Santa Ana Attorney Representing Foundation at Cary Grant Tribute
He may have moved to Saipan, but he hasn’t forgotten Cary Grant.
William H. Millard, the ComputerLand Inc. founder whose holdings are estimated by Forbes magazine to be more than $480 million, will be represented at the tribute to Cary Grant on Wednesday night at the Beverly Hilton. Millard moved his family to Saipan in 1986 to pursue new business ventures after a long legal battle led him to resign from his management posts at ComputerLand.
Along with a few associates, Santa Ana attorney Alton Burkhalter, whose law firm represents the Millard Foundation (a nonprofit public benefit corporation established by William and Patricia Millard), will attend the $1,000-per-person tribute, a fund-raiser for the Princess Grace Foundation U.S.A.
Burkhalter and pals have also been invited to attend the private bash at Merv Griffin’s palace the following night. The Millard Foundation has donated $65,000 to the cause.
It’s official: Local cognoscenti will be hobnobbing with Henry Kissinger twice in coming weeks. On Monday, Kissinger will address a special dinner meeting of the Industrial League of Orange County at the Irvine Marriott. The league is a nonprofit association that addresses issues affecting business and industry. The former secretary of state is expected to comment on the presidential race and international affairs.
On the dais with Kissinger: Dick Sim, president of the Irvine Co.; Hal Rosoff, president of Meyerhof’s (the catering firm), and Todd Nicholson, league president. Also among the 1,100 up for Kissinger and chicken Romano: Robert Fluor, vice president of Fluor Corp.; Bill Jacoby, board chairman of National Bank of Southern California; Bill Lusk, vice chairman of the Lusk Co.; Dick Ortwein, president of the Koll Co.; Reed Royalty, area vice president of Pacific Bell, and Tom Testman, managing partner of Ernst & Whinney. Proceeds from the $75-per-ticket dinner will go into the league’s scholarship fund.
On Dec. 2, Kissinger will dig a shovel into the soil that will hold the Nixon presidential library in Yorba Linda. After the 3 p.m. ground-breaking ceremony, which will not be attended by Nixon but will be graced by his daughters Julie Eisenhower and Patricia Cox, about 600 will attend a cocktail reception at the Anaheim Hilton.
That evening, about 400 members of the county’s Grand Old Guard will break bread with Kissinger, Eisenhower and Cox at the Hilton.
On the road again: He returned last Sunday from his European honeymoon with his new bride, Thais. And this Sunday at 1 p.m., Steven Bren--son of Newport Beach billionaire Don Bren--hits the road again when he races an Indy car at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey.
Thais, an interior designer and former model, will be on hand to time her husband. Dan Gurney will be in the pit as a consultant.
And if Bren does well, he’ll be on the road to a full season of Indy car racing next year and an entry in the Indy 500.
“You have to be as cold as an iceberg to be a top race car driver,” says Steve Diulo of Huntington beach (Diulo procured Bren’s sponsorship and his car, a March/Cosworth). “It takes quick reflexes, self-discipline, keen eyesight and total concentration.”
And lots of money. But Bren is asking no favors from his moneyed pop.
“So far, no friends or family are helping,” Diulo says. “Steve wants to make it on his own.”
Low-key and lovely: It was a very private affair, the chic little dinner at the Ritz that saluted Orange County Supervisor Tom Riley and wife Emma Jane’s 50th anniversary on Monday night. Orange County Republican Party Chairman Thomas Fuentes led a toast, as did Supervisor Don Roth.
Veal cutlet was on the menu. And so were lots of warm wishes from good friends such as Kathryn Thompson, Margaret and Carl Karcher, Garth and Sen. Marian Bergesen, Len and Mary Ann Miller, Nora and Charles Hester and Bill and Harriet Harris.
Tutu divine: There wasn’t a crumb left last Saturday when the Moscow Classical Ballet dined on the home cooking of the Center Dance Alliance, a support group affiliated with the Performing Arts Center. The Alliance fed a potluck supper to the troupe between their matinee and evening performances. “They were extraordinary,” says Janet Eggers, Alliance president. “So friendly and outgoing.” Their favorite dish? “Oh, they loved the fried chicken and the brownies.” And they kept the decorations--tiny pumpkins--for souvenirs. Now that’s glasnost.
