[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 27, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING GEORGE STEVENS, JR. AS THE FOUNDER OF THE KENNEDY CENTER 
        HONORS AND FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN FILM MAKING

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 2015

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize George Stevens, 
Jr., an American writer, director, producer, playwright, author and 
founder of the American Film Institute and the Kennedy Center Honors. 
With an impressive, creative and innovative career spanning nearly 65 
years, Stevens has contributed greatly to American filmmaking and 
diplomacy, and has elevated artistic standards and appreciation to new 
heights. It is therefore with profound gratitude for his dedication to 
the arts and yet sadness that December 2014 marked Stevens' last year 
as producer of the esteemed Kennedy Center Honors that I am speaking 
today.
  In 1978, Stevens founded the Kennedy Center Honors, which is an 
annual TV special that recognizes a wide cross-section of artists who 
have contributed to American culture through dance, the theater, music, 
film and television. The Kennedy Center Honors, however, is more than 
just a TV special. It is the brainchild of George Stevens and it was 
influenced by his hero and friend, President John F. Kennedy, who said, 
``I look forward to an America that will honor achievement in the arts 
the way we honor achievement in business and statecraft.'' Through 
personal dedication and a labor of love, Stevens committed much of his 
adult life to the Honors, which is a significant part of his legacy and 
contribution to the arts.
  For thirty-six years, Stevens produced the Honors and made it the 
premier show of American arts appreciation. In 2008, his son Michael 
joined him as a producer of the show and it remains one of the most 
highly anticipated events of the year, showcasing some of the best 
talents America has to offer. Last year's Honors recipients included 
Tom Hanks, Sting, Lily Tomlin, Patricia McBride and singer/songwriter 
Al Green from my home of Memphis, Tennessee. The show was an amazing 
celebration of these artists and a testament to Stevens' love for the 
arts. I was glad to be among the attendees at the historic 2014 Honors.
  In 1962, former CBS Newsman and head of the United States Information 
Agency (USIA) under the Kennedy Administration Edward R. Murrow reached 
out to Stevens to join the Agency to help inform the world about the 
U.S. through film. It was during this time that he formed a lasting 
relationship with President John F. Kennedy and his family, and began 
laying the foundation that transformed how American films and the arts 
are recognized and appreciated today. After creating nearly 300 short 
films for the USIA and following the President's assassination, Stevens 
produced the heartfelt and well-received documentary about the life of 
President Kennedy entitled Years of Lightning, Day of Drums. At the 
time, the National Board of Review named the documentary ``one of the 
ten best films of the year'' and in 2013, Stevens worked with Warner 
Bros to restore the film and release it on DVD.
  George Stevens, Jr. was born no stranger to Hollywood and American 
filmmaking. His grandmothers and grandfather were all actors, having 
starred alongside Charlie Chaplin and in silent films. His father, 
George Stevens, Sr., was a legendary Hollywood director who made more 
than 50 films and earned an Oscar for directing the 1951 motion 
picture, A Place in the Sun. At age 17, the younger Stevens began 
working with his father reading scripts and stories for potential 
films, including the 1953 Western classic Shane, which received five 
Academy Award nominations, and the 1959 film version of the Pulitzer 
Prize winning play, The Diary of Anne Frank. Between 1959 and 1961, 
Stevens directed episodes for the television series Peter Gunn and 
Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1967, he, along with Sidney Poitier and 
Gregory Peck, founded the American Film Institute, which serves to 
preserve original prints of American films.
  Stevens continues to produce some of the most important works in 
American culture. In 2013, he produced American editorial cartoonist 
Herbert Block's documentary entitled Herblock: The Black & the White, 
and in 2011, he adapted Thurgood, his 2006 one-man stage play about the 
first African-American Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, into a 
feature film. In 2009, he was the executive producer of the TV special 
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial.
  Stevens is an American icon whose dedication to the arts is 
unwavering. He has won 13 Emmys, two Peabody Awards for Meritorious 
Service to Broadcasting, eight Writers Guild of America awards, the 
Christopher Award and The Writers Guild of America's Paul Selvin award 
for his writings on civil rights and liberties. In 2011, President 
Barack Obama appointed him Co-chairman of the President's Committee on 
the Arts and Humanities.
  George Stevens continues to serve and represent the arts community 
well. Because of his steadfast efforts to celebrate and promote 
American art, the Kennedy Center Honors is always at the top of TV 
ratings. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in congratulating him on 
more than 65 years of dedication to the arts and thirty-six years of 
producing the Kennedy Center Honors.

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