Santa Barbara’s Enduring Legacy with the Princess Grace Foundation

It was a full-circle moment last month when Santa Barbara resident and Academy Award winner Michael Douglas received the Princess Grace Foundation’s highest honor, the Prince Rainier III Award. Held at The Pierre in New York City, the annual gala was a celebration of 40 years of the foundation’s commitment to emerging artists in theater, dance, and film. 

Forty years ago, Santa Barbara native Rod Lathim was one of those emerging artists given an inaugural Princess Grace Foundation award for his work as the founder of Access Theatre, a visionary award-winning, professional, international touring company that trained and employed artists who were disabled, able-bodied, blind, sighted, deaf, and hearing. For 18 years, Access Theatre served as a national model of accessibility, receiving many accolades and honors. 

Lathim’s Princess Grace Award was presented in 1985 by Prince Albert of Monaco (Princess Grace’s son) and Frank Sinatra. Lathim said, “When I heard that they were honoring Michael Douglas with the Princess Grace Award, I said, ‘I’m going. I have to go. I have to be there,’ because the two biggest things that were the most influential on my career and on the company’s career were that award and Michael’s mentorship over about a 15-year period.”
Douglas, whom Lathim originally met at Nautilus Gym in Santa Barbara, was on Access Theatre’s honorary board and was very involved in the theater group. “He always looked out for us. He opened amazing doors for us with the media. He introduced us to Maria Shriver, who did a story on The Today Show…. We did a national NPR story with Linda Wertheimer on All Things Considered…. He flew to D.C. to tape an NBC special with us at the Kennedy Center.”

Bernadette Peters gave a heartfelt tribute to Douglas at the ceremony, echoing Lathim’s sentiments about his generosity. “Michael has always been the kind of guy that puts his hand, his mouth, and his wallet where his heart is, and he supports just an endless amount of things, nationally as well as internationally…. He’s just an amazing human being,” said Lathim. “So, for me to be able to go and honor him and have this full-circle golden moment with Princess Grace Foundation was incredible. It was one of those things I’ll never forget.”

Lathim continued, “And he was, of course, sitting with his Serene Highness, Prince Albert of Monaco. And he looked at me and he said, ‘Have you met Prince Albert?’ And I said, ‘Well, he gave me my award 40 years ago.’ That was pretty special.”

This year, the Princess Grace Foundation recognized 18 Princess Grace Award winners and 11 Honoraria recipients in various disciplines around the world. For more information about these emerging artists and the Princess Grace Foundation, see pgfusa.org.