Spelling Honored at Scopus Banquet

Aaron Spelling was honored Saturday night in the ZIP code he made internationally famous. At the Beverly Hilton--90210--the TV producer received the Scopus Laureate Award from the American Friends of the Hebrew University.

Despite a long history in the entertainment industry, Spelling made no secret of his nervousness, saying it was a combination of the award’s prestige and the fact that it was mainly a non-show business crowd.

“Think of it as a bar mitzvah,” advised Jason Priestley, one of the stars of “Beverly Hills 90210.”

“You’re the fourth person to tell me that,” said Spelling. “I’m still nervous.”

The young casts of “90210” and “Melrose Place” gave the black-tie gala an interesting demographic dichotomy. Most of the crowd were about 40 years older than the actors. In George Burns’ case, make that 70 years. “I’ve been a Jew for 97 years,” he said of his reason for coming. “I think I’m a member.”

The oddest couple present was actress Shirley MacLaine and conservative commentator John McLaughlin. “We have a lot to talk about,” MacLaine explained.

McLaughlin enumerated possible conversation topics: philosophy, theology, political science and anthropology.

“And he’s really full of (it)” MacLaine said with a laugh. “And he thinks the same of me.”

The dinner began late because of the observance of kosher dietary laws. The ovens weren’t started until 6:15 p.m., and the main course wasn’t served until 9 p.m. This made the forbidden boxes of chocolate on the table quite a temptation.

The chocolates are forbidden because they contain milk. Under kosher law, meat and dairy cannot be mixed, and signs on the table said the chocolate should be taken home. When one young non-Jewish woman started to open the box and was told she couldn’t, she asked what would happen.

“You’ll be smote like the Hashemites,” the man next to her replied.

Her next question: “What does smote mean?”

As it was, the box went unopened and the only thing hit by lightening was the hotel. It caused a brief, electrical crackle/pop midway through Liza Minnelli’s highly energized 40-minute performance. And since all the dinner speakers were brief, there seemed no reason for them to be smote either.

They included emcee Merv Griffin (who referred to himself as a shabbos goy hotelier ); Dr. Dudley Danoff, Jan Murray, Daily Variety columnist Army Archerd, Hebrew University vice president Avi Primor, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and dinner chairman Harvey Silbert, who announced the formation of the Aaron Spelling Family Foundation for the Performing Arts at Hebrew University.

Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban was the expected main speaker, but he recently fractured his hip and was unable to attend.

The crowd on hand, about 1,000 strong, included honorary chairs Edie and Lew Wasserman, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Dr. Franklin Murphy, Frank Mancuso, Joan Collins, John Forsythe, Steve Lawrence, Jane Wyman and Connie Selleca.

Spelling focused his remarks on two women--his mother and his wife. He remembered his mother saving money to plant trees in Israel. And he said to his wife, Candy, “I love you. I wouldn’t be here--I wouldn’t be anywhere--without you.”

With those words, the guests left with their chocolates.