Jewish Boy Does Good: Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg Honored For Philanthropy

Jewish Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg was honored for his philanthropic work on Saturday, receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Katzenberg, as well as documentary filmmaker DA Pennebakers, arts advocate George Stevens and stuntman Hal Needham were recognized at a black-tie dinner.

Katzenberg is the founder and CEO of Dreamworks Animanation and former chairman of Walt Disney’s movie division.

Katzenberg was honored for raising funds for the Motion Picture & Television Fund and the University of Southern California's Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, but said the real thanks belongs to his colleagues in Hollywood who gave generously to his causes.

Katzenberg also sits on the boards or serves as a trustee of AIDS Project Los Angeles, American Museum of the Moving Image, California Institute of the Arts, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Geffen Playhouse, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and The Simon Wiesenthal Center.

He and his wife, Marilyn Siegel, have two children.