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.”…