Now heeeere's Joanna
The kickline wasn't Chorus Line, but at least Joanna Carson and Altovise Davis have a leg up on the problem of being better known as the wives of Johnny and Sammy. Joanna, a 5'9" ex-model, and Altovise were entertaining at the $250-a-pop 28th annual dinner and floor show for SHARE, L.A.'s glitzy showbiz charity. This year's event earned $350,000 for local causes like the Exceptional Children's Foundation. The pair high-kicked their way to a standing ovation led by Johnny himself, for once upstaged at the dais. Joanna, you see, was the event's chairwoman and as new president of SHARE had little trouble rounding up the evening's emcee. "I was invited," quoth Johnny, "in the same sense that Spiro Ag-new was invited to return the money."
Petaling Nancy
Perhaps they would smell as sweet by any other name, but Nancy Reagan was obviously delighted to receive a bouquet of the newly developed First Lady Nancy roses, presented at the White House by Mrs. Ellyn Hoff, president of the Pasadena Beautiful Foundation. A hybrid of the First Prize Rose and the American Heritage, the blossom is cream tinged with pink and took 10 years to develop. Ten bushes will be planted in the Rose Garden. "Gertrude Stein may claim that a rose is a rose is a rose," said Mrs. Reagan, "but these are special."
Occupational Hazzard
As the Dukes of Hazzard's Bo Duke, John Schneider has long watched women go ape over him, but when another sort of female started monkeying around with his hairy chest, Schneider cried, "What in the world is she doing?" And what in the world was Schneider doing with the provocative primate at Busch Gardens in Tampa? He was the judge in a Name the Chimp contest. His selection: Snuggles, Cosmo and Chimpendale.
Brooke dons her rocks
Denims may be the modern girl's best friend most of the time, but not even her Calvins can come between Brooke Shields and her hair. So when Wella Balsam unveiled its newest and youngest pretty baby ever (after Farrah, Jaclyn et al) at Regine's and heralded Brooke's million-dollar hairdo, it was only reflecting the value of the diamonds, rubies and emeralds lacing her coiffure by Monsieur Marc. (Three hairpieces were patched on.) The gems were on loan from jeweler Harry Winston, but as for Brooke's own assets, one Wella-wishing spokesman said, "She has beautiful hair. We are concentrating our attention at the top."
Estrangers in the night
It was a night thick with free spirits and other dangers. Exchanging glances and sweet nothings at Manhattan's Starbucks club, a chic C&W watering hole, Princess Soraya Khashoggi was making Bette Davis eyes at Tony Curtis, while partygoers raised their champagne glasses to another act—David Brenner and Joan Rivers, now touring together in a nightclub routine. Curtis, 55, apparently on the rebound from his divorce from third wife Leslie Allen, seems to have found a like mind in Soraya, who's seeking a record $2.5 billion divorce settlement from her Saudi arms dealer ex, Adnan. And how did their rumored romance get off the ground? Mutual chum, Beverly Hills' most successful match-breaker, Marvin Mitchelson, introduced them. He's a crony of Curtis' and Soraya's counsel in her divorce suit.
Tab for rehab
"It's so wonderful to see the expressions of joy on these youngsters' faces when they get into the water," said half-submerged National Easter Seal ambassador Tab Hunter, 49. Hunter, who's been known to ride the wild surf himself when not skiing or horseback riding, was teaching cerebral palsy victim Richard Wade, 9, to swim at the Orange County, Calif. Easter Seal Rehabilitation Center. "I think more people should become aware of what the handicapped can do," says Tab. "We all need this kind of inspiration."
Woody do it?
The Paris press went, well, bananas at the arrival of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, who ducked out of New York while his latest play was opening to unfortunate notices. With recently axed Saturday Night Live producer Jean Doumanian (center), Woody and Mia braved the floating flashbulbs amid the usual rumors he and Mia were married and honeymooning. C'est vrai? Mais non, groused an Allen intimate back in Rotten Gotham. "We're ignoring the reports. Woody's had enough of that."
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