Sunday Evening - The Celebrity Banquet |
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Excitement mounted as banquet time approached because it's a time to socialize with friends and mingle with celebrities. This year the Cinecon Career Achievement awards would honor 4 talented entertainers: noted producer Walter Mirisch (unable to attend the banquet, he received his award earlier this weekend) and 3 wonderful actors Celeste Holm, Warren Stevens, and Elena Verdugo. Besides those entertainers being honored many of our former honorees and their friends also attended the event.
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The cocktail reception began at 7:15. The reception area filled up quickly and soon it was elbow to elbow... |
...and celebrity to celebrity.
Past Cinecon honoree Marvin Kaplan was on hand to present an award to Elena Verdugo. The two worked together on her 1950s TV show Meet Millie and have been friends ever since. |
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Warren Stevens posed with good friend Doris Roberts who would be presenting him with one of the evenings awards. |
Almost a Cinecon regular, is actress Ann Rutherford. She appeared in scores of films while under contract at MGM including the classic Gone with the Wind. |
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Celeste Holm was visited by many friends including previous Cinecon honoree Betty Garrett. |
Here's 50's scream queen Kathleen Hughes with her husband of more than 50 years, director Stanley Rubin. |
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Former child actress and a favorite Cinecon regular, Jane Withers signs an autograph for a fan. |
This happy group includes actors Jayne Meadows Allan and Peter Mark Richmond |
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Here's Celeste again this time with old friend Pat Hitchcock (yes she's the daughter of the late, great director Alfred) who would be presenting her with an award this evening. |
Warren Stevens flashes us a big smile. He seems to be having a great time. |
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Piper Laurie came with actor friend Laurence Pressman. She received a Cinecon Career Achievement Award last year. |
Piper and Laurence stop to talk to Broadway musical expert, a Cinecon regular, Miles Kreuger.
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Marvin Kaplan stops to talk to composer Richard M. Sherman and actress Francine York.
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Here's actress Ann Robinson with a fan. She's probably best remembered for her co-starring role in the classic science fiction film WAR OF THE WORLDS |
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Former child actresses Sybil Jason and Cora Sue Collins meet up before the banquet and share a few moments together.
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After a brief talk they pose for a photo together with a happy fan.
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Slowly people began making their way into the banquet room to take their seats including this cute couple, past Cinecon honoree Coleen Gray and her charming husband Fritz Zeiser. |
Celeste and her husband, Frank Basile, have taken their seats on the dais and are ready for the banquet to begin.
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As everyone settled into their seats the waiters began serving dinner. After desert and coffee it was time for the awards portion of the evening to begin. |
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| Cinecon president Bob Birchard started the festivities with a few remarks and then introduced the music act. |
Ukulele virtuoso Ian Whitcomb and his lovely wife Regina entertained us with a couple vintage ragtime songs. |
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| Then the couple had a trio of their friends join in at the microphones to lead the audience in a lively sing-along that had everyone tapping their toes and clapping their hands. |
M.C. Stan Taffel kept the upbeat momentum going as he joked with the audience while introducing the celebrities in attendance. |
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| Marvin Kaplan was the first presenter. He spoke about the career of his long time friend Elena Verdugo. She appeared in dozens of films and scores of TV shows including Marcus Welby, M.D. and her own show Meet Millie. |
After talking for several minutes and relaying a few stories Marvin introduced Elena. She started out by saying that when she's with Marvin she just listens. |
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| She said that she appreciated all of the attention we gave her and that she had fun at her screening on Saturday. She thanked us for the award and for inviting her to Cinecon. |
Being the gentleman that he is Marvin escorted Elena back to her seat... |
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| ...and the two happily showed off her new award. |
Doris Roberts, best know for her role on Everybody Loves Raymond, was on hand to talk about her dear friend Warren Stevens. |
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| She said he was a rare and versatile actor and went on to relate the highlights of his career. |
At the podium Warren responded to a few of Doris' comments and then he went on to say how much he enjoyed being at Cinecon. |
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| He thanked the audience and said that it was an honor to receive an award from a group like ours. |
Then back in his seat he and Doris displayed his new award for the camera. |
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Actress Patricia Hitchcock spoke about their 40
year friendship and about Celeste's career on stage and screen. | She talked about her experience at Cinecon and how nice everyone was to her. She was so moved in talking about the tribute that she started to cry. |
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| Celeste thanked her friend Pat for being there to present her with the award and Cinecon for choosing to honor her. | And finally she brought her husband up and spoke about how much he meant to her. |
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| Celeste and Patricia with the award. | Stan made a few final remarks before bringing the banquet to a close. |
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| Slowly people started getting up and milling around. Some stopped to chat with friends and for others there was still time to get an autograph or picture of their favorite star. |
Doris and Warren paused to speak with Stan. |
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| Elena found herself surrounded by fans wanting an autograph, picture or both. | Celeste talks to a fan. |
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| Ann Robinson, Betty Garrett, Jane Withers and Betty's son Andrew Parks gather for a group photo. |
Some fans catch up with Jayne Meadows Allen for autographs. |
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| Celeste and Sybil Jason share a private conversation together. | Ian and Regina Whitcomb meet up with Francine York and Will Ryan. |
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| A gracious Jayne Meadows Allen flashes a warm smile before leaving. | Prolific character actor James Karen stops to talk to a friend. |
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| Doris Roberts meets up with Piper Laurie and Lawrence Pressman. | After chatting with each other old friends Sybil Jason and Jane Withers pose for a picture. |
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| Volunteer coordinator Stella Grace gets a picture with some of her volunteers. | Actress Marsha Hunt has a big smile for the camera. She's another of our wonderful Cinecon regulars (and past honoree). |
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| Piper Laurie and Sybil Jason join Cinecon V.P. Marvin Paige. | Cinecon officer Stan Taffel takes the opportunity to have his picture taken with Jane Withers. |
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| Ian Whitcomb stops to speak with Cinecon officer Mike Schlesinger on his way out. | Eventually most of the celebs have gone home and members reluctantly wrap up their conversations and head on out. |
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The banquet is always a good chance to get the Cinecon officers together for a group
photo. For those who don't know them, they are, from left to right, Marvin Paige, Stella
Grace, Mike Schlesinger, Stan Taffel and Robert S. (we call him Bob) Birchard. |
And so another Cinecon Career Achievement Award banquet becomes history. As we headed off to bed we knew we would have only one more day of great films to look forward to. |
