TV Star Marcia Cross to Receive 2020 Marin Mazzie Award for Empowerment

The Cancer Support Community (CSC) has announced Emmy-nominated Desperate Housewives actress and advocate Marcia Cross will receive the 2020 Marin Mazzie Award for Empowerment. Cross will be recognized on July 16 during the Cancer Support Community’s Virtual Celebration for her work as an outspoken patient advocate. Cross becomes the second recipient of the honor named after thhe late Broadway star; Ashley Park received the inaugural award last year.

Cross, whose film career spans over three decades, has been public about her diagnosis of anal cancer, which she received after a routine gynecological exam. Not only is Cross a cancer survivor, she was also the caregiver for her husband, Tom Mahoney, when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. They are both now in remisison.

Mazzie, a three-time Tony nominee who passed away in 2018 from ovarian cancer, earned a posthumous Special Tony Award for her leadership and advocacy for women’s health issues. Her husband, Broadway's Jason Danieley, continues to be a champion of CSC and a resolute advocate for cancer patients and caregivers. “I think that Marcia is an ideal person to receive the award," Danieley said. "Marin would be very impressed and admire what she is taking on with her advocacy.”

CSC’s Virtual Celebration will also honor Airbnb with its Founders Award for Innovation. Frontline healthcare workers and cancer survivors Ilona Tomczyk, RN and Johanna Marto, MSN, RN-BC from Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, New Jersey will receive the Founders Award for Courage. Broadway stars Kelli O’Hara, Laura Osnes and Telly Leung are set to perform during the celebration, which will also feature appearances by former NFL player Chris Draft and Nicholas D. Lowry, president and principal auctioneer of Swann Auction Galleries and appraiser on the PBS show Antiques Roadshow. Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist Jack Ford returns as host.