The city will celebrate the life and legacy of the Annenberg Foundation’s former president on her first posthumous birthday
Southern Californians just got a new summer holiday.
The County of Los Angeles and the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills have officially proclaimed July 15 as “Wallis Annenberg Day” in honor of the late civic leader and daughter of TV Guide founder Walter Annenberg.
In the wake of Annenberg’s death last summer, philanthropic partners, educators, artists and community members from across the region will gather at the Annenberg Community Beach House on what would have been her 87th birthday.
The Santa Monica public beach facility is just one of the many Southern California fixtures created and sustained by Wallis Annenberg and her family’s foundation. Among others are Beverly Hills’ Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, a soccer stadium and medical center concourse at UCLA, a high school in South Central and USC’s school for communication and journalism.
Annenberg is also the namesake for the world’s largest wildlife bridge, spanning ten lanes of the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, California. The $114 million overpass is set to open this December and aims to reconnect fragmented habitats between the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills.
Outside of Los Angeles landmarks, Annenberg took the helm as chairman, president and CEO of her family’s foundation in 2009, after serving as vice president following her father’s death in 2002. She told Vanity Fair at the start of her tenure that since its inception in 1989, the Annenberg Foundation has awarded over 8,000 grants and $4 billion in contributions, including 500 grants of $1 million or more — figures that have undoubtedly climbed over the last decade.
In 2024, President Joe Biden awarded Annenberg the National Humanities Medal in recognition of her contributions across arts, education, conservation and civic life.
Credit: Courtesy of the Annenberg Foundation
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“Wallis believed that communities flourish when people invest in one another,” the Annenberg Foundation Board said in a joint statement. “She loved Los Angeles and believed deeply in its future. Her philanthropy was guided by curiosity, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to expanding opportunity. We are honored to celebrate her life and the countless people and institutions who continue to carry her vision forward.”
The foundation is now led by three of Annenberg’s children: Lauren Bon, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Charles Annenberg Weingarten, who are sure to attend the July 15 commemoration alongside other family, friends and community members.
From this year onward, Angelenos can take the midsummer holiday to celebrate a city immeasurably influenced by the generosity of Wallis Annenberg and her family.