The Stars Come Out for Cal State Fullerton Benefit

Bill Cosby, speaking at the annual Front & Center benefit for Cal State Fullerton, had a few choice things to say about friends.

“I have discussions about the word ‘friend,’ ” Cosby told the crowd at Saturday’s event, which raised $300,000 for university scholarships.

“When people ask if my wife is my friend, I tell them, ‘No.’ My wife is my wife--she got rid of my friends,” he deadpanned.

Cosby, sporting a shirt emblazoned with the greeting “Hello Friend,” spoke to the thousands of fans gathered at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, including show-biz greats Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar and Robert Culp.

“When my car breaks down at 3 a.m., I call Ed . . . and he says he’ll be right there,” Cosby continued, smiling. “If I call my wife, she asks me what time it is--then begins to tell me that she told me to get the car fixed.”

Friendship was the theme of the fourth annual benefit, where Reiner--who helped Cosby land his spot with Culp on the ‘60s TV series “I Spy”--was the affable emcee, and former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda received the university’s Orange County Person of the Year Award.

More than 1,000 of Cal State Fullerton’s friends enjoyed a $500-per-person black-tie dinner of filet of beef--at tables set up on the Pond floor--before watching Cosby perform. Following dinner, thousands more took general-admission seats in the stands.

After receiving a roaring musical introduction by university students--to the tune of “That’s Entertainment”--Reiner welcomed the crowd: “I was supposed to be here last year, but I was sick,” he said. “This is awesome. I’m so glad I lived--I would have missed all of this.”

When Lasorda, Dodgers senior vice president, came onstage, he stressed the importance of high school and college educations. “Education is always more important than winning,” he said.

Until you hit the major leagues. “Then you’ve got to win. If you don’t, you fall by the wayside.”