Childhelp Spotlights Ginger Rogers

The Friends of Childhelp honored Ginger Rogers Friday night at their annual black-tie benefit dinner at the Beverly Hilton. More than 700 guests, most of whom were Rogers’ peers, showed up to salute her and support the Village of Childhelp in Beaumont.

In keeping with the theme, the guest list was drawn from the “Golden Age” of Hollywood, not the current issue of Premier magazine. As chaired by June Haver MacMurray and co-chaired by Frances Franklin, the evening was an old-fashioned bash featuring elegant fashions, furs, a formal cocktail hour, an orchestra playing dinner music and a main course of--what else?--red meat. In short, the night was all about what Master of Ceremonies Monty Hall called “remembering sweet and gentle times as an era gone by.”

Rogers spent the evening posing for innumerable photographs, greeting old friends and graciously accepting hours of tribute. (The evening of accolades followed a private surprise party earlier that week in Rancho Mirage.)

The evening was also a tribute to George C. Page, the philanthropist whose Wilshire Boulevard museum is a tribute to dinosaurs, tar pits and the L.A. Woman, the prehistoric skeleton that has become a cult figure to schoolchildren and natural history buffs.

After receiving a birthday cake big enough to contain a small stripper (or the L.A. Woman herself), Page said, “By publicizing my 90th birthday, Childhelp has really put me in the doghouse with some of my lady friends--who thought I was only 69.” Page also accepted a proclamation from L.A. Councilman John Ferraro.

At times, the night became a guessing game as guests tried to affix names to the dozens of familiar faces that made the room look like one of those old MGM publicity photos packed with celebrities.

Among the guests were Buzz Aldrin, Bea Arthur, Robyn Astaire, Milton Berle, Sybil Brand, Foster Brooks, Red Buttons, Jack Carter, Norm Crosby, Frank DeVol, Jimmy Doolittle, Buddy Ebsen, Alice Faye, Stan Freberg, Johnny Grant, Kathryn Grayson, Bob Hope, Ross Hunter, Dennis James, Anne Jeffreys, Kathy Lennon and Ted Mann and Rhonda Fleming.

Also: Virginia Mayo, Roddy McDowall, Gavin McLeod, Ann Miller, Nolan Miller, George Montgomery, Helen O’Connell, John Raitt, Buddy Rogers, Cesar Romero, Barbara Rush, Jack Scalia, Nancy Sinatra, Connie Stevens, Jimmy Stewart, Esther Williams and Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

The evening concluded with songs from Andy Williams and Toni Tennille, dancing by Donald O’Connor and a youthful tap sextet and Rich Little’s time-tested impressions. Jack Haley Jr. had assembled an impressive tribute of film clips--the highlights of which were, of course, the great Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire dance numbers, as well as Rogers performing “We’re in the Money” in pig Latin. Let’s see Madonna try that .