was established as the
Center's key fund-raising event to recognize older adults who continue
to make outstanding contributions to society and serve as icons for
healthy and active living. Philanthropist Patricia Dunn Grey, who serves
on the board of directors for the UCLA Center on Aging, chaired the ICON
event for the third year. The event was sponsored by Ortho-McNeil
Neurologics and produced by EventsbyOne.
Founded in 1991, the UCLA Center on Aging is a
non-profit organization that aims to enhance and extend productive and
healthy life through research and education on aging. The renowned
Center brings geriatrics and gerontology to the forefront of public
awareness and support. The UCLA Center on Aging is entirely supported by
private and corporate donations.
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