Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Exclusive Barbara Walters 85th Birthday: Paul McCartney Sang While Her Guests Did the Twist

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EXCLUSIVE Barbara Walters threw herself quite an 85th birthday party at the newly refurbished Rainbow Room over the weekend fit for a queen. The star of the party, according to sources, was Paul McCartney, who came with wife Nancy, Barbara’s second cousin. The M’s were seated at Walters’ table along with venerated columnists Liz Smith and Cindy Adams, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg and gf Diana Taylor, and Henry and Nancy Kissinger. Yes, Barbara’s friendship with Kissinger from the 1970s persists to this day.

The hostesses for the party were Princess Firya of Jordan, Annette de la Renta (wife of Oscar), Marie Josee Kravis (wife of Henry), and Nicole Seligman (wife of former NY Schools Chancellor Joel Klein).

Guests included not only the Russian ambassador but the Israeli one too, as well as Frank Langella, Charlie Rose, Gayle King, David Geffen, Peggy Siegal, Mort and Linda Janklow, former ABC News chief David Westin and wife Sherry, super lawyer David Boies, Patricia Duff and Richard Cohen, and Allen and Debbie Grubman.

Not spotted: anyone from “The View” or Diane Sawyer or anyone from the current regime at ABC. (Or Richard Nixon, who was out of town.)

The big show stopper: the band– there was a band, ‘natch, it’s the Rainbow Room— played McCartney’s “I Saw Her Standing There.” The ex Beatle scooped Walters up onto the dance floor, took the mic from the bandleader, and sang his famous song to her! “Barbara was shaking she was so excited,” says a source. “One hundred fifty 6o to 80 years old got up and started Twisting and shrieking. Paul woke up his fan base.”

Barbara shares birthday — September 25th– with Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, who’ve celebrated with her in the past but couldn’t make it. Their other 9/25 pal was the late Christopher Reeve.

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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