‘Sleepless’ Night Leaves ‘Em Happy

The Scene: Wednesday’s benefit premiere of TriStar’s “Sleepless in Seattle” at the Cineplex Odeon theater. A sit-down dinner followed in the Century Plaza Hotel’s Los Angeles Ballroom. The evening, which netted $2.5 million for the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation, was thought to be by far the most financially successful benefit premiere in history. “As far as I know it’s the biggest,” said honoree Edie Wasserman. “And I’ve been here since 1939.”

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Background: This was the first big do by the foundation, the newly formed fund-raising arm of the charity that provides care to the entertainment community. To put the event’s success in perspective, a good net from a fund-raiser in the same room is $250,000. The event’s success was attributed to foundation chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg’s efforts, legendary fund-raiser Wasserman and TriStar’s underwriting. Another possible reason was put forward by Tom Hanks: “They’re here because they’re hoping they’ll actually get a space at the Motion Picture Home.”

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Who Was There: The film’s stars, Hanks (with wife and co-star Rita Wilson) and Meg Ryan (with husband Dennis Quaid); co-stars Rosie O’Donnell, Ross Malinger and Bill Pullman; director Nora Ephron; producer Gary Foster; plus 1,400 guests including Paula Abdul with Emilio Estevez, Shelley Long, Tom Arnold, Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Neil Simon, Barry Diller, Janet Leigh, Gayle Wilson and premiere co-chairs Mike and Patricia Medavoy and Lynda and Peter Guber.

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The Buzz: Big joy. Some were happy over prospects for the movie, others over the big take for the charity. It was an infectiously happy crowd.

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Dress Mode: Since the guests’ ages ranged from late teens to seriously senior citizen, there was a spectacularly wide spectrum of fashion. Matronly dresses last seen at a ‘70s Cedars-Sinai dinner brushed against Azzedine Alaia spandex so taut as to be almost mono-molecular in thickness.

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Chow: Katzenberg told the crowd that the entree of steak and crab was “the most expensive dinner you’ve ever been pressured into paying for.”

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Quoted: Regarding the film’s romantic theme that there is someone destined for everyone, co-star O’Donnell said she believes it to be true, “and whoever it is, I hope they send me an application soon, because the space has been vacant for an awfully long time.”

* MOVIE REVIEW F1