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The Happiest Woman in Hollywood: The Indomitable Betty White

Posted April 27th, 2010 in Celebrity, Dogs, Reflections by Glenn Plaskin

How many 88-year-old actresses experience a resounding renaissance in their careers decades after they’ve mastered the entertainment business from A to Z?

Betty White

Betty White

There’s only one.

It’s the supersonic bubbly-spirited Betty White, defying all odds with her spectacular run of recent triumphs.

Let’s see, there was her brilliantly funny turn as Ryan Reynolds’ kooky grandmother in The Proposal, the 2009 film also starring Oscar winner Sandra Bullock; the hilarious Super Bowl Snickers commerical that had her tackled and thrown into the mud, watched by the largest television audience ever; not to mention the Golden Globe Lifetime Achievement award, which she accepted with the grace and wit that have become her trademark. Bullock joked that she finds White annoying, to which White shot back: “Isn’t it heartening to see how far a girl as plain as she can go?”

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The Indomitable Mary Higgins Clark Does it Again

Posted April 16th, 2010 in Reflections, Reviews by Glenn Plaskin
Mary Higgins Clark

Mary Higgins Clark

Last night at celebrity hot spot Elaine’s, in came the Queen of Suspense, the great Mary Higgins Clark, looking radiant in a fur-trimmed evening wrap at the publication party for her latest thriller, a fantastic book titled The Shadow Of Your Smile. It’s all about a deceased nun who’s a candidate for sainthood and 31-year-old Manhattan pediatrician who becomes the target of those who don’t want her to inherit a fortune, the taut story featuring many of Mary’s trademark twists and turns.

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Flash Back: The Most Magical Introduction Ever: How I Met The Great Calvin Klein

Posted April 16th, 2010 in Celebrity, Reflections by Glenn Plaskin
Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein

Picture This: A 31-year-old writer with one book under his wing gets a letter from the former First Lady of the United States, admiring his biography of Vladimir Horowitz and inviting him to meet with her to discuss his next book project. After a few phone conversations, together, they decide to invite the king of American fashion to lunch to discuss the possibility of working with him on his autobiography.

Fact or fiction? I’m happy to report that I made the lunch reservation! And I’m thinking of it just today for reasons I’ll soon explain.

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New York Legend, Global Phenomena: The Unbeatable Donald Trump

Posted April 16th, 2010 in Celebrity, Reflections by Glenn Plaskin
Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Mega Achiever Donald Trump, who I’ve known for twenty years, doesn’t need much sleep–and he doesn’t get much, overseeing a multi-billion dollar empire that includes vast real estate holdings, his NBC hit reality series, The Apprentice, and countless other business ventures–including the Miss Universe Organization, Trump University, Trump Entertainment Resorts, even menswear and bottled water!–all if it keeping him busy from dusk to dawn.

The most meticulously organized person I’ve ever known, Trump also, more privately, devotes himself to his family–to his exquisitely beautiful (and very nice) wife, Melania (debuting later this month on QVC with a costume jewelry line), their four-year-old son, Barron, and of course to his older children, Donald, Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and Tiffany.

One of the amazing things about the multi-tasking Donald, I discovered when I first met him, is that his mind misses nothing, and that he’s eerily calm as he goes about his day, accomplishing more in a 24-hour period than most people could manage in a month.

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