Icons: August 2007 Archives

Way back in late spring, I was seated with the talented artist Louis Briel at a political breakfast where Bill Richardson was the featured speaker. (This was pre-debate gaffes). Louis, who is based in L.A., told me about his work, including a portrait he had painted of Diana, princess of Wales, shortly after her death and gave to her close friend Elton John.
The portrait hung in Sir Elton's private dressing room and was said to have helped him cope with the loss.
Tomorrow marks the 10-year anniversary of the death of Diana in that horrible and senseless car crash in Paris. She was at the top of her game, had never looked better, and was doing some terrific work bringing awareness to the world about landmines.
Remember where you were when you heard?
I was vacuuming my apartment in the Long Beach neighborhood of Belmont Shore because I was hosting a party the next day. Instead of partying, my guests and I sat in my living room watching the endless reports of her death and reading the pile of newspapers I bought that morning. It just didn't seem real and in some ways, still doesn't.
Briel painted the portrait of the Princess to deal with the unexpected grief he was feeling. Days after finishing the portrait, he saw Elton on the Oprah Winfrey Show and was so touched by Elton's love for Diana, he gave the painting to the rock star.
Moved by the kind gesture, Elton sent a handwritten note to Briel thanking him: "I am going to take the canvas on tour with me, so that I can look at it each night before I go on stage. Then the portrait will be sent to my home in England. You are a very kind man and the gift is very much appreciated. Much love, Elton."
Elton took the portrait around the world with him on "The Big Picture Tour" in 1997-98, hanging It in his dressing room at every venue worldwide.
"When I met him, Elton said he would one day give the painting to the Princes William and Harry," Briel said in a newspaper interview. "I hope he will do so now. It would help heal them and come to terms with their mother's tragic death. It helped heal Elton, perhaps now it's time for him to give it to the Princes, who truly need it."
Briel's painting (www.louisbriel.com). is now featured in Diana In Art, by Mem Mehmet, a collection of portraits of the Princess from around the world. It is published by Pop Art Books.

Jodie Foster, looking sensational on Oscar night this year, has had her sexuality become quite the focus of attention with OUT Magazine featuring the private star and anchor Anderson Cooper on their covewr as two of the most powerful gay and lesbian people.
Foster, 44, seems to have taken it in stride. The two-time Academy Award winner has just gone on with her life and is currently featured on the cover of the September issue of More magazine. She seems to be more open these days, but on her terms. Here is an interesting excerpt from the piece:
MORE: Let's talk about your ring.
JODIE FOSTER: This one? [Proffers left hand] It's Tiffany, an eternity ring.
MORE: You're wearing it on you wedding ring finger.
JF: I am. I've always worn a ring. Even taking photos. Even on magazine covers. I don't take it off.
MORE: Don't you think wearing a ring like that raises questions?
JF: Well, but that's my life. I thought about this recently: I had a nightmare the other night. Well, anyway . . .
MORE: C'mon! Let's hear the nightmare!
JF: I was being interviewed by somebody, like an innocuous [press] junket thing. They were asking me questions about food I liked or whatever. Then they said, [in a high innocent voice] "Have you ever written any homemade antisemitic cards?" And I was like, [horrified] "No!" Then she said, "Come with me," and I realized, "You're so stupid. Haven't you ever seen that 60 Minutes thing where they ask you a banal question? You're not supposed to say yes or no. You're supposed to go, 'Well, that's interesting.' Because if they ask you the banal question, it's becuse they have some kind of document on you. And now you've got to go! And now the camera's following you!" Then my dream was over [pauses and reflects before continuing] My life is my life. I'm not going to change my life for anybody. I don't have any problems with it. I just don't talk about my health, my dad, who I voted for or what I think of the death penalty, because that would be trivializing my life, selling it for a magazine. I don't have any problems with anybody reporting on my life. It's just that I'm not going to bring my family into that. The number one reason for that is: Why would I invite--encourage--more people to sit outside my door and wait for my children to go to school? I don't have any desire to participate in it."
MORE: Are you happy with the life you've created for yourself?
JF: I'm absolutely over the moon. Ten years ago, I was worried. You know how you worry, if I do this, will this happen? And, I won't be happy if I'm not this. I'm so happy that this is what I chose.

What a beauty. We are so used to her madcap adventures as Lucy Ricardo that it's easy to overlook or take for granted that Lucille Ball was a glamorous movie star before she became a television icon...Today marks what would have been her 96th birthday...

Miss Ball died in April 1989, just about a month after she made her last public appearance at the Academy Awards. She presented an award with Bob Hope and the thunderous ovation assured her that she was still so very loved...Here she is arriving at the awards with her second husband, Gary Morton, to whom she was married for more than 25 years. This picture doesn't show it but on Oscar night, Lucille wore a gown with a high slit up the side, revealing still-gorgeous gams at the age of 77.
She is missed...thank God for reruns and DVD!

Monday will mark the 96th anniversary of the birth of Lucille Desiree Ball. I'll probably do some kind of photo gallery to mark the occasion. But if you're near Miss Ball's hometown of Jamestown, New York, they will be celebrating all weekend! According to the Everything Lucy site, the city will welcome thousands of fans from across the world to Lucy’s Birthday Celebration that begins Saturday and runs through Monday. Lucy impersonators roam the streets and pose for photographs, and special guests such as Lucy’s longtime chauffeur, Frank Gorey, share memories of working with the queen of TV comedy. Writers and film editors of her various TV series discuss her work, and buses take visitors on tours of various Lucy-related sites, including the two-story home at 69 Stewart Ave. where she was born, and Lake View Cemetery, where the comedienne’s ashes are interred alongside her parents.
They all still love Lucy...