Clinton’s Day Progresses From Pitches To Curves
How’s this for the perfect male fantasy? President Clinton threw out the first baseball at Camden Yards Tuesday afternoon and was seated next to Sophia Loren at Tuesday night’s state dinner.
An invitation to any White House dinner is a honor, but some are, well, more fun than others. Especially when the guest list includes the legendary actress, plus director Martin Scorsese, actor Nicolas Cage, rocker Jon Bon Jovi and author Gay Talese. Not to mention Mario Cuomo.
The dinner officially feted Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, but the night belonged to the glittering group of Italian Americans in attendance. The heads of state seemed perfectly content to enjoy the show.
No man - not even a president - could fail to admire the abundant charms of Loren. She wore a low-cut ivory Armani gown and promptly eclipsed everybody and everything else in the White House.
In his toast, Clinton paid homage to Loren and others. “We thank Italy for the greatest gift it gave to us: its people,” he said. “For America has been enriched beyond measure by Italian Americans.”
Then Clinton cited Cage, this year’s Academy Award-winning best actor, and others in the audience, including Cuomo, Bon Jovi, White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Cage, who was born a Coppola - he’s the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola - insisted that his invitation arrived before his Oscar. He brought along his wife, actress Patricia Arquette, but left the gold knickknack at home atop his television set, he said.
Much of the talk Tuesday night centered on Hollywood. Scorsese, just back from India, talked about his upcoming film on the Dalai Lama, and the honcho from Miramax, Harvey Weinstein, lamented that “Il Postino” lost to “Braveheart” in the best picture category. “You can’t trust those Scottish guys,” he joked.
The dinner was held in the East Room, allowing the Clintons to entertain a larger crowd. The 176 guests passed the live cherry trees blooming in the entrance hall to dine on zucchini soup, lamb with basil polenta, portabello mushrooms and roasted peppers, and strawberry surprise with lemon burned cream and almond pistachio nougat in a chestnut gondola. After dinner, they were entertained by singer Bernadette Peters.
This was, surprisingly, Loren’s first invitation to a state dinner here. “We talked about family, values, our children and the future of our children,” the actress said of her dinner partner. “If you have the chance to sit beside the president, you just keep asking questions. You don’t eat much. You just keep observing.
“As a matter of fact, I’m starving.”