Three New Yorkers who once were prominent and constant fixtures in the cultural and gossip life of New York have moved on to the bright lights of heaven. They will all be missed, and young people will not have heard of them. But once upon a time, they were the bold faced names we knew on a daily basis.

Page Morton Black was 97 years old. She was the wife of William Black, the owner of Chock Full O’ Nuts coffee. Before Starbucks, there was Chock Full O’ Nuts, ubiquitous because of the theme song sung by Page Morton Black on their commercials. “Chock Full O’ Nuts is the heavenly coffee…” Thanks to a persistent and legendary press agent Sy Preston, Page Black never left the New York tabloids. When I worked on the Intelligencer at New York magazine or filled in at Page Six in the mid 90s, Sy would be on the phone pushing Page, who was in her 70s by then. The nostalgia for her and the theme song– maybe more than the coffee itself– kept all of their names alive long after their heyday. That era is pretty much over now; I can’t think of too many people who are left. And it makes me sad.

Ronnie Cutrone was a name I think I heard thousands of times in the late 70s and early 80s. A New York artist, Ronnie was Andy Warhol’s first lieutenant at the Factory. He died this week at age 65. It was Ronnie and the late Richard Bernstein who made a lot of Andy’s great works, and the copies he sold in volume to bring in money. Ronnie worked for Andy from 1972-80, at the height of the Warhol frenzy, through the Studio 54 years and the whirlwind that brought Mick, Bianca, Liza, Calvin, Halston and Truman Capote through their doors. His Post-Pop paintings and cartoons are widely exhibited and much prized. Now, the Eighties– the New York Eighties–are over.

Finally, John Casablancas is gone. The father of Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas was the King of all modeling agency owners. He lived life large, loved women, and was a non stop name in the Post, Daily News, New York magazine, etc. His Elite Modeling Agency was like a Judith Krantz or Jackie Collins novel come alive. I just remember Frances Grill complaining about him a lot, as did Ford and Wilhelmina. John Casablancas had a great life, not a model life, but a life with models. I doubt he ever regretted one minute of it. His modeling schools seem to be around still, but I’m not sure if he just licensed the name or really ran them. How much fun did he have? When he was 49, Casablancas married a 17 year old model and had three  more children with her. He died this week age 70 in Brazil. But boy, what a ride he had. Here’s a great clip I found about all these modeling pioneers: http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20089407,00.html

The unnamed royal baby and future King of England was introduced a little while ago. William and Kate brought the baby outside and showed him off to press and some fans, and lots of security. They were as unpretentious as possible and really disarmingly lovely. William, who will be King first, noted that his son had “a good pair of lungs on him, that’s for sure” and that he was “quite heavy” (he’s eight pounds six ounces).

William also said, “We’re still working on a name.” And: “It’s the first time we’ve seen him really. So we’re having a proper chance to catch up.” The couple also said it’s a very “emotional” time.  “He’s got her looks, thankfully.”

You’ll note that William returns with a car seat, jumps in the driver’s side of his Range Rover with a bodyguard, almost like any other first time dad. William and Kate will do a lot to humanize the cold, distant monarchy after Queen Elizabeth’s aloof rule, and Charles’ scandals with Diana and Camilla.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23425814

Kirstie Alley is advocating violence against photographers and paparazzi on her Twitter account. Alley is an actress, member of the Scientology cult, and purveyor of diet products. She sent out two messages in the last few hours backing Kanye West’s recent altercation with photos in LAX, wishing he had done more, and basically promoting the idea.

I love that Kanye went all whack on that asshat Paparazzi… too bad he didn’t whip his ass with his hat!’ GO KANYE!!

— Kirstie Alley (@kirstiealley) July 23, 2013

“@NicLimits: @kirstiealley you’re just saying that because you hate them lol” that is true ..:)..I applaud anyone who takes a swing at em

— Kirstie Alley (@kirstiealley) July 23, 2013

“I applaud anyone who takes a swing at em.” Let’s just make sure we got that right. At least we know Scientologists aren’t Buddhists. But this does support the countless reports of violence we hear about from that group. I doubt Kirstie will have much fun walking on red carpets in the near future.

A tip of the hat to Radar online.

Cate Blanchett arrived at the Museum of Modern Art last night for the premiere of Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” with two young men. They’d flown in from Paris as representatives of design house Balenciaga with Cate’s gown for the evening. That’s right: the dress had assistants. And that was as it should be since Blanchett is not fooling around in “Blue Jasmine.” Her turn as Jasmine–er, Jeanette–French is going to be hard to be beat come Oscar time.

I said this a couple of weeks ago. But now the A list came and they are pretty critical. Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell from CBS The Morning, Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, Sopranos creator David Chase, Bob Balaban and wife Lynn, the writer, many “Girls” cast members including Adam Driver, Alex Karpovsky, and Zosia Mamet, Cuba Gooding Jr., Martha Stewart, Amy Poehler, Natasha Lyonne (looking pretty swell), Evan Jongkeit, plus Tony nominee Billy Magnussen, and so on were just mesmerized by Blanchett’s Jasmine.

And then there’s Andrew Dice Clay, fully revived, 55 years old, with dyed jet black hair and a cool black tough looking vest. He’s got an autobiography coming out in January called “The Dirty Truth.” Entourage creator Doug Ellin is making a documentary about him.

Blanchett has a few scenes with him and Alec Baldwin, and one with him and Peter Sarsgaard that’s integral to the movie. It’s a big reveal. “I think like all of us he was nervous,” Cate said of ADC, whom she praised. The Dice Man said, “When we did that scene, I pulled Cate aside and said I can’t believe I’m working with all of you.”

Did Cate know who he was in advance? After all, she’s Australian. “Oh yes,” she said, smiling. Clay is infamous now even 25 years after the controversial peak of his career.

Of the cast, Baldwin, Sarsgaard, Louis CK and Michael Stuhlbarg were present.  Stuhlbarg went to the after party at Harlow, as did Tammy Blanchard. Bobby Cannavale was unaccounted for, and Sally Hawkins is in England.

And Woody? His publicist Leslee Dart read a very brief text from Allen, who’s shooting his new film right now in Cannes and Nice with Colin Firth. “I am in the south of france filming and unable to be there tonight. I only wish i was in NY and unable to be there. My best to all, woody”

Allen is notorious for skipping his own premieres.

The premise of “Blue Jasmine” is sort of– I made this up- what if Blanche DuBois came to live with Stella because her husband was Bernie Madoff, and he’d lost everything. Jasmine’s husband. Hal (Baldwin) pulls a Madoff. But it has more far more dramatic results. Jasmine is destroyed. Woody so comprehended this character, and Blanchett so fully portrays her, that her tragedy is quite real on screen. And that means come Oscar time, Blanchett will have the lead in a tough, tough category.