Wallis Annenberg, a philanthropist who served as board chairman, president and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation, has died at age 86, TheWrap has learned.
She died at her home in L.A. on Monday morning from complications due to lung cancer, according to a statement from her family to the Los Angeles Times.
“Wallis transitioned peacefully and comfortably this morning to her new adventure,” the family’s statement read. “She was surrounded with love. Cancer may have beaten her body but it never got her spirit. We will hold her and her wisdom in our hearts forever.”
Born in 1939, the heiress of Walter Annenberg’s publishing empire has spent much of her life focused on philanthropy dedicated to education, communications, arts and culture, medical research, animal welfare, social justice and environmental stewardship.
In 2002, Annenberg stepped in as the foundation’s vice president following the death of her father Walter. She would take over as chair following the death of her stepmother, Leonore, seven years later.
Since assuming chairmanship of the foundation in 2009, Annenberg had overseen the distribution of more than $611 million to over 2,280 organizations. Prior to that, she directed the Los Angeles office of the foundation in giving nearly half a billion dollars to over 1,000 organizations.
Under her leadership, the Annenberg Foundation also funded short-term and long-term recovery efforts following the Palisades and Eaton wildfires earlier this year.
Her name can be found on various public spaces around Los Angeles, including the Wallis Annenberg Building at the California Science Center in Exposition Park, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, the Wallis Anngenberg GenSpace in Koreatown, the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace and the under construction Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills.
Robert van Leer, executive director and CEO of The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, said in a statement to TheWrap, “It is with a profound sense of loss that we express our condolences on the passing of Wallis Annenberg. Wallis believed wholeheartedly in the capacity of the arts to unite people from all walks of life and believed that those connections could bring about meaningful change. In honoring her memory, we commit to continuing her work by championing diverse voices and nurturing the next generation of artists and audiences. Her vision will continue to inspire us as we carry forth her mission at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.”
“As we mourn her passing, we celebrate a life defined by extraordinary generosity, bold vision, and an unwavering belief in the power of the arts to inspire and transform,” Daphna Nazarian, board chair of The Wallis, added. “Her legacy lives on in the communities she uplifted, the values she lived by, and the countless lives she touched. We will continue to be guided by her quiet strength, steadfast resolve, and profound sense of purpose in our enduring commitment to the arts and to the community she so deeply cherished.”
Annenberg was the University of Southern California’s longest-serving trustee. In 2o11, she gave $50 million to support the construction of a new building on the USC University Park campus for the USC Annenberg School of Communications & Journalism. In March, she also donated $5 million to build a state-of-the-art multimedia production studio on the USC Capital Campus.
She has been honored by numerous organizations, including the Americans for the Arts, the Shoah Foundation, the California African American Museum and The Kennedy Center, and is a recipient of the 2022 National Humanities Medal.
Additionally, she served on a number of boards including the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the California Science Center; the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County; the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Annenberg is survived by four children and five grandchildren.
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