Spirit lifts Carousel of Hope Ball

For Carousel of Hope Ball watchers, it was like seeing a flag at half-staff: Barbara Davis, the grande dame of Los Angeles’ charity scene, wore black to the hottest benefit on the social calendar. Black might be de rigueur for most women on the circuit, but at 15 balls past, Davis had always arrived swathed in clouds of peppermint pink. The official color of girlhood somehow seemed appropriate as a symbol of the cause: the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in Denver.

But the 16th Carousel Ball, held Saturday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, came only a month after the death of Davis’ husband, Marvin, 20th Century Fox’s former owner, ranked 85th on this year’s list of billionaires. As Barbara Davis told the black-tie crowd of 1,350 over a dinner of seafood salad and beef, her husband died of complications from diabetes, and her daughter, Dana, has been grappling with the disease since age 7.

“I know much about this disease,” she said. “Perhaps too much.” Still, the spirit of the Carousel of Hope was as good as its name. Davis may have been garbed in widow’s black, but it was trimmed in sequins. And while Davis, admitting to a smidge of superstition, had opted not to include her latest grandkids in the drawing of the family on the program cover because they were not yet born when the issue went to press, her daughter, Nancy, was happily showing off photos of her infant twins at the biannual event.

“This room is filled with love,” Davis said at dinner.

The invitation-only ball was also filled with numerous A-listers, many of whom, such as presenters Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine, were frequent guests at the Davises’ Beverly Hills estate. For two hours, guests sipped cocktails and roamed through an array of more than 1,000 silent-auction items, including a Swarovski crystal carousel minaudiere by Katharine Baumann, a one-on-one basketball game with Shaquille O’Neal and artwork by Jenny Holzer, Dennis Hopper and Getty Museum architect Richard Meier. Guests also bid on plates and pedal cars from presenting sponsor Mercedes-Benz that were snazzed up with artistic touches by celebrities such as Billy Bob Thornton and the Osbournes.

At the dinner emceed by Jay Leno, Marvin Davis was remembered in a photo montage, and Halle Berry, who at a previous Carousel Ball disclosed that she has diabetes, was honored with a Brass Ring Award designed by sculptor Robert Graham. After performances by Faith Hill, Beyonce and Josh Groban, guests picked up the event’s legendary goody bags and then headed home.

The evening raised $5 million for the Barbara Davis Center, which sponsors research and cares for 5,000 children from around the world.

For numerous guests, such as director William Friedkin and his wife, Paramount Pictures head Sherry Lansing, the evening was an encore performance. The couple have attended eight Carousel Balls together over the years because of their regard for the Davises.

“Forget how charitable they are,” Friedkin said. “She’s the warmest, kindest, most loving person I’ve met outside of my wife. And Marvin is a great man. His spirit is around here somewhere. Anyone who has ever met Marvin will never forget him, and that’s like eternal life.”