Research for a Song and a Dance

Ben Vereen was the entertainer at the annual gala sponsored by the Founding Associates of the French Foundation for Alzheimer Research and he was determined all present be “enthusiastic about life.”

Beginning with “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” he took his act through “Stand By Me” and “Smile Though Your Heart Is Breaking,” moving offstage and out into the crowd of 550 who gathered Sunday in the Beverly Hilton’s International ballroom. The song-and-dance man even persuaded the audience to sing along on a couple of numbers, though their efforts proved a little low-key.

The evening had begun on a more somber note with the evening’s emcee, talk show host Dennis Prager, and gala co-chairwoman Brenda Klehn requesting a moment of silence for the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing and the singing of “God Bless America.”

The French Foundation was co-founded in 1983 by Richard Eamer and the late opera singer Dorothy Kirsten French in tribute to her husband, Dr. John Douglas French of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute, who suffered from Alzheimer’s and died of the disease in 1989.

Nancy Reagan, whose husband, former President Ronald Reagan, is afflicted with Alzheimer’s, was honored with the “Woman of the Year Award” presented to her by Art Linkletter.

“Since ‘going public,’ as they say, we have received more than 30,000 pieces of mail and those expressions of sympathy and prayer mean more than I can tell you,” said Reagan as she thanked the foundation for its contribution to research efforts to find a cure and for the support it provides to families of Alzheimer’s sufferers, “because for the caregivers, it is a very long goodby.”

The meal was a classy classic, smoked salmon on greens, tenderloin of beef with a melange of vegetables and a trio of miniature desserts.

Among those attending were the president of the Founding Associates, Judith Bedrosian; gala co-chairwoman Eva Fremont; honorary gala chairwoman Caroline Ahmanson; Hannah and Edward Carter, Diane and Leon Morton, and French Foundation president Thomas Ennis and his wife, Judy.