Gael Warnings Are Up for Judge Clark
Judge William P. Clark, a close friend of President Reagan, a California rancher and former secretary of the Interior, is in for a good time and some soft Gaelic ribbing when the American-Irish Foundation honors him with its Distinguished Leadership Award at a dinner Thursday at the Beverly Wilshire.
Last year was the first time the foundation did its celebrating in Los Angeles and then it was Dr. Franklin Murphy who received the award. It turned out to be a most jolly affair with gentlemen of the Irish persuasion and their ladies arriving from everywhere. The foundation’s chairman of the board A.W.B. Vincent hails from San Francisco. President John J. Brogan calls Palm Beach home. National vice president Thomas F. O’Neil is from New York. We expect they’ll all do a little traveling this year, too, to join up with their Los Angeles pals for an evening of Irish food, Irish drink and Irish revelry.
This year’s chairmen, former Ambassador to Ireland Pete Dailey and the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico John Gavin, have been out of town a lot. But they’ve had, they tell us, excellent help from their dinner co-chairmen Emmett McGaughey, Jimmy Murphy and Grafton Tanquary and dinner plans are moving along very nicely.
Up on the mantel was the artist’s drawing for the cover of “Growing Up Spoiled in Beverly Hills,” an aerial view of lots of palm trees around a sprawling pink house. Viewing the art work were a group of friends and in their midst were the hostess-author Patsy Klein (wearing a strapless black velvet short sheath) and her guest of honor and publisher Lyle Stuart. The place was Beverly Hills, specifically one of the houses owned by Patsy and her sister Kay Pick who was there also wearing a short black dress. Humming around making smart cocktail talk were Gloria and Milton Gunzburg, Joe and Sybil Ball, Peggy Klein (Patsy and Kay’s mother), Dr. Selvyn Beleifer and his daughter Karen, Los Angeles Magazine’s Geoffrey Miller, Lester Deutsch and his daughter Alexa Wixman, J.J. Cohn, Mervyn and Kitty LeRoy, Arthur and Lois Marx, Dr. Ed Hill, Larry and Eleanor Sloan, “Entertainment Tonight’s” Bill Harris, and Rosann and Larry Gershman.
Texas and Los Angeles had a nice rapport the other night when Jayne and Henry Berger gave a sit-down dinner honoring Ed and Josephine Hudson of Houston. Josephine sparkled in a short sequinned dress. The hostess wore a fox-bordered dress by Yves Saint Laurent. And the rest of the ladies were equally festive. The Texans included Jeanette (in jeweled black velvet) and Octaviano (he’s affectionately called Chito) Longoria of San Antonio. And the locals were Mrs. Howard Keck (Howard was in Texas), Cyd (Charisse) and Tony Martin, Claudia Mirkin with Richard Gully and Harold and Diane Keith. The evening wound down pleasantly back upstairs in the den with coffee and Perrier and a few after-dinner drinks.
The Bowles children--Kelly, Normita, Luisa and John--surprised their parents with a 35th wedding party at the house. While the kids finished their plotting, Norma and John were sent off to dine romantically a deux. And when they returned the driveway was filled with cars and a trio from Vera Cruz was playing and the South of the Border buffet was in place. By then pere and mere began suspecting something was afoot.
The other surprise that night was the announcement of Kelly’s engagement to Jim Rendelman who’s from an old North Carolina family, a fact that pleased the bride-to-be’s father mightily since he’s a North Carolinian himself. The wedding, the guests were told, will take place next summer. Glad to be in on the celebrating were Mary and Stuart Davis, Harriet and Charles Luckman, Betty and Rod Williams, Jo and Monte Fisher, Harriet Weaver Vasque and Julian Richardson, Joan and George Elkins with her daughter Mrs. Ross Thompson of Australia and loads more.
The Social Scramble: No one’s going to be busier than singer Enrico Macias when he shows up in Los Angeles on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Macias, a former schoolteacher in Algeria, and now an international singing sensation will be the star entertainer at the Vista del Mar benefit dinner on Nov. 24 at the Beverly Hilton. That same weekend, as part of his North American tour, he’ll chanter en francais at the Universal Amphitheatre. And that one is almost SRO at this point.
Elin Vanderlip, founder of the Friends of French Art, reminds us that a gourmet buffet will be served before Anita Pereire begins her slide lecture on gardens Tuesday evening at the Directors Guild on Sunset. Tickets will be available at the door.
Dashing Francisco Kripacz gave a little dinner party at his hilltop home Wednesday night for that grand gentleman of fashion, Hubert de Givenchy. The setting for dinner was dramatic--black china on black cloths with vases filled with white narcissi and pale flowers for contrast. The guests were eclectic and convivial--John Rizzuto who runs the Givenchy U.S. empire, architect Arthur Erickson, Carina (Courtright) and Wayne Quasha (who flew in from New York for a long weekend), Nick and Felisa Vanoff, Lynda Palevsky, Connie Wald, Janet Hovis, Jon Ross, George Christy, Eleanore Phillips, Dona and Dwight Kendall and Jill Cartter.
Don Tallarico celebrates the opening of his jewelry boutique Monday night with cocktails in the store and dinner and dancing next door at the Bistro Garden. Don and wife Judy will be welcoming some 250 of their nearest and dearest, among them Rusty and Zena Hoffman, the Marvin Gales, Contessa Cohn, the John Mitchells, Nancy Epstein (she’s just opened a boutique of her own), Mrs. Robert Kramer, James Galanos, Erika and Bob Brunson, Rhonda (Fleming) and Ted Mann, Dale and Charles Snodgrass, Luciano Soprani, Sachi and Larry Irwin, the Martin Sterns, Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Rosenberg, Dr. and Mrs. Morey Parkes.
Lunching at Le St. Germain: Marcello Mastroianni; Eva Gabor with Merv Griffin; the Jack Sheas of Newport Beach and Palm Springs; JoBeth Williams; Sarah Purcell. Andy Williams hosted a birthday party for Laurie Wright that night. And on Saturday a group of theater lovers were there for cocktails and dinner before they went on to the James A. Doolittle Theatre for the Stratford Festival of Canada’s opening night.
Carol Connors, the songwriter, and Beverly Sassoon, the expert on beauty and health, celebrated their Scorpio birthdays (Carol’s is Wednesday, Beverly’s was Thursday) Saturday night with a big party catered by Barry Colman and Fred Schwartz’s More Than a Mouthful.
Marcia Lehr and Candy Spelling are adding something new to their Lehr-Spelling gift boutique. It’s “Candy’s Collection of Pretty Jewelry.” The pretty indicates the jewelry is different from the serious kind Candy collects for herself.
