newjerseynewsroom.com

BY TOM MURRO

CELEBRITY MAGNET

Monday night, April 2, French actress Catherine Deneuve was honored at the 39th annual Chaplin Award Gala held in New York City's Alice Tully Hall. Susan Sarandon acted as the Honorary Chair while the initial presenter lineup included Martin Scorsese, Chiara Mastroianni, François Ozon and James Gray.

I hit the cocktail hour at around 6:00 where I met up with Celebrity Chef Chris Nirschel and enjoyed a few of the sponsors St-Germain Liqueur cocktails. We smiled for the cameras on the carpet before heading up to the VIP reception area to hang with a couple of very special ladies: Susan Sarandon and Glenn Close.

Susan Sarandon who grew up in Edison, N.J., told me she just landed a few hours earlier on a flight from Dubai, she looked pretty darn good for 65 and a very long plane ride. The Academy Award winner was accompanied by a young looking dude named Jonathan Bricklin who owns a ping-pong bar and was rocking a suit and bright white sneakers.

Glenn Close was there with her camera shy husband David Shaw. Close was very sweet, and talked about her white dog, as she is a dog lover and writes a blog for Fetchdog.com, where she interviews other famous people about their relationships with their dogs.

The event itself featured clips from the actress's film and interviews during the presentation ceremony.  The Film Society's Annual Gala was launched in 1972 to honor famous actor Charlie Chaplin who returned to the US from exile to accept the commendation. It has honored many of the film industry's most notable talents, including Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Laurence Olivier, Federico Fellini, Elizabeth Taylor and most recently, Sidney Poitier.

Unfortunately we didn't get the chance to meet Mr. Martin Scorsese, as he probably showed up right near the end of the cocktail hour and was escorted on stage through a double secret back door. Hey, he's made tons of amazing baddass movies and is BFF's with Robert Deniro, so he can do whatever he wants!