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Olympian Michael Phelps honored for mental health advocacy
By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Michael Phelps is pick- ing up more hardware — this time for what he’s been doing outside the pool.
The Boston-based Ruderman Family Foun- dation, a leading voice in calling for more opportunities for the disabled, said Tuesday the Olympic champion is the recipient of its fifth annual Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion.
The foundation told The Associated Press it picked the world’s most decorated swim- mer of all time to recognize his advocacy for people with disabilities and “his own journey with mental health.”
Phelps has gone public about his struggles with depression and thoughts of suicide.
Last year, the 23-time Olympic gold medal- ist announced a partnership with Talkspace , which provides online therapy for those who are going through tough times. Phelps said
helping people overcome the dark chapters in their lives is “way bigger than ever winning gold medals.”
In a statement, the 33-year-old Olympian thanked the Ruderman Family Foundation for “their continued efforts to help eliminate the shame and stigma that surrounds mental illness.”
“Together, we can normalize the mental health conversation and recognize the poten- tial in every person — with or without mental illness — to contribute to our world in their own unique way,” Phelps said.
The foundation works for more inclusion and opportunities for the disabled. Previous recipients of its award include Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin and former Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, of Iowa, a driving force behind the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Jay Ruderman, the foundation’s president, called Phelps an example of the importance of
self-care and of reaching out for help when it’s needed. That helps take the stigma and shame away from mental health struggles, he said.
Phelps “has changed the landscape of men- tal health awareness,” Ruderman said.
Since retiring from competition after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, the swimmer has been promoting the importance of not just physical fitness but mental health. In 2017, he was honorary chairman of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Mental Health Awareness Day.
He’s also served as an ambassador for the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit group work- ing to help children who struggle with mental health and learning disorders.
Follow Bill Kole on Twitter at https://twitter. com/billkole .
Tom Hanks to present SAG’s lifetime award to Alan Alda
By JOHN CARUCCI, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — One of America’s sweethearts hands the torch to another when Tom Hanks presents Alan Alda with a lifetime achievement award at the upcoming Screen Actors Guild Award ceremony.
The 82-year-old Alda, a Golden Globe- and Emmy-winner, will become the 55th recipient of the annual award given to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession.” Hanks will hand it to him in a Jan. 27 ceremony.
“I’m so thrilled that Tom agreed to that. I had no idea they were even asking him. And it’s so generous of him,” Alda told The Associated Press.
Alda and Hanks worked together on the
film “Bridge of Spies,” and Alda said they “have run into each other casually over
the years at awards ceremonies and on air- planes and things like that. So, I remember him when he was just a kid.”
Throughout a career that has spanned seven decades, Alda has appeared in “The West Wing,” ‘’The Aviator” and “Manhat- tan Murder History,” but is perhaps best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the television series “”M(asterisk)A(aster- isk)S(asterisk)H.” Alda has won six Emmy Awards and was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2004 for his role in “The Aviator.”
Alda has also been involved in numer- ous charities and organizations that have supported children’s causes, women’s issues
and the sciences. The latter inspired the formation of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in New York.
That combined with his affable per- sonality has earned Alda his “nice guy” reputation over the years. He jokes that the “niceness” compensates for a profession that is not always viewed kindly.
“It’s a counterbalance, I guess, to the rowdy reputation that a lot of actors have had over the last couple of hundred years, including the guy who shot Lincoln. So it’s good to balance the reputations of the acting profession,” Alda said.
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Follow John Carucci at http://www. twitter.com/jacarucci
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