The legendary actor, who passed away in September 2008, bequeathed over $20 million to a variety of charities focused on education, the environment, health, human services, and more. Not surprisingly, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt came in second with gifts of $13.5 million, followed by Mel Gibson ($6 million), Richard Childress ($5 million), Oscar de la Hoya ($9.5 million), and Oprah Winfrey ($2.4 million).

To be sure, the Giving Back Fund prides itself on the accuracy of their reports. To collect the date, the group “culled media reports of charitable giving by sports and entertainment professionals; reviewed PF-990 tax-forms; contacted more than 250 publicists, attorneys, agents, agencies, and managers for information about their clients; polled more than 150 charities known for their celebrity associations; and contacted all of the major sports leagues.”

To see the complete list, jump here.

The folks of Westport, CT will honor Paul Newman’s life by creating such a preserve on the lot adjacent to his former home. Joanne Woodward, Newman’s widow, posed the idea in a letter to the local council. She said: 

“The Poses land is a truly beautiful piece of land that Paul, our children, and I have had the privilege of enjoying for many, many years. Preserving the Poses property in its natural state is something I very much believe Paul would have loved to see happen. Paul always expressed regret that he was not able to accomplish this himself, so I think if there were to be anything at all done by the town to honor Paul’s memory this would be a very generous and appropriate tribute to him. He would, I believe, be particularly pleased that such a gesture would benefit all of Westport’s residents.”

The new Newman/Poses Preserve will include walking paths, benches, and a ban on development and building. There would also be a limitation of 0.25 parking spaces per acre. 

Sounds like something the late actor would have totally loved! Good work, Connecticut!

via: looktothestars.org

Last night in San Francisco, an A-list crowd gathered to honor the late actor and help bring in the green during an annual benefit for Newman’s charity camp, The Painted Turtle, for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Over 2,500 people showed up, including Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Danny Glover, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Billy Crystal, Sean Penn, Casey Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix, Bruce Willis, Danny DeVito, Bonnie Raitt and Rita Wilson.

In a pre-recorded message just prior to his death on September 26th, Newman talked to the crowd about his camps. “What I was trying to do was acknowledge luck,” Newman said in the clip, which was narrated by Jack Nicholson. “If you acknowledge it, you have to do something about it—something for the less fortunate.”

via USAToday

We said goodbye to Paul Newman, who passed away at the age of 83 on Saturday. (The above photo is of Newman and Mario Andretti in 2004.)

If forced to go on an all-liquid blood diet, a revealing 38% of you would choose to drain humans over forest critters or artificial sources. Of course, we suspect our wording of “Republican humans” probably had more to do with it.

The Leo Rumor Mill went into overdrive. Not only is DiCaprio potentially hooking up with Matthew Modine and Ed Begley Jr. on a green conference for Hollywood, but he may also follow up to his documentary The 11th Hour with a new eco-film. His rumored partner? None other business mogul T. Boone Pickens.

Britney Spears encouraged folks to buy a semi-nude painting of herself for charity, while Philip Seymour Hoffman decided that the best way to bike is while smoking.

The battle against Armani’s broken promise to PETA and decision to include fur in his fall collection heated up. The animal rights org added Gillian Anderson to the team and sent a letter to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes urging them not to dress Suri in Armani’s dead animal skins.

Stephen Spielberg joined Brad Pitt in donating $100K to fight Proposition 8; which seeks to ban gay marriage in California and overturn the earlier Supreme Court ruling.

87% of you agreed that there is no place for fur in sustainable fashion — or anywhere for that matter. The vote came in response to a Japanese designer who dubbed her fall collection of fur-trimmed capes and boleros as “Eco Harmony”. Eek!

Robert De Niro’s popular sushi restaurant Nobu decided to give people the option of ordering endangered fish — rather than just remove it from the menu.

Heather Mills quieted critics (for now) by spending time cooking up a vegan BBQ for kids and donating $1 million in veggie food products to the children of Hunts Point in the South Bronx.

