Celebrity masks raise money for Detroit Zoo

Who wouldn't want an African mask designed and signed by James Earl Jones?

Or, for that matter, Tim Allen, Jennifer Hudson or Elmore Leonard?

In what has to be one of the most unusual money-making gambits in recent years, the Detroit Zoological Society asked a dozen celebrities to design African-themed masks in keeping with the Zoo's "Out of Africa" motif for its June 15 fundraiser, "Sunset at the Zoo."

They tried to get former President Bill Clinton, but no go.

Most of the luminaries asked, explains Zoo spokesman Patricia Mills, have some sort of Michigan connection. Allen, for example, is famously from Birmingham, and Jones graduated from the University of Michigan.

The Zoo sent each celeb a blank papier-mache mask, along with paint, feathers, beads, and "really cool zebra and giraffe print papers," says Mills, and asked them to channel their inner artist.

Mills' personal favorite -- well, oneof her favorites -- is the lion's head that Jones crafted out of the mask, with the clever addition of a dust mop for mane.

"His is so cool," she says.

The masks will all be put on eBay today through June 10 for bidding. Just visit www.detroit zoo.org, and click on the "Celebrity African Mask" icon.

by:www.detnews.com