NEW YORK (AP) – Thirty years ago, Richard Curtis suspected two things: People like to laugh and they like to do good.
Red Nose Day has annually proved him right in the United Kingdom, where more than $1 billion has been raised to fight childhood poverty.
Now Curtis is bringing Red Nose Day to the United States with a star-studded three-hour TV event airing Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT on NBC. He promises it will be funny and entertaining while giving viewers the opportunity to pitch in to help kids in the U.S. and around the globe.
When he’s not organizing Red Nose Day in the U.K. or prepping its American invasion, Curtis is a celebrated writer-director. His films include “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” ”Notting Hill” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
“I have two careers, at the same time,” he says during a chat Monday morning at Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom, where the live portion of Thursday’s telecast will originate.