Autry, Young Glitter at Jewel Gala V
“I have probably been the most lucky man who ever came to Hollywood,” the polished and elegant Gene Autry said. Loretta Young just wanted to show off her son, Christopher Lewis, “without bragging.” She added, “It wouldn’t have been nearly so nice without an audience.” Lewis and his wife Linda co-host “Side by Side,” a television travel show.
Autry and Young were the stars of Jewel Gala V, the always-sensational USC School of Fine Arts soiree that Frances Franklin and June MacMurray concoct. It became the first public, albeit exclusive, event in the new Waldo Fernandez-designed International Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton the other evening.
Once through the corridor of brash paparazzi, the crowd relaxed amid historic crowns and headpieces arranged for display by the diamond industry and Tiffany’s, Tallarico’s, Laykin et Cie and Frances Klein. Loretta Young wore a stunning graduated set of diamonds. When asked the vintage of her Jean Louis chiffon gown, she noted “au courant,” confiding that the retired couturier, who now lives in Montecito, still does gowns for her on request. Her escort was the Catholic philanthropist Papal Count Daniel J. Donohue in Gucci black-tie.
For the ball, red roses dangled from the ceiling, and under them Tiffany’s Tom Baumgartner from New York looked about and said he had rarely seen so many hugely bejeweled women in one room. He and Roberta Harbison, Tiffany vice president and Beverly Hills manager (she wearing an 1840 crown from the cocktail party diamond display), were fresh from the Tiffany Ball the previous night that celebrated the new Tiffany that has opened in Costa Mesa.
Curtis Kent brought Marie Gallo of Modesto and her son John to the ball. Suzanne Marx and Gretchen and Michael Wayne were just back from Washington where they had attended President and Nancy Reagan’s official dinner honoring Mali’s President Moussa Traore and his wife Traore Mariam Cisoko.
Suzanne, national campaign chairman for Phoenix House, the planned Nancy Reagan center for drug rehabilitation, sat at Mrs. Reagan’s table. On the same trip, she was in New York raising money for the center with a coterie including Carol Petrie, Mary and Lawrence Rockefeller and Deane Johnson.
Honorary gala co-chairs Ray and Joyce Watt attended. Lynn Matteson, acting dean of the fine-arts school, escorted Lynn Kirst. Carl Hartnack and USC President James Zumberge made tributes. Others in the crowd: Charles and Lorna Reed, Sol and Alice Laykin and his grandson Erick, Red Buttons, Andy Williams, Judy and Don Tallarico, Luis Estevez, Fred Hayman.
RETROSPECTIVE: Pierre Salinger, former press secretary to President Kennedy, former senator from California, a piano prodigy at 12, and now senior editor, Europe, for ABC News, addressed Claremont McKenna College’s prestigious Res Publica Board of Governors and guests the other noon in the Tiffany Room of the Biltmore (headquarters for the Democratic campaign in 1960). The event was a luncheon hosted by McKenna president Jack L. Stark.
With his son, Hollywood producer Stephen Salinger in the audience, Salinger discussed “The Kennedy Era in Retrospect.”
NIBBLES: We’ve had a nibble of pumpkin muffin, a nibble of a chocolate dessert, a tangy cookie, and another that melts in the mouth, and it bodes excitement for “Gourmet LA,” the Junior League of Los Angeles’ newest collector’s cookbook. The Broadway of Southern California will help the league introduce the collection of elegant recipes as part of a week-long celebration of home cooking through Wednesday in selected Broadway stores. The book was launched at a luncheon buffet and tasting.
Cookbook chairman Ellen Weitman and Barbara Mullaney, Barbara Wright, Jan Field, Gail Lee, Joanne Coghill and Nickey Sawyer have eaten their way through 1,500 recipes over the three-year effort. The big color-plate book is designed to hit the market for holiday-giving. Profits go to league projects such as AIDS community outreach and shelters for homeless families.
FAST AGENDA: Jane Pisano, president, Los Angeles 2000 Committee, speaks Thursday to Women at Work at their Medal of Excellence luncheon at the Pasadena Hilton. . . . Loyola Marymount University trustees honor the LMU Associates on Monday at a black-tie dinner at the Beverly Wilshire. . . .
Imme Isatalo and her shop, Fashionique, celebrated 350 years of friendship between Finland and America at a black-tie dinner and fashion/celebrity show to benefit KIDS, Inc. Finnair and Harpers Bazaar were major sponsors. Yakov Smirnoff, Finnish Consul General Jussi Montonen and his wife, Anya, and Brooke Shields were highlighted. . . .
Actors Fund will trick-or-treat Monday at the world premiere benefit screening of “Halloween IV--The Return of Michael Myers,” at the Directors Guild Theatre. . . . Smith College Clubs of Los Angeles and Pasadena feted Mary Maples Dunn, president of Smith College, at a reception designed to launch the $125-million Campaign for Smith. Kathryn Crane Reilly of La Canada Flintridge and Carlene Hatchell Miller were co-chairs with Sandra Mitchell Carpenter.
BIG DATES: The 68th annual Doll Fair for Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles will be Nov. 5 on the Marlborough School campus, 250 S. Rossmore Ave. Admission is free and proceeds from the fair will go to the hospital’s rehabilitation center. Claudia Crivelli is chairman. . . .
Janie O’Dell and Cynthia Coleman have been spearheading the drive all year for Treasures and Trivia, the Pasadena Guild of Childrens Hospital sale Oct. 29 and 30 at 60 N. Sunnyslope Ave. in Pasadena. . . .
Joan Irvine Smith and her mother, Athalie Clarke, host a luncheon in conjunction with the fifth annual Arthritis Foundation Grand Prix at the Oaks in San Juan Capistrano today. . . .
Immaculate Heart Auxiliary president Marie Poyer expects 700 for the “Hearts Ole!” fashion luncheon with David Hayes on Oct. 26 at the Sheraton Universal.
HISTORIC: Author and historian Catherine Mulholland speaks on her grandfather William Mulholland’s reputation in his role with the Los Angeles Aqueduct at the 75th anniversary of the opening of the aqueduct Wednesday at the Department of Water and Power. The Historical Society of Southern California plans the gala dinner on the outdoor patio around the fountain. . . .
And the Pasadena Historical Society goes Halloween with a series of mystery dramas by Matik Theatre in the Fenyes Mansion. Audiences will be required to solve a mystery, according to trustees August Belmont, Mary P. Coquillard, John C. Cushman and Jennith Knox.
PAST PERFECT: Entry fees of $100 for luncheon at the third annual John V. Tunney/Loyola Law School Scholarship Tennis Tournament at the Beverly Hills Country Club brought a crowd. . . .
Author/historian William Seale spoke on “The Irresistible Stage--The White House and Its Personalities” at the Banning Residence Museum luncheon on the green in Wilmington. (The museum is the Greek Revival home built in 1864 by Gen. Phineas Banning, founder of the Port of Los Angeles.) . . .
