Los Angeles
08 July 2008
Hollywood actress Stefanie Powers is keeping alive the African legacyof the late film star William Holden, who established a well known gameranch and sanctuary in Kenya. Powers is president of the WilliamHolden Wildlife Foundation, and she spoke with VOA's Mike O'Sullivanabout her work on behalf of animal conservation in East Africa.
Onthe slopes of Mt. Kenya, thousands of schoolchildren arrive throughoutthe year at the William Holden Wildlife Education Center, where theylearn about the animal and plant life of the region.
The center,which is adjacent to the Mt. Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, carries on thelegacy of Hollywood actor William Holden. He fell in love with EastAfrica after going on safari there in the 1950s.
In 1959, hebecame co-owner of a famous resort, renaming it the Mt. Kenya SafariClub, and in the 1960s he and his partners set up the Mt. Kenya GameRanch. Within a few years, it would house a sanctuary for orphanedanimals.
After Holden's death in 1981, his partners andactress Stefanie Powers co-founded the William Holden WildlifeFoundation, which operates the educational center. She says itre-introduces African students to nature away from Kenya's bustlingtowns and cities.
"We do not allow boom boxes. We do not allowportable telephones. That all is left at the door," she says. "Thisis a natural experience. It is for students to come and understandnature, and to do so, you cannot have headphones on."
There are37 species of wildlife on the preserve adjacent to the center, and thefoundation offers programs on animal conservation and environmentalprotection. Powers says it also reaches out to youngsters through theschools.
"We combine our curricula, which is specificallyadjusted to their level of education and understanding, as well asonsite programs, which we install, such as lessons on composting, whatto do with biodegradable waste, how to create agro-forestry, wheretrees and crops can be grown harmoniously in a companion plantingmethod where nitrogen-producing plants can actually enhance the soil."she said.
Powers divides her time between Hollywood and Kenya,and says her globe-trotting activism comes naturally. When she was achild, her family collected exotic birds and her stepfather bredracehorses. As a young woman, she owned dogs and acquired her ownexotic animal, a Malaysian Sun Bear.
She recalls breaking the news to her boyfriend, who later became her husband.
"Itwas really not my most subtle moment," she says. "The little bear wasin the kitchen playing with my Yorkshire Terrier. My boyfriend camehome and I poured him a very stiff drink, and I said, 'You like bears,do not you?' I very subtly broke the ice."
Her fascination withanimals outlasted her marriage. She was divorced in the early 1970sand found a new love in her life, one of Hollywood's top stars, WilliamHolden. He had appeared in nearly 80 movies, including the classic warfilms Bridge on the River Kwai and Stalag 17, for which he won anOscar. At this point in his life, he spent much of his time in Kenya.
Powers says that even before she met him, she loved to travel.
"Iconsumed every bit of free time I had by going off to some place, and Ispent a lot of time in Central and South America, and Mexico," shesays. "And I had traveled extensively through North Africa. But I hadnever been to sub-Saharan Africa, and certainly not to East Africa,which is where the game was. So Bill introduced me to his part ofAfrica, as he used to call it. And I was already in love with the man,so it was very easy to be in love with where he hung his hat."
Powershas appeared in films and on television since she was a teenager in the1950s. She is best known for the popular series Hart to Hart, in whichshe costarred with Robert Wagner, playing husband and wife detectives,from 1979 to 1984.
But she has always spent time at her secondhome in Kenya, and has even been adopted by the local Kikuyu people. She says Africa is her passion, as it was for a British adventurer sheonce portrayed in a television movie.
"Oh, gosh, I guess I wasbitten by the bug," she says. "And it is beyond me, now. I amhelpless. It is part of my cells. You know, I think it was BerylMarkham who wrote, 'I will always remember Africa, but will Africaremember me?' I do not think Africa will remember me, but I willalways remember Africa."
She says that whether working withpreservation groups in Hollywood or with youngsters at Mt. Kenya, sheis helping endangered species in a part of the world she loves.