McMillen Reception Nets Basketball, Political Stars

Shades of Sen. Bill Bradley. When Lynne Wasserman hosted a fund-raising reception for her basketball-playing buddy, Tom McMillen of the Washington Bullets, the guests got a bonus: players from the Lakers and the Bullets. McMillen is currently running for Congress from Maryland--and, like New Jersey Democrat Bradley, he’s both a basketball pro and a former Rhodes scholar. At the reception, Democratic heavy hitters--like Lew and Edie Wasserman, Atty. Gen. John and Andrea Van de Kamp, Councilman David Cunningham and the senior former Gov. Edmund Brown with wife Bernice--mixed with the basketball names. Dozens of McMillen supporters and a hearty handful of their offspring garnered autographs from the Lakers’ Mitch Kupchak, Maurice Lucas and James Worthy, and the Bullets Gus Williams, Dan Rounfield and Dudley Bradley. McMillan described himself as a “baby Boomer Democrat,” which he translated as believing in “economic growth” and “restless experimentation.” Lakers star Worthy and his actress-wife Angela wound up drinking coffee in the kitchen with actor Robert Walden and the hostess. And that’s the mark of a very good party . . . On the charity front, Lynne Wasserman, who is also the president of the board of American Cinematheque, said the overwhelming response to the Moving Picture Ball, set for Feb. 28, meant that the party had to be moved from the soundstage at 20th Century Fox to the Century Plaza. The orginal go-to-the-movies theme would remain intact, she said, including the novel concept of “white tie, black tie, no tie,” which promises almost a good as show in the audience as with the roast and toast of Eddie Murphy.

BABY BLUES--Imagine this clash of cultures--the oldest, most famous and staunchly traditional crew in the world, the Oxford Blues, racing against the background of Marina del Rey. It’s like “Brideshead Revisited” meets “Gidget.” Just kidding, folks, for when the Blues show up, they will be meeting the mighty crews of UCLA and UC Berkeley. It’s on April 12, and the race is the UCLA Classic, the annual regetta for the Maury Grossman Cup. Dudley Moore will be emcee, and it’s all free to the public, which will crowd the banks of Ballona Creek, in back of Fisherman’s Village. Bands and cheerleaders are promised--and lets not forget that the Cal Eight is a three-time Olympics winner, or that there are reported Yanks on the Oxford crew.

BRAVO BRAVOS--Coming up March 11 at a gala dinner at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the announcement of the two winners of the BRAVO Awards. Those are the annual citations sponsored by the Jeffrey Melamed Memorial Fund, honoring outstanding educators for their work in keeping the arts alive in L.A. schools. This year’s finalists are Carole Allen, Crown Valley Elementary School, Capistrano; Alisa Allen Atterbury, Mountain View Elementary, Claremont; W. Rex Comer, Wilsona Elementary, Lancaster; Duane Hagen, Glendale High School; Bonnie Louise Studt, San Marino High School; Pete Villescas, Fremont Elementary, Montebello; and, from the L.A. Unified School District, James Berk, Carson High; Evelyn Cain, Sheridan Street; Irah Y. Carlisle, Marvin Avenue; Maxine Stanoff Lewis, Granada Hills High, and Lawrence Shapiro, Venice High. BRAVO to all.

CONSISTENCY--Talking about the large amounts of cash actress Jane Fonda pours into the campaigns of her husband, Assemblyman Tom Hayden, one well-known Republican made this comment: “I never criticize it. After all, she made her money through the free enterprise system.”

BENEFITS--Lynda Palevsky and Joan Palevsky have joined forces for a Feb. 27 benefit at Joan’s home for Harriett Woods, the lieutenant governor of Missouri currently running for U.S. Senate. Also involved are womenlike Barbara Corday, Marge Fasman, Lisa Weinstein, Suzanne Rosensweig and Charlotte Conway . . . Whoopi Goldberg, Jackson Browne and Don Henley do a March 1 benefit for the Sanctuary movement in Berkeley.

INTRIGUING INVITE--Coming from Mark Ryavec, the p.r. aide for Tax Man Alexander Pope. The official-looking postcard carries the “second notice . . . of re-assessment,” some officialese about Prop. 13 and only when one hits the last line, does it mention that it’s an invite to a March 1 birthday party.

VALENTINE PARTY--One of the honorees was the co-anchor of the CBS Morning News and one of the hosts was writer Wanda McDaniel. She and her hubby, Al Ruddy, gave a private Valentine bash for Maria Shriver and her fiancee, Arnold Schwarzenegger, at Nicky Blair’s in West Hollywood. Among the reported partyers--Ruth and Milton Berle, Tony Bill, Rafer Johnson, Quincy Jones, Sherry Lansing and Wayne Rogers, Sen. Chris Dodd and Carrie Fisher, Pamela Mason, CBS Sports’ Pat and Linda O’Brien. And of course, Sarge and Eunice Shriver.

NEW CAREER?--Mayor Tom Bradley is the guest on Channel 5’s “Video Beat” this week, as well as on “Video One” on Channel 9. We hear he’s picked Patti La Belle’s “New Attitude” and the Chicago Bears’ video, as well as Bruce Springsteen’s “Hometown.”