The Foundation was founded in 2004 as directed by her Will in which she named her long-time agent and friend Lionel Larner, Trustee. The mission of the Foundation is two-fold: to support charities and causes about which Dorothy felt strongly - which include not-for profit theater, young artists, health, literacy, religion, education, and prevention of cruelty to children or animals and - to perpetuate her legacy in an industry that embraced her so warmly.

At the inception of the Foundation, Mr. Larner successfully campaigned to have Dorothy inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame, which had been overlooked in her lifetime. Over the past decade:

• Two scholarships have been awarded to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in memory of Dorothy and her husband the composer Norman Paris.
• A star dressing room in her name was built in her name at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA where she made one of her last stage performances in Kander & Ebb's Over and Over.
• A couch was donated to Screen Actors Guild's in her name for the new Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.
• A Christmas dinner is underwritten in her name annually at St. Luke's in the Field for their AIDS outreach program.
• A Bench was adopted from the Central Park Conservancy at the bus stop across the street from the American Museum of Natural History with the inscription - "In loving memory of Dorothy Loudon - TONY award winning actress, and her husband, Norman Paris, Composer - She preferred the bus to the limo."
• Ms. Loudon's extensive theatrical memorabilia, personal correspondence, mementoes, citations, and scrapbooks to NYPL for the Performing Arts. A grant was given to them by the Foundation to archive the material and as a result it is available to students, writers, journalists, etc. through the NYPL's website or by visiting the NYPL for the Performing Arts.
• Her personal collection of videos of her television appearances including those with Johnny Carson, Jack Paar, Garry Moore and Dick Cavett was donated to the Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio). The Center compiled a one hour show, introduced on June 1, 2006 by Lionel Larner to an invited audience. A Salute to Broadway's Dorothy Loudon is a retrospective of the highlights of her televlsion career and is available to view by visiting the Center.
• Acknowledging Dorothy's acclaimed cabaret career, an award for excellence in cabaret was established. The first award was given to Gregory Moore and his Cosmpolitan Orchestra in 2008. The caveat is this award is not given annually but only when a performer of merit comes on the scene. In 2011 the award was given to Jennifer Sheehan
• In 2009, the Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theatre was created. The first recipient was Susan Louise O'Connor appearing as the maid in the Broadway revival of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit starring Angela Lansbury. In 2010 the Foundation received an appeal for funding from the Theatre World Awards which was in peril of not being able to continue. The Theatre World Awards and John Willis it's founder were close to Dorothy's heart. She treasured her own Theatre World Award which she received for her Broadway debut in Nowhere to Go but Up in 1962. She became a close friend of John Willis and was a frequent and popular presenter at the annual awards ceremony. When the appeal for funding came in, the Trustees voted unanimously to provide financial support and to move the Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence to their venue.
  The recipients of the Dorothy Loudon Award for excellence in the Theatre are:
• 2009 Susan Louise O'Connor         Blithe Spirit (Broadway)
• 2010 Bobby Steggert                 Ragtime (Broadway) Yank! (Off Broadway)
• 2011 Seth Numrich                 War Horse (Lincoln Center Theatre)
• 2012 Susan Pourfar                 Tribes (Off Broadway)
• 2013 Jonny Orsini                 The Nance (Broadway)
• 2014 Celia Keenan-Bolger         The Glass Menagerie (Broadway)
• 2015 Leeann Cope                 An American in Paris (Broadway)

Over half a million dollars in grants have been awarded to many not-for- profit theater companies including the following:

Ars Nova
Barrington Stage Company
Classic Stage Company
East End Young Arts Initiative
HB Playwrights Foundation
Irish Repertory Theatre
Keen Company
Manhattan Theatre Club
Musicals Tonight!
NY Theater Workshop
NYCity Center
OYL Theater Co.
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Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Realm
Primary Stages
Red Bull Theater
Roundabout Theatre
Second Stage
Signature Theater
TADA! Youth Theater
The Actors Company Theatre
The Atlantic Theater
The Barrow Group Theatre Company
The Director's Company
The Flea Theater
The New Group
The Transport Theatre Group
The Vineyard Theatre
Urban Stages

In addition support has been given to Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, The Pasteur Foundation, The Mayor's Fund to Advance NYC, Phoenix House, AIDS Action International, The Animal Rescue Fund, City Harvest, Hospital for Special Surgery, Miracle House, Literacy Partners, The Retreat (for abused women and children), Central Park Conservancy, Elsa's Ark, The Ten Chimneys Foundation, Mabel Mercer Foundation, East Hampton Library, Georgia O'Keefe Museum, God's Love We Deliver, Treatment Action Group, Cap 21, FOCUS, Coalition Against Breast Cancer, East End Hospice.

Mr. Larner personally reviews and studies every grant request thoroughly before bringing them to the other Board Members at their bi annual Trustee Meetings which take place in the Spring and Fall of each year. Since many of the grant requests come from not-for-profit theatres, Mr. Larner spends most of his evening hours each week, auditing the productions of the companies requesting funding. As a result, the Dorothy Loudon Foundation has achieved a reputation of distinction and quality in the not-for-profit theatre community which has increased the volume of requests received on a day-to-day basis.

 
Jennifer Sheehan receiving the Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in Cabaret from Executive Director Lionel Larner at the 2011 New York Cabaret Convention.