Photo credit: Trevor Kent/INFGoff.com

Paul Newman has passed away at age 83. He died of cancer Friday at his home in Westport, Connecticut, said spokeswoman Marni Tomljanovic.

This is terribly sad news — as Newman was not only well-known for his legendary roles in Hollywood, but also for his incredible devotion and giving to charity and the arts. He was a constant presence here on Ecorazzi and the absolute benchmark for philanthropy in business. Here’s a brief excerpt from a statement released by his Newman’s Own Foundation this morning,

What started as something of a joke in the basement of his home, turned into a highly-respected, multi-million dollar a year food company. And true to form, he shared this good fortune by donating all the profits and royalties he earned to thousands of charities around the world, a total which now exceeds $250 million.

“While his philanthropic interests and donations were wide-ranging, he was especially committed to the thousands of children with life-threatening conditions served by the Hole in the Wall Camps, which he helped start over 20 years ago. He saw the Camps as places where kids could escape the fear, pain and isolation of their conditions, kick back, and raise a little hell. Today, there are 11 Camps around the world, with additional programs in Africa and Vietnam. Through the Camps, well over 135,000 children have had the chance to experience what childhood was meant to be.

Back in June, we reported that Newman had transferred over his entire stake in Newman’s Own — the popular salad dressing and foodstuffs company — to his charitable Newman’s Own Foundation. The value of this extraordinary gift was said to be almost $120 million. Incredible.

So, we wish Newman’s family the best during this difficult time. To the man himself, we simply say thank you. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of so many. Thank you for entertaining and bringing smiles to audiences everywhere. And thank you for a life so well lived.

“I wanted to acknowledge luck; the chance and benevolence of it in my life, and the brutality of it in the lives of others, who might not be allowed the good fortune of a lifetime to correct it.”– Paul Newman

These days, if you’re an actor/actress, chances are you also have hubraic dreams to a.) create a line of perfume, b.) start your own fasion label, or c.) open up your own restaurant. It’s the later that we’ll be focusing on today — having gathered what we believe are the top 5 most delicious eco-friendly celebrity restaurants.

Hungry? Let’s hit the first course!

Along with the rest of the world, Ecorazzi has been saddened to hear of Newman’s recent battle with lung cancer. The man is a legend not only in Hollywood cinema, but also in his philanthropy. From the article,

“According to Newman’s Own federal tax filing for 2006, the actor personally gave away $8,746,500 to a variety of groups that support children, hurricane relief in the Gulf Coast, education and the arts. But don’t think that Newman — who received his Kennedy Center honor in 1992 and deserves a Presidential Medal of Freedom — did this because he suddenly thought he was dying. When he set up the new foundation, he hadn’t yet been diagnosed with lung cancer. It was just in honor of his 80th birthday, and an acknowledgment that he wanted to make sure his charities would continue receiving his largesse.”

Incredible charity. Incredible guy. We wish him the best.

via FOX New

Sad news that legendary actor and philanthropist Paul Newman has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. The 83-year-old, and former chain-smoker, has been battling the disease for many months. This past weekend, Newman put in a brave appearance at an event for his children’s cancer chartiy, The Hole in the Wall Gang. Ever devout to helping others, Newman’s efforts over the last quarter-century have helped raise more than $200 million for thousands of organizations. We wish him and his family the best during this time. [Read more...]

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have spent more than $140,000 dollars on a new nursery for their twins. Supposedly, a team of three were hired to assemble it all. There’s apparently nothing genuinely green about it, but I just wanted to point it out as further proof that they live in another dimension than the rest of us. [Read more...]

The LA Film Festival is catching the green wave and using biodiesel generators, offsets, and recycling all paper, wood, glass and plastic used during the event. In addition, all catering will be organic and sourced within 150-mile radius of the city. What, no composting? [Read more...]

Marsha Coulthard is the winner of the 2008 HGTV Green Home contest. The 43-year-old will receive the Gold LEED-Certified, 2,000 square-foot home, and a 2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid. As we’ve pointed out in the past — and as others have as well — the massive Yukon Hybrid is such a poor seller, that GM is apparently having to give them away. Go Detroit! [Read more...]