Steppenwolf Names Annette Bening and Sherry Lansing 2021 Women in the Arts Honorees

Steppenwolf Theatre Company will honor Tony Award and two-time Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award winner Annette Bening and trailblazing leader in the film industry Sherry Lansing as the 2021 Women in the Arts honorees. For the 11th anniversary of this beloved event, the honorees join Steppenwolf ensemble member Carrie Coon for a live conversation about their award-winning careers and their impact as leaders in the field, Tuesday, June 22 at 12:30pm CT. Hosted as a virtual event this year, Women in the Arts will be free and open to the public for the first time, available to stream via Steppenwolf's YouTube and Facebook pages. Advance reservation are encouraged (but not required). For more information and to RSVP, visit steppenwolf.org/wia21. A Q&A will follow the conversation and guests are invited to submit questions for the honorees when they make a reservation for the event.

Annette Bening has had an expansive career starring on stage and screen, becoming a household name. Trained in the theater, Bening recently acted in Arthur Miller's All My Sons, alongside Steppenwolf ensemble member Tracy Letts, earning her a Tony nomination. Appearing in more than 40 films, Bening is known for her roles in American Beauty, 20th Century Women, The Kids Are Alright and The Grifters, among others.

Throughout her 30-year career in the movie industry, Sherry Lansing has been involved in more than 200 films, including Academy Award winners Forrest Gump, Braveheart and Titanic. She made history as the first woman to head a major film studio when she was appointed president of 20th Century Fox in 1980. Additionally, from 1992-2005, Lansing led Paramount Pictures as Chairman and CEO to creative and financial success. In 2005, she founded the Sherry Lansing Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cancer research, health, public education, and encore career opportunities. Lansing's full bio can be found below.

The Women in the Arts event, traditionally held as a luncheon, began as a way to bring together Chicago's business and civic communities in celebration of innovators across the performing arts. Since its inception in 2010, the event has raised more than $1.3 million for Steppenwolf Education and the School at Steppenwolf, as well as the Professional Leadership Program, providing apprenticeships, fellowships and internships for the next generation of arts managers and producers.

Previous honorees include ensemble members Joan Allen, Laurie Metcalf and Martha Plimpton, along with Claire Danes, Danai Gurira, Juliette Lewis, Julianna Margulies, Margo Martindale, Julianne Nicholson, Mary-Louise Parker, Sarah Paulson and Phylicia Rashad.

Co-chairs of the 11th Anniversary Women in the Arts luncheon are Anne & Don Phillips, Cari & Michael Sacks and Helen Zell. Lead sponsors are Allstate Foundation, Exelon, Grosvenor Capital Management, Anne & Don Phillips and Helen Zell. Additional support has been provided by ITW, The Orlebeke Foundation, Cari B. & Michael J. Sacks, Lynn Lockwood Murphy, Chris and Eileen Murphy, PNC, Smithburg Family Foundation, Steppenwolf Associates and United Airlines.

Ticket Information:

The event is free to attend and will not be ticketed but RSVPs are encouraged. For more information and to RSVP, visit steppenwolf.org/wia21.

About Annette Bening

Annette Bening is a Tony Award and four-time Academy Award nominee, and two-time Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award winner. Most recently, she appeared in Scott Z. Burns' The Report, opposite Adam Driver, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, and William Nicholson's Hope Gap opposite Bill Nighy. Upcoming projects include Georgetown, Death on the Nile, and Nyad.

Additional film credits include Captain Marvel, Life Itself, The Seagull, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, 20th Century Women, Rules Don't Apply, The Kids Are Alright, Being Julia, American Beauty, The American President, Love Affair, Bugsy, Regarding Henry, and The Grifters, etc.

On stage, Bening was last seen in Gregory Mosher's Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's classic All My Sons alongside Tracy Letts, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination. Previous stage credits include Have a Nice Day, King Lear, Ruth Draper Monologues, The Cherry Orchard, Talking Heads, Hedda Gabler, and Medea. Bening also received a Tony Award nomination and won the Clarence Derwent Award for Outstanding Debut Performance of the Season for her role in Coast Disturbances.

About Sherry Lansing

During almost 30 years in the motion picture business, Sherry Lansing was involved in the production, marketing, and distribution of more than 200 films, including Academy Award winners Forrest Gump, Braveheart, and Titanic. Throughout her film career, Lansing earned a reputation as a trailblazer, a visionary leader, and a creative filmmaker. In 1980, she became the first woman to head a major film studio when she was appointed President of 20th Century Fox. Later, as an independent producer, Lansing was responsible for such successful films as Fatal Attraction, The Accused, School Ties, Indecent Proposal, and Black Rain. Returning to the executive ranks in 1992, she was named Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures and began an unprecedented tenure that lasted more than 12 years (1992 - 2005), during which the studio enjoyed enormous creative and financial success.

The Sherry Lansing Foundation (SLF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to cancer research, health, public education, and encore career opportunities, was formed in 2005. Among the SLF's initiatives is the EnCorps STEM Teachers Program, founded by Lansing to transition corporate professionals and military veterans into top quality California public school math and science teachers. Lansing is also a co-founder of The Stand Up To Cancer initiative, which funds collaborative, multi-institutional cancer research "Dream Teams."

In addition, Lansing serves on the University of California Board of Regents, and is Chair of the UC Health Services Committee. She is also a trustee of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, where she co-founded the Scholarship Fund for deserving "Littles Sisters and Brothers."

Lansing additionally serves on the boards of the Broad Museum, the Carter Center, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the W.M. Keck Foundation, the Lasker Foundation, the Pacific Council on International Policy, and the Scripps Research Institute - as well as the Advisory Board of the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.

Lansing graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree from Northwestern University in 1966.

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