Hanks, Berry set for cancer telethon

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Justin Timberlake and Sofia Vergara are among the dozens of Hollywood stars to take part in Friday's "Stand Up to Cancer" telecast.

The fundraising event is to air commercial-free simultaneously on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, plus BIO, E!, Encore, HBO, HBO Latino, ION Television, LMN, Logo, MLB Network, mun2, Palladia, Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, Starz, Style, TBS and VH1.

Also expected to take part in the program are Eric Stonestreet, Ray Romano, Felicity Huffman, Max Greenfield, Stacy Keibler, Maura Tierney, Rocco DiSpirito, Ethan Zohn, and Olympic gold medalists Gabrielle Douglas and Missy Franklin.

The executive producers are Gwyneth Paltrow and Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet Productions.

The 2012 "Stand Up to Cancer" broadcast also will feature previously announced stars Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Jessica Biel, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Seth Rogen, Emma Stone and Katie Couric.

Simon Baker, Jordana Brewster, Diem Brown, Dana Delany, Chelsea Handler, Marg Helgenberger, Minka Kelly, Joe Manganiello, Jillian Michaels, Masi Oka, Ana Maria Polo, and Alison Sweeney will appear on the broadcast, as well. Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Alicia Keys and Tim McGraw will perform as cancer patients' stories are told.

The first two "SU2C" telecasts took place Sept. 5, 2008, and Sept. 10, 2010. To date, more than $180 million has been pledged for SU2C's cancer research, the organization said.