Peggy Charren
| Peggy Charren | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Peggy Sundelle Walzer March 9, 1928 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Died |
January 22, 2015 (aged 86) Dedham, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Founder of Action for Children's Television[1] |
Peggy Sundelle Charren (née Walzer; March 9, 1928 – January 22, 2015) was an American activist, known as the founder of Action for Children's Television (ACT), a national child advocacy organization, in 1968. The organization was founded in an effort to encourage program diversity and eliminate commercial abuses in children's television programming.[1][2][3][4]
In 1989, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded her its Trustees' Award. Her work with ACT culminated in the passage of the Children's Television Act of 1990, and she received a Peabody Award in 1991.[5] In 1992, she disbanded ACT, announcing that it had met the objectives she had set out to accomplish.[6] In 1995, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Although denounced as an advocate for censorship by her critics, including animation writers Steve Gerber and Mark Evanier, Charren has insisted she is an outspoken critic of censorship, and has cited her stance against the American Family Association's campaigns to ban various programs. She sat on the Board of Trustees of public broadcaster WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts. She died on January 22, 2015. In her later years, she had vascular dementia.[7][8]
References
- 1 2 O'Connor, John J. (1990-02-20). "Critic's Notebook; Insidious Elements in Television Cartoons". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
- ↑ Molotsky, Irvin (1988-11-07). "Reagan Vetoes Bill Putting Limits On TV Programming for Children". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
- ↑ "Ms. Kidvid Calls It Quits". Time. 1992-01-20. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ↑ "Why Children's Tv Suffers In Silence". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
- ↑ "KTLA Wins Peabody Award for King Video : Awards: The station is cited for its 'courage . . . without sensationalizing the event or its aftermath.'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
- ↑ Lawson, Carol (1989-06-15). "Toys: Girls Still Apply Makeup, Boys Fight Wars". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
- ↑ Notice of death of Peggy Charren, bostonglobe.com; accessed January 24, 2015.
- ↑ Bruce Weber, "Peggy Charren, Children's TV Crusader, Is Dead at 86" (obituary), New York Times, Jan. 22, 2015.
Sources
External links
- Peggy Charren at the Internet Movie Database
- Biography from John Vivian's "The Media of Mass Communication"
- Interview with Peggy Charren by 360KID on 360Blog, May 2008
- Beyer, Janet. "Peggy Charren", Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia
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