Jackie Collins, Michael Childers, Bruce Vilanch Headline AIDS Benefit

Trio bring star power, will dish Hollywood secrets at Nov. 15 event

Site Staff Social Scene

New York Times bestselling author Jackie Collins, award winning photographer of the stars Michael Childers, and comedy writer Bruce Vilanch (pictured left) are joining forces to co-host "Hollywood Dine and Dish: The Tinseltown Stories You Haven't Heard," on Nov. 15.

This evening benefits the AIDS Assistance Program (AAP) in Palm Springs, and will include hors d’oeuvres, drinks and dinner courtesy of Brad and Lynne Toles of Savoury's Catering. The event will take place in Rancho Mirage at the Waterford estate of Bob Deville and Bob Bennion, co-owners of Windermere Real Estate Southern California.

Proceeds from each ticket purchased will go directly to AAP, according to Executive Director Mark Anton.

Tickets are available for $1,000 per person or $1,500 per couple. The cost is tax deductible. Remaining seats may also be purchased during the live auction at the “Evening Under the Stars” gala featuring Cyndi Lauper on May 11. To attend the event, call Anton at (760) 325-8481.

Collins has been called a “raunchy moralist” by the late director Louis Malle and dubbed “Hollywood’s own Marcel Proust” by Vanity Fair magazine. With more than 500 million copies of her books sold in more than 40 countries, Collins is one of the world’s top-selling novelists.

Childers is one of the entertainment industry's most renowned and highly respected portrait, fashion and art photographers who began his career in the 1960s and continues to influence the world of art photography today. He has been instrumental in capturing the beauty and magnetism of such explosive young stars as Mel Gibson, Demi Moore, Richard Gere, John Travolta, Sissy Spacek and Michelle Pfeiffer, Rock Hudson, Natalie Wood, and Elton John.

Vilanch is a two-faced fella: Bearded, he is one of the most sought-after comedy writers in Hollywood, winner of a bunch of Emmys, and noted as the “Hollywood Square” just to the left of Whoopi Goldberg. Shaved, he spent two years as Edna Turnblad, Baltimore housewife and superstar, on tour and on Broadway, in the smash musical adaptation of the John Waters film, Hairspray.

In addition to Hairspray, he has appeared in Ice Pirates, Mahogany, and The Morning After. A frequent guest on talk shows, Vilanch won his Emmys for co-writing back-to-back Oscar shows with Billy Crystal. He was also nominated for an Emmy as a lyricist on Eartha Kitt’s gold-selling album, “Where Is My Man”.

For more information about AAP, visit www.aidsassistance.org.