FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:   Elissa Ruffino (NIAF) 202/939-3106 or elissa@niaf.org

** Cage to be First Inductee into Italian American Hall of Fame **
* Ron Howard to Present Garry Marshall With Career Achievement Award *

(LOS ANGELES, CA– April 17, 2002), Actor Nicolas Cage will be the first inductee into the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Hall of Fame at the Foundations’s West Coast Gala, Thursday evening, May 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Jack Valenti, Motion Picture Association of America president, will officially induct Cage into the newly established Italian American Hall of Fame.

Academy Award-Winning Director Ron Howard will present TV Producer/ Director and Movie Writer Garry Marshall with a National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Career Achievement Award.

The Black tie fund-raising event will begin with a reception and silent auction at 6 p.m. followed by dinner. Tickets range in price from $250 to $1,000 per person. Proceeds from the event will benefit the NIAF scholarship and education programs.

Actors Richard Crenna, Robert Davi, Dom DeLuise, Jack Klugman, Robert Loggia, Joe Mantegna, and Connie Sellecca, along with musician and television host John Tesh, are among the Italian American celebrities attending the National Italian American Foundation’s second West Coast Gala.

Los Angeles attorney Thomas Girardi is the NIAF West Coast dinner chairman. Dodger great Tommy Lasorda is the master of ceremonies.

Enzo Torresi, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and managing partner of the venture capital company myQube USA, will receive a NIAF Special Achievement Award in Technology.

Among the celebrities on the host committee are: Michael Badalucco; Ernest Borgnine; Cher; Tea Leoni and Antonio Sabato, Jr.

For tickets and more information, contact Michael Sanzi at 202/387-0600 or michael@niaf.org