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Thirteen extraordinary men and women who shaped American television and radio were feted last week at the annual BROADCASTING & CABLE Halt of Fame dinner in New York City, hosted by ABC's Sam DonaLdson.
This year's inductees embraced an incredibly wide range of talents, with one thing in common: They made a difference. And this year, our honorees and the 450 media luminaries in the crowd, helped us celebrate another event, too. At the Hall of Fame dinner, BROADCASTING & CABLE celebrated its 70th anniversary.
Can we toast in print? Let's try. Here's to our honorees! And here's to us!
* Actress Katie Sparer accepted the award for her mother, the Late actress Nancy Marchand, who made an early appearance in the television classic Marty, then starred in Lou Grant as a patrician publisher, and finally riveted the nation in The Sopranos as a conniving Mafia mom, a role she played as she became increasingly ill.
"Marty gave her life, in that it gave her the beginning of her career ... and The Sopranos, and David Chase, kept her going, kept her here alive, which gave me more time with her," Sparer said.
"And for that I can never thank you enough."
* When he received his award, Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner thought back to a time when he was still at ABC and the network was airing Love Story one evening as he and his wife were driving to Vermont. "For 25 miles, as we looked at the homes we passed, every single set" was tuned to the theatrical movie. "It made me realize the enormous power and the community of this business," he said.
Introducing Eisner, his pal and former workmate, USA Networks' Barry Diller, said, "He is actually that real thing. The real deal. A creative businessman.
"Now in the media world, people almost always become their product, their brand. Or they create new ones. Michael did both. He become Watt Disney and he changed the company completely."
* Actress Jane Powell, accepting the posthumous HaLt of Fame award for Arlene Francis, called the What's My Line? quiz panelist "kind, pretty, funny ... She was what really every woman wanted to be. In the '50s, she was the third-most-- recognized...