Actors Fund to Honor Annette Bening at Annual Gala April 12

The Actors Fund will present its annual gala on April 12 at the Marriot Marquis. Receiving The Actors Fund Medal of Honor this year is film and stage actress Annette Bening. Producer Kevin McCollum and entrepreneur Jonathan Tisch will also be honored.

The Actors Fund, a nonprofit human services organization founded in 1882, serves all professionals in film, theater, television, music, opera, and dance through programs that address their unique and essential needs. As a national organization with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, The Fund directly serves almost 11,000 performing arts and entertainment professionals across the country, and more than 600,000 through our website. In providing care and service to professionals throughout the industry, The Fund's programs are wide in scope, responsive in nature, and produce significant results, affecting the lives of people in our community year after year.

Annette Bening was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Coastal Disturbances. Other theatre credits include: The Cherry Orchard (Mark Taper), Talking Heads (Tiffany Theater), and most recently Medea (UCLA Live). Bening is a three-time Academy Award nominee whose film credits include: American Beauty (Academy Award nomination), The Grifters (Academy Award Nomination), Running with Scissors, Being Julia (Academy Award Nomination), Richard III, The American President, Postcards from The Edge and The Siege.

Annette Bening returns to the Geffen Playhouse in Joanna Murray-Smith's comedy 'The Female of the Species', opening on February 10. Bening takes on the role of the famed feminist Margot Mason, a feminist theorist and author of such influential works as "Madame Ovary" and "The Complete Insignificance of Male Sexuality." Bening will be sharing the Geffen Playhouse stage with a diverse group of acclaimed actors: David Arquette (Scream, Never Been Kissed), Tony Award nominee Mireille Enos (Big Love, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf on Broadway), Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie), Julian Sands (A Room with a View, Boxing Helena) and Josh Stamberg (Drop Dead Diva).

The production is helmed by Geffen Playhouse Artistic Director Randall Arney and begins in previews on February 2 with an official opening night of Wednesday, February 10, 2010.

Ticket prices range from $35 - $55 for preview performances and from $65 - $85 for the regular run. Tickets are on sale now at the Geffen Playhouse box office, online at www.geffenplayhouse.com, via credit card phone order at (310) 208-5454, at all Ticketmaster outlets, or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.