Beverly Hills’ most famous shopping street paid tribute to a pair of photographic geniuses, and the flashbulbs were popping as a string of celebrities turned out Rodeo Drive’s latest Walk of Style gala, a slightly more modest celebration than its most recent inductions, but lacking none of the glamour.
Angelica Houston, dressed in a sharp dazzlingly white pantsuit, hosted the event–her husband and escort for the evening, sculptor Robert Graham, designed the “Torso” nude statue that adorns the intersection of Rodeo and Dayton Way and which the official Walk of Style trophy is modeled after. The Power Couple arrived accompanied by pal Lauren Bacall (Anjelica‘s father John directed Lauren in Key Largo in 1948) who was decidedly bemused when it became obvious many of the very young reporters had no idea who she was.
Inside, however, Miss Bacall was the center of attention as she sat and enjoyed cocktails with Anjelica and Robert seated on a long, sleek white leather banquette at the heart of the party–photographers snapped her photo constantly as she was greeted warmly by showbiz vets like Army Archerd of Daily Variety, and partygoers young and old were all craning their necks to get a glimpse of the screen legend. Lauren told the video crew from Hollywood.com that she liked Rodeo Drive better in the old days, before all the major designers came, when it was a sleepy street of shops and restaurants (Romanoff’s was one of her and Bogie’s favorite haunts) in the celebrities’ home town.
As the guests, including a horde of BevHills dignitaries, trickled in they got a glimpse of even more celebs as they trod the red carpet, including Fran Drescher, designer Tom Ford, renowned fashion editor Anna Wintour, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, burlesque artists extraordinaire (and Marilyn Manson’s fiancé) Dita von Tease, actresses Maria Conchita Alonso, Elise Neal and Miranda Todd, Baywatch babe Traci Bignham (whose wacky outfit would was better suited for one of Dita’s dishy strip acts than Rodeo Drive) and Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, beautifully adorned in Louis Verdad, who waggled a disapproving finger at me when she spotted me standing at the bar once too often.
After Anjelica got the proceedings officially underway followed by comments from Mayor of Beverly Hills Mark Egerman and Walk of Style chair Peri Ellen Berne, Patrick Swayze took the stage and went off script to talk about his long, close friendship with honoree Herb Ritts, the first fashion icon to receive a posthumous Walk of Style tribute (Ritts died in 2002 at age 50) as well as the first Los Angeles resident (born in Brentwood) to be so honored. As images of Ritts’ famously sensual photos of Madonna, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Jack Nicholson and others bost famous and not-so-famous (and frequently not-so-clothed) Patrick got emotional and choked up at times, but composed himself and presented the posthumous award to Ritts’ mother Shirley.
Anna Wintour warmly introduced the works of the second honoree, the very much alive fashion photographer Mario Testino and then brought out a sprightly looking Cameron Diaz. Cameron looked none the worse for wear after her recent tumble from atop a chest of drawers in her Hollywood Hills home, though her kicky, matted-down hairdo may have been placed stragically to hide the head gash she reportedly endured. Otherwise, she looked sweet and elegant in navy blue 50s-ish dress with yellow pumps and a long black coat. As her own Testino–snapped image grinned back at Cameron from the projection screens alongside Madonna, Princess Diana and Kate Moss, the actress told the crowd the award was “really heavy–“I’ve been holding it for three minutes backstage.”
Cameron recalled her first encounter with Testino, taking her first Concorde flight to Paris to shoot the cover of Vanity Fair. “When I arrived to the studio, all I heard was ‘Hee hee hee hee,'” said Cameron. “Here comes Mario, with his twinkle in his eye and his arms wide open and a camera tucked behind his back because you never see Mario without a camera in his hand. He’s always going to come at you at some point, whether you’re ready for it or not–he’ll peer around to the side and snap that shot that’s going to end up one day showing up somewhere in some fabulous magazine or possibly in a gallery somewhere.”
“He’s the kind of photographer that captures more moments than you even realize that you have,” she continued. “You live your life being who you are and expressing who you are through every part of your body, but somehow Mario is able to show you what it is that you are. He’s like a mirror, showing a reflection of yourself that you’ve never seen before. One of the parts of myself that I never saw before that Mario revealed to me was my butt crack. A picture that he took that ended up on the cover of a magazine and immortalized that moment for me. And I really credit him with discovering my butt.”
Taking the stage to relieve Cameron of the weighty Torso trophy, Testino showed his cheeky side, when he told the audience “I’m really proud to have Robert’s [sculpture]–I said to him I wanted it the size of the one on the street, but I guess I’m going to have to content myself with one smaller.”
Off stage, Testino admitted he wasn’t always so bold. “I’m always nervous on the days that I photograph,” he told the Hollywood.com, “because you’re only as good as your last assignment.”
Ami Rawal contributed to this story.
