The Clintons Entertain the Stars in Washington’s Winter Wonderland
If country music legend Willie Nelson were to write a song for Bill Clinton, the U.S. president, he says he’d call it: “Let’s Start Over Again.” He was one of those honored by the Kennedy Center for their artistic contributions to U.S. culture, along with comedian Bill Cosby, child star turned diplomat Shirley Temple Black, composer-conductor Andre Previn, composer John Kander, and lyricist Fred Ebb. The Clintons, ardent arts supporters, entertained them at the White House, which has been transformed into a “winter wonderland” for the holiday season.
Top entertainment personalities from Liza Minnelli and Jack Lemmon to Tommy Lee Jones (Al Gore’s Harvard roommate) also paid tribute. Temple Black engaged in an off-the-record tete-a-tete with Gen. Colin Powell, but both masters of diplomacy insisted it had nothing to do with politics. Henry Kissinger, former secretary of state, a Shirley Temple fan since childhood, declared her “an original” and recalled during the waning days of communism when she was ambassador to Czechoslovakia, she named her boxer dog Gorbachev. Apparently Temple Black liked her diplomatic roles so well she lobbied the Carter administration in 1974 to stay on as ambassador to the United Nations. They did not comply. Robert Culp called I Spy co-star Bill Cosby “the best partner any man ever had.” Bridget Fonda (Peter’s daughter) turned heads on the arm of country star Dwight Yoakam, there to fete Nelson. Actress Mia Farrow offered an emotional tribute to former-husband Andre Previn, who has composed an opera based on Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. But as far as he’s concerned, “to be thought of as a good musician, that is everything.” As part of the lovefest, Minnelli praised Cabaret creators Kander and Ebb: “They invented me.”
Guests treated Arizona shopping centre magnate Sam Grossman, leading contender with partner, former coach Joe Gibbs, to buy the Washington Redskins, as a celebrity too. He was surprised people thought his $600-million (US) bid for the football team was such a big deal.
British actress Lynn Redgrave, who recently became a U.S. citizen, asked: “Aren’t we meant to lie about adultery?” She added, “I’m appalled by the implications of it — I don’t think it’s right — but is it impeachable?”