Charts & Graphs

Cause Célèbre

Celebrities and their charities.

Marlon Brando

Causes: Civil rights; American Indian rights

Contributions: Donated money to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Black Panthers; sent activist Sacheen Littlefeather to accept 1973 Oscar in protest of Hollywood’s treatment of American Indians

Johnny Cash

Causes: Prison reform

Contributions: Played concerts at, among others, Folsom and San Quentin State Prisons; spoke to President Richard Nixon about reform in July 1972 meeting

Tom Cruise

Causes: Church of Scientology

Contributions: Gave over $7 million to the church and lobbied to have it recognized as a religion in France and Germany; raised donations to administer L. Ron Hubbard’s detoxification therapy for 9/11 rescue workers

Mia Farrow

Causes: World poverty

Contributions: Adopted 11 children; went on 12-day hunger strike protesting expulsion of aid agencies by Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir; UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

Benjamin Franklin

Causes: Alphabet and spelling reform

Contributions: Proposed dropping the letters C, J, Q, W, X, and Y; wrote “A Scheme for a New Alphabet and Reformed Mode of Spelling”

Charlton Heston

Causes: Gun rights

Contributions: President of National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003; declared that if Al Gore were elected, he would have to pry Heston’s Second Amendment rights “from my cold, dead hands”