Odd Ball

I'm past the funereal aspects of my mini leave of absence from The Underworld (and a heartfelt thanks to those of you who expressed condolences to me!), but still have to tackle the theatre critique and the newsletter (this is with fingers crossed. As of Friday, we still had no computers at work, their having been out since early Wednesday!)

In the meantime, as promised, I have a teeny tidbit to toss out for those lovers of all things Hollywood and, thus, all things bizarre.

Without scrolling down to cheat, quick, answer this trivia question: Where would it have been possible to gussy up in one's Saturday best and hobnob with Jack Lemmon, Lucille Ball, Charles Bronson, Conrad Bain, Penny Marshall, Debby Boone, Peggy Lee, Gene Kelly Debbie Reynolds, Dionne Warwick, Adam Rich, David Hodo (the Construction Worker from The Village People) and Rita Hayworth? (The mind reels at the last two existing in the same social universe anyway!)

If you guessed The Golden Globe Awards, Night of 100 Stars or The Bi-Annual Rodeo Drive Sidewalk Sale, these are all good guesses! The correct answer, though (and a tough one!), is The 24th Annual Thalians Ball, a charitable event benefiting The Los Angeles Community Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. Each year, a Hollywood icon would be chosen and dubbed "Mr. Wonderful" or "Ms. Wonderful" and granted a star-studded tribute. The 1979 honoree was Jack Lemmon. Celebs from every walk of life (and every stratus of the food chain) paid $125 a plate to attend the gala fundraiser.

While I continue to jog on the treadmill of life, I hope you get a hoot out of the attached piece of photojournalism, depicting a sampling of the names who were in attendance at said event. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall (or even a busboy) at that party in order to see who was saying (and doing) what to each other in 1979, that threshold during which the free-wheeling '70s were about to give way to the gaudy '80s! Oh, and I do believe that Miss Debbie Reynolds' unidentified escort is famed hairstylist to the stars, Sydney Guilaroff.