In Spinks' corner
Leon Spinks, 25, wants everyone to know he's back in the driver's seat, and if that's been a dangerous spot for him in the past (he's been booked in five states for traffic violations), he claims he's being cautious now. "I'm gonna be a reliable person," vows Leon, who fired his handlers after losing the heavyweight crown to Muhammad AN. Now Spinks is himself bossing a fresh crew, including attorney Sanford Roth (left) and trainer Henry Grooms. They will be prepping him for a May fight with South Africa's Kallie Knoetze. But, warns the all-new Spinks, "Going to discos is part of my training."
Randall smothered
There are billboards all over Manhattan with Tommy Smothers proclaiming I Love My Wife. But that's just on the Broadway stage. Both his marriages broke up. So at a Radio City Music Hall fund-raiser for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation, Smothers hoofed it with brother Dick's bride, Linda. Tony Randall and his partner (far left) were an even odder couple. As chairman of the foundation, Randall was hymned by Tommy and Dick, who performed a Gregorian chant consisting entirely of the words "Tony Randall." The benefit collected over $40,000 to battle the affliction that Aristotle Onassis suffered. But Randall would have the house believe his motives are Mickey Mouse, quipping, "My agent told me I needed a disease.
Sis-boom-bah
Margaux was the first Hemingway to star in the movies, and she's still leading the way for 17-year-old sis Mariel (who has just completed her second flick, Manhattan, with Woody Allen). At big (6') sister's 24th-birthday blowout at New York's Studio 54, the two danced to the salsa sound of Tito Puente, performing live at the guest of honor's request. Margaux moves to a Latin beat now that she's engaged to Venezuelan businessman Bernard Foucher, 39. (They'll wed when her next movie, The Fable of the King of the Amazon, is finished.) Meanwhile, Mariel has matched up with Philippe Taraud, 22, a Peruvian art dealer.
Armies of the night
John Belushi takes his Animal House antics to war next in the film 1941. Indeed, he and pal Elliott Gould looked like grizzled vets tramping into a Beverly Hills shindig honoring writer crony Penny Stallings. She's just published Flesh and Fantasy, a campy compendium of Hollywood trivia, gossip and quizzes. A platoon of lovelies supplied flesh at the Bistro fete, and Superman Christopher Reeve (center) embodied fantasy.
Longden loves it
Johnny Longden is still riding high. After retiring as a jockey in 1966 with more than 6,000 wins (including the 1943 Triple Crown on Count Fleet), he turned to training thoroughbreds and in track-record time had a Kentucky Derby victor, Majestic Prince. He gallops his horses personally every dawn in California. So, to mark Longden's 72nd birthday (and his 52nd year in racing), officials at Santa Anita cooked up something special: a lemon cake with pink frosting. They went to great lengths to please Longden, ordering a Burbank baker to deliver a two-ton confection one-eighth of a mile long. After singing Happy Birthday, 13,000 racegoers ate heartily. That made it the first day in the history of the sport that no bettor went home hungry.
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