By KAT KRAMER | October 19, 2018 | The Tolucan Times

Well folks, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is announcing its first ever “Elly Awards.” Created by PETA’s Animals in Film and Television Division, Elly’s are honoring some of television’s most compassionate stars and shows for promoting animal-friendly story lines and for entertaining viewers without exploiting wild animals.

Winners include Lily Tomlin, my performing idol and ambassador for my cinema series. She scored the award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of vegetarian Frankie in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. Tomlin is also being recognized for real-life work on behalf of elephants and animals.

Recently Lily used her sense of humor to protest against Sea World, and her sense of justice to object to Texas A&M University’s cruel muscular dystrophy experiments on dogs. Tomlin won an Emmy in 2013 for Best Voice Narration for the HBO documentary feature An Apology to Elephants which she also produced.

I went “Travelin’ for Tomlin” twice over the past two months. On my late father’s birthday, September 29, Lily performed a sold-out solo show called An Evening of Classic Lily Tomlin and brought her mini tour to the Thousand Oaks Civic Plaza and TOPAC on October 12. She was magnetic and brilliant, bringing many of her most famous characters along with her including Trudy, Madame Lupe, and of course, Ernestine and Edith Ann. We both advocate for elephants, and I brought Lily a special gift, a stuffed elephant from Elephant Nature Park in Thailand.

PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said, “From CGI wizardry that kept real wild animals off television sets to story lines that send positive messages about animals to caring actors who help them in their real lives, these winners show that kindness is trending in Hollywood.”

Other Elly winners include Ricky Gervais, The Handmaid’s Tale, and ties between Chrissy Metz of This Is Us and actor and real-life vegetarian Gaten Matarazzo. A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Walking Dead tied for Best CGI. Both shows use digital imagery to create big cats rather than forcing real wild animals to perform. Each winner will receive an intricate gold statue of a wild elephant.