
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 31, 1993                   TAG: 9307310130
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

ACTRESS TO BE NAMED TO ARTS ENDOWMENT POST

Actress Jane Alexander will be appointed next week as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, a White House official said Friday.

The actress had been considered a candidate for the post since February and has broad backing in the arts community.

The NEA this year received $174.4 million funding from the government, a small amount by Washington standards. Even so, it has been in the crossfire between critics of government involvement in the arts and defenders of taxpayer subsidies for controversial arts projects.

The nomination by President Clinton is subject to Senate confirmation.

The 53-year-old actress was nominated for a Tony award this year for her current role on Broadway in "The Sisters Rosensweig." Her contract expires Aug. 14.

One of her major television roles was that of the First Lady in "Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years." She won an Emmy in 1981 for her portrayal of the leader of an orchestra of concentration camp prisoners in "Playing for Time." - Associated Press

by CNB