Hollywood’s out and about for the holidays
It’s holiday time and the stars are out shopping in force, pumping their Hollywood paychecks back into the economy like good American consumers.
A young man sporting a baseball cap, goatee, longish hair and sunglasses and toting a massive Tiffany & Co. shopping bag through Beverly Hills’ 2 Rodeo shopping center turned out to be Leonardo DiCaprio, who seemed to be in an especially festive mood. Perhaps it was because his disguise worked so well, nobody recognized the Titanic star.
Others spotted with shopping bags aplenty in the area were Britney Spears, Calista Flockhart, Warren Beatty, Val Kilmer, Danny DeVito, Don Johnson, Rod Stewart, Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the legendary Gregory Peck.
Destiny’s Child chanteuse Beyonce Knowles went window-shopping at the Stuart Weitzman shoe boutique on Rodeo Drive, while lavish spender Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted power lunching at tony Beverly Hills steakhouse The Grill.
On Sunset Boulevard, Robert DeNiro has been popping into to the Beverly Hills Hotel’s old-school Polo Lounge for dinner about twice a week. Elton John in L.A. to peform at various holiday fundraisers for AIDS research, stopped in, too.
Closer to the sea, recently rehabbed Ben Affleck and his Pearl Harbor co-star, the radiant Kate Beckinsale, were dinner companions at scenic Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. No reports of the two lookers canoodling, so let’s just assume they were talking about doing a new movie together and hope it didn’t concern a sequel to the WWII wanna-be blockbuster.
Also at Shutters, Nicole Kidman was having a very animated conversation with Hollywood writer/director Robert Benton over lunch–it almost looked like she was auditioning. The same day, Priscilla Presley had dinner there with friends. Around that same time, a heavily disguised Kidman was spotted clowning around in Beverly Hills’ Roxbury Park with her friend and fellow Aussie actress Naomi Watts of Muholland Drive.
Also spotted jogging along the beach in Santa Monica was delectable Denise Richards, her her pulled back in a bouncy ponytail. She became instantly recognizable when she smiled and warmly greeted a homeless person who must be a familiar face on her route.
A friend of mine got her Mark Wahlberg fix twice in one day, spotting him coming off an elevator in West Hollywood’s Beverly Center shopping mall, then again several hours later in the ultra-hip, celeb-friendly nightspot Ago a few blocks away on Melrose Avenue–and Mark, who had made eyes at my lovely female pal in the mall, remembered their brief early encounter.
In fact, at Ago you can’t help but rub elbows with the stars like Shannen Doherty (OK, don’t rub hers unless you’re looking for trouble), tabloid gossip and ex-E! host AJ Benza and actress-turned-club DJ Rosanna Arquette.
At Ago on one intriguing Thursday night, James Woods and Sean Young–who had a notoriously toxic he-said, she-said relationship a while back–staked out opposite ends of the restaurant.
Randy Quaid and his wife Evie took in an early afternoon screening during the opening weekend of Ocean’s Eleven at the Lowe’s Cineplex in Century City. Fortunately the theater has stadium-style seating, so I could see the film over the very tall actor’s head.
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Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s LeVar Burton remains a familiar face on the Paramount Pictures lot–especialy since he’s directed several episodes of the Trek series that have followed. But it was a special treat to spot him lunching in the studio commissary in full Geordi LaForge regalia–including Starfleet uniform and “ocular implant” contact lenses–now that he’s back to film the next big screen installment, Star Trek: Nemesis.
Not too many more La-La-Land sightings from yours truly, but that’s because I recently hit the road for Las Vegas. Britney Spears was there, too, for her hyped HBO concert from the MGM Grand, and the 20-year-old temptress was spotted hither and yon among the neon. She and her family at dined at Planet Hollywood in Caesars Forum Shops, she hosted her own pre-concert party at the posh Bellagio, and later hung at the Velvet Lounge at The Venetian.
The very same weekend boxer Lennox Lewis hit the ring against Hasim Rahman fight at Mandalay Bay, and the stars flocked to that bout as well: the ubiquitous Arnold Schwarnegger and Maria Shriver were there, as were David Spade, Adam Sandler, Tom Arnold, Jewel, John McEnroe, Paul Reiser, Rosie O’Donnell, Sammy Hagar, Sidney Poitier, Patricia Arquette, Oscar De La Hoya and “Sugar” Shane Moseley.
Enjoying some post-fight partying at the Rio Hotel & Casino were Charlize Theron, Matt Damon, Cuba Gooding Jr, Drew Carey, Macy Gray, Samuel L Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jon Lovitz, Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath, No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani, Tobey Maguire, Danny Masterson, Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and Soleil Moon Frye. Other celebs, including Ali‘s cinematic ringman Jamie Foxx, worked the tables at the hip, high-energy Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
And if Britney and Lennox weren’t enough of a draw that weekend, the brand-new Palms Hotel, a LA-style outpost just off the Strip. David Schwimmer and Mike Piazza haunted the hotel’s uber-exclusive Ghostbar lounge while Tara Reid and Rosie O’Donnell had up-front seats at Macy Gray‘s concert, which kicked off the grand opening. The joint was tres chic, but a note to the staff: Lose the Skybar-sized attitude.
NOT-ALL-THAT-OBSCURE-BUT-DEFINITELY-COOL SIGHTING: This next bit delightfully mixes two of our earlier themes, Xmas shopping and Mary Poppins. In Beverly Hills, Christmas carolers entertaining holiday shoppers suddenly found themselves the center of the attention of one of film and TV’s most celebrated entertainers, Dick Van Dyke.
As Van Dyke enjoyed the selection of seasonal tunes, he was greeted by another celeb, game show genius Ben Stein who lunches almost daily at the center’s Via Rodeo restaurant. The holiday vibe was so infectious, Van Dyke joined the carolers in song, much to the delight of the passers-by, proving that the holiday spirit is alive and well in Hollywood.
