Salute to Wise Draws Star Shower
You just don’t see a whole lot of invitations like this--even in a town where, in the ever-escalating battle for benefit bucks, committee lists begin to look like a litany of the rich ‘n’ famous.
When director Robert Wise is honored by the American Friends of Tel Aviv University on Jan. 21, “special guests” will include Julie Andrews, Walter Matthau, Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston and Larry Hagman.
Director Taylor Hackford will preside, and Burt Lancaster will do the toastmaster honors, while the honorary dinner chairs are Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and Dr. Armand Hammer. Paramount’s Howard W. Koch is the dinner chair--and, if only 10% of the lengthy list of 52 associate chairmen, 57 associate dinner chairmen and 76 host committee members show up for the Beverly Hilton black-tie event, it will be quite a brand-name jam.
And quite a lucrative one, too, since the ticket price is $1,000 a couple.
It’s no wonder Wise has such Hollywood connections. One of America’s premier directors, he has on his resume “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “I Want to Live,” “West Side Story,” “The Sound of Music,” “Audrey Rose” and “Star Trek.” He has served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and as president of the Directors Guild of America.
BEST L.A. STORY OF THE YEAR--Just a few days into January and here it is--short and sweet.
As screenwriter Gloria Goldsmith tells it, she took her leased Nissan to the leasing company to be serviced. She was called early last week and, when she showed up the day after the call to pick up the car, it couldn’t be found.
No wonder--it had been sold.
To a dealer. And when the leasing company tried to buy it back, the dealer had already sold it.
But everything turned out OK. The dealer bought it back from the buyer, the leasing company bought it back from the dealer, and Goldsmith is driving it again.
AT IT AGAIN--From the folks who brought us last fall’s newspaper parody “The Washington Possible” now comes the L.A. Inaugural Ball--”The Political Party for the Rest of Us.” The invitation for the Jan. 20 bash is a smaller version of the newspaper, but this one carries the headline “Bush’s Inaugural Message: ‘Don’t Worry; Be Happy . . . New President Urges Upbeat Mood During Coming Depression.” Oh, yes, “present your ACLU card for a 10% discount.” The credit for the party goes to publicist Josh Baran and Rob Vinson, of the 2nd Coming, the new dance club on South Bonnie Brae, two blocks east of Alvarado at 9th Street.
MARK THE FEBRUARY CALENDARS--Oakwood School salutes 10 years of service by its headmaster, Jim Astman, with a more-than-all-star benefit show at the Wiltern Theatre on Feb. 5. Among those performing are Rhea Perlman, Mort Sahl, Henry Winkler and David Steinberg in a tribute being written variety-show style by Iris Dart and Ann Beckett. . . .
That same Sunday night, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera will be honored by the Beverly Hills Charitable Foundation and the Beverly Hills B’nai B’rith Lodge as men of the year. Tickets for the black-tie event are $350 and $500 a couple--although the invite does point out that for children, black tie is only optional and the tickets are $75.
There’s a reason for that striking exception, since the evening begins early with Hanna-Barbera costumed characters posing for pictures with young (and perhaps not-so-young guests). The party is at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and MCA President Sidney Sheinberg is honorary chair, while Great American Broadcasting’s chairman Charles S. Mechem Jr. is the honorary co-chair. . . .
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art unveils “Hispanic Art in the United States--30 Contemporary Painters & Sculptors” at a black-tie reception Feb. 1. The exhibit has been organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and was made possible by grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Atlantic Richfield Foundation, while the national tour was sponsored by the At&T; Foundation. The Los Angeles presentation was made possible by the W. Alton Jones Foundation.