Event chair and host Barbara Davis announced today that Academy award-winning actor, producer and director Robert De Niro will be honored with the “Brass Ring Award” at The 2018 Carousel of Hope Ball on Saturday, October 6.
The biennial event is dedicated to increasing awareness for diabetes, and raising funds for clinical care and diabetes research at the Barbara Davis Center For Diabetes. Longtime supporter, Robert De Niro, will receive the award at this year’s ball for his humanitarian efforts and continued support of the cause. The “Brass Ring Award” was named after the elusive brass ring that carousel riders would try to catch when the ride first became popular. Now universally recognized as a symbol of achievement, the brass ring represents the ultimate goal of finding a cure for diabetes. “Brass Ring Award” recipients exemplify the dedication and strength that brings the Children’s Diabetes Foundation and the Barbara Davis Center one step closer to finding a cure. Past “Brass Ring Award” recipients include Frank Sinatra, Hillary Clinton, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, George Clooney, Jane Fonda, Sir Sidney Poitier, David Foster, Halle Berry, Sherry Lansing and more.
Speaking on the award, Chairman and Host of The Carousel of Hope Ball Barbara Davis, said, “We are so delighted to announce that the multi-talented, two-time Oscar-winning actor, director and producer, Robert De Niro will receive the Brass Ring Award at the 2018 Carousel of Hope Ball. He is one of the kindest, most caring human beings I have ever known. He goes above and beyond to help others and has supported the Carousel of Hope from the very start.”
De Niro has been recognized around the world for his outstanding work in film. In 2009, De Niro received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor, and President Obama presented De Niro with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, recognizing him for his outstanding contributions to the U.S. He served as the jury president of the 64th Cannes Film Festival, and in 2009, received the Stanley Kubrick Award from the BAFTA Britannia Awards. AARP The Magazine gave De Niro the 2010 Movies for Grownups Lifetime Achievement Award, and the following year, he was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards. He was honored by AFI with their Life Achievement Award in 2003, and two years prior, received the Bravo Lifetime Achievement Award at the Independent Feature Projects’ Gotham Awards. De Niro and the cast of “The Good Shepherd” were awarded the Silver Berlin Bear at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival. He is the recipient of two National Board of Review Awards, four New York Film Critics Circle Awards, two Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, and GLAAD’s 2016 Excellent in Media Award.
Robert De Niro launched his prolific motion picture career in Brian De Palma’s “The Wedding Party” in 1969. By 1974 he had won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor in recognition of his critically acclaimed performance in “Bang the Drum Slowly” and from the National Society of Film Critic for Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets.” In 1974 De Niro won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the young Vito Corleone in “The Godfather, Part II.” In 1980 he won his second Oscar, as Best Actor, for his extraordinary portrayal of Jake La Motta in Scorsese’s “Raging Bull.” De Niro has earned Academy Award nominations for his work in five additional films: as Travis Bickle in Scorsese’s acclaimed “Taxi Driver;” as a Vietnam vet in Michael Cimino’s “The Deer Hunter,” as a catatonic patient brought to life in Penny Marshall’s “Awakenings,” in 1992 as Max Cady, an ex-con looking for revenge, in Scorsese’s remake of the 1962 classic “Cape Fear” and as a father to a bi-polar son in David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook.”
He was most recently seen in Tribeca Productions’ and HBO’s “Wizard of Lies” starring as Bernie Madoff, for which he received both an Emmy Award nomination for Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie. His next project will be Netflix’s “The Irishman”, in which he stars and is producing with Martin Scorsese, for their ninth collaboration.
De Niro takes pride in the development of his production company, Tribeca Productions, the Tribeca Film Center, which he co-founded with Jane Rosenthal in 1988, and in the Tribeca Film Festival, which he founded with Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 as a response to the attacks on the World Trade Center. The festival, which just completed its 17th run, was conceived to foster the economic and cultural revitalization of Lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music, and culture; the festival’s mission is to promote New York City as a major filmmaking center and help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audiences. Through Tribeca Productions, De Niro develops projects on which he serves in a combination of capacities, including producer, director and actor.
This year marks the 32nd Carousel Ball, where guests will enjoy cocktails, silent and live auctions, dinner, exciting entertainment, and musical performances. Since its inception in 1978, the iconic event has been a Hollywood favorite, uniting entertainment, sports, and business industry leaders from all areas for a night dedicated to raising awareness and, ultimately, finding a cure for diabetes. Diabetes, which afflicts over 30 million people in the United States alone, is rapidly on the rise. It is estimated that one in three babies born today will have diabetes in their lifetime and each year, approximately 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Of those, 25,000 are children. The Carousel of Hope Balls have raised more than $100 million to date, with proceeds benefitting the Children’s Diabetes Foundation and the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes (BDC). Funds are raised through sponsorships, dinner tickets, a live and silent auction, and contributions. Rated #1 Benefit in Southern California by Bizbash for multiple years, this star-studded evening is not to be missed.
The 2018 Carousel of Hope Ball is generously sponsored by American Airlines, Tina & Rick Caruso, Marlyn and Robert Day, and Dexcom.
Mrs. Davis will co-host a kickoff cocktail party with Bruce Bozzi, Jr. at The Palm on May 21.
More info can be found here.
