Celebrity Visions of Home Raise Funds for Homeless
George Burns’ idea of feeling right at home is a good cigar. Gene Kelly’s is a rose on his patio. The stars donated Polaroid shots of their own homes (or their ideas of what’s homey) to raise money for the homeless at Tuesday night’s auction/party at Spago for the Spare Change Project of the Family Assistance Program.
Other Celebrities Present
On the auction block at “A Vision of Home” were 15 photos taken by Muhammad Ali, Candice Bergen, George Burns, Dick Clark, Joan Collins, Whoopi Goldberg, Gene Kelly, Ann Landers, Angela Lansbury, Shelley Long, Vincent Price and Martin Sheen.
Long was the only celebrity shutterbug who came to the event.
But other celebrities were on hand, including actresses Susan Anton and Charlene Tilton, comic Rip Taylor, “Head of the Class” star Khrystyne Haje, singer/songwriter Stephen Bishop, and actor Henry Polic II, who served as celebrity auctioneer. Also there was real-life photographer, Berry Berenson Perkins, who judged Whoopi Goldberg’s and Gene Kelly’s photos to be the best.
Not invited was Wolfgang Puck’s Irish setter, who barked mournfully upstairs.
Dress was casual (Stephen Bishop in black and white houndstooth jacket, teamed with purple tie and glasses) and food was Spago--duck pizza, shrimp pizza, goat cheese pizza and smoked chicken on a stick.
The event drew a capacity crowd, despite several other parties that night even including the planned opening of L.A.’s newest hip club, b.c., which was canceled at the last minute. It would have been nice if more of the celebrity Polaroid shooters could have shown up to support the cause.
Nevertheless, with the absent celebrities’ shots going in the high three-figure range, the event took in $20,000 for the Spare Change Project’s efforts to find housing and jobs for the homeless.
