The downpour of rain in Times Square on Monday did not dampen the Annual Actors Fund Gala which was held at the Marriott Marquis. The Actors Fund honored David Steiner of Steiner Studios, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara and Harry Belafonte for their contributions to the Actors Fund. David Steiner's acceptance speech confirmed his commitment to the mission of The Actors Fund, Harry Belafonte spoke elegantly about all people living with dignity and Stiller and Meara claimed they had visited the Actors Home in New Jersey to pick out a room for retirement.

Acknowledging the honorees in song, dance and video tributes were: Ben Stiller, Jason Alexander, Annette Benning, Christopher Plummer, Angela Lansbury, Marty Markowitz, David Dinkins, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Tyne Daly, Doug Steiner, Folksbeine National Theatre, and other Broadway performers and musicians. In the audience to pay gratitude were Blair Underwood, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Tom Schumacher, Joe Benincasa, Jordan Roth, Daryl Roth, Joe Pizza, Charlotte St Martin, and past Actors Fund Medal of Honor award winners Stewart F. Lane, Bonnie Comley & Mike Stengel.

The Actors Fund is a nationwide human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund is a safety net, providing programs and services for those who are in need, crisis or transition. Carmen De Lavallade explained her that close connection to the Actors Fund is due in part to the fact that her husband Geoffrey Holder is currently a resident of the Lillian Booth Actors' Home in New Jersey and Board member Abby Schroeder spoke of her late husband, Aaron Schroeder's, last years in the Lillian Booth Actors' Home.

www.actorsfund.org