The mogul offered the anecdote during MPTF’s 100th-anniversary celebration, which raised nearly $2 million to support the organization’s wide range of services for industry professionals.
When Jeffrey Katzenberg was a kid growing up in New York, his father Walter, “a very successful, man-about-town stockbroker,” always carried a wad of discreetly folded $100 bills. As he moved through the day, Walter would “quietly and stealthily” slip one to people in his orbit, whether it be “a doorman, a waiter, a valet, someone standing on the street with a sign about needing help, a maid, a taxi driver, a guitarist on a corner.”
One day, Jeffrey asked his father to explain the generous habit. “He asked me if I ever looked behind us. I said, ‘No,’ and he said, ‘Well, the next time we’re out together, please look back and tell me what you see,’” Jeffrey recalled from the stage Saturday night during the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s 100 Years of Hollywood: A Celebration of Service. “The next day, I looked behind us as he subtly and smoothly just handed someone a bill, and he asked me what I saw. ‘I see very big smiles and incredible happiness.’ Dad said, ‘I want you to remember that and, most importantly, why I do it. I believe it is important to take care of those that take care of us and those that cannot take care of themselves.’”
That spirit of generosity and taking care of the community inspired Jeffrey’s lifetime of philanthropy and, over the past 30 years, the mogul made MPTF one of the main beneficiaries of those efforts. He announced last year that he was stepping down from the organization and on Saturday, he took a final bow by receiving a Silver Medallion during the event, held at The Lot on Formosa in West Hollywood.
Jeffrey and wife Marilyn were the sole honorees on a program that featured celebrity presenters, musical performances and emotional “I Am MPTF” stories from industry professionals whose lives have been greatly impacted by MPTF’s wide range of services. Those taking the stage included presenters Jodie Foster, Adam Scott, Harry Northup, and MPTF champions Yvette Nicole Brown and Jim Gianopulos.
The musical entertainment featured artists paired with notable songs. Tori Kelly covered Celine Dion’s monster hit “My Heart Will Go On,” Ledisi turned out Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing,” Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear delivered a rendition of “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and Chloe Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies tapped their way through Common and John Legend’s “Glory” from Selma.