Monday 11 May 2009

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LOS ANGELES - The last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is getting a hand from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

The 'Titanic' stars, along with director James Cameron, have contributed to a $30,000 fund for Millvina Dean, 97, Access Hollywood has confirmed.

The Irish Independent was the first to report the news.

The stars came forward after an appeal by photographer Don Mullan in the Sunday edition of the paper. Mullan had asked the stars and director of 1997 blockbuster to help Dean, who has struggled with her nursing home bills.

Dean was the ill-fated ship's youngest passenger - only nine weeks old upon being carried unto the Titanic from Southampton, England - and is now its last remaining survivor.

The photographer had been selling a limited-edition shot, entitled 'Still Surviving,' of Dean's hands signing an autograph in order to raise funds for her, and decided to reach out to the 'Titanic' stars. The photo is part of a new exhibition of his called 'A Thousand Reasons for Living.'

'I figured that if the edition sold out, it would secure Millvina for a full year," Mullan told the Independent. "My plan, however, was to double the impact and thereby secure her for two years. I decided, therefore, at the opening of the exhibition, to publicly challenge James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, 20th Century Fox and Celine (Dion) to match me dollar for dollar,.'

He is still waiting on a response from Dion, who won an Oscar for performing the film's theme song, 'My Heart Will Go On,' and the film's studio, 20th Century Fox.

 

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