Tipper Takes in the Town

Bill and Hillary Clinton have been there and Al Gore too. But Friday night, it was Tipper’s turn to visit the Trousdale Estates home of philanthropist-actress Cynthia Palmer Gershman, which has become an obligatory stop for Dems on the campaign trail.

Gershman is the widow of real estate developer Hal Gershman. The couple’s Gershman Family Foundation, which underwrites numerous political and charity events in L.A., will sponsor the farewell gala for the Clintons on Aug. 12 at Ken Roberts’ Mandeville Canyon estate and a party for Gore on Aug. 17 at the Shrine Auditorium.

Dressed in an ivory off-the-shoulder lace dress, Gershman, 68, and her poodle Pepper welcomed guests. The most prominent decorative feature in the home is a collection of ivory carvings--probably 1,000 elephants’ worth--displayed in wall-sized glass cases. Gershman also collects dolls and stuffed animals. Their plush and porcelain faces peek out from nooks and crannies, along with photographs of politicians and Hollywood relics.

Gore was not in town to raise money for her hubbie. (Well, at least not officially). She was here to host a Friday town hall meeting at the Los Angeles Central Public Library, in conjunction with the photography exhibit “The Way Home: Ending Homelessness in America.” (Gore, a photographer, contributed to the project.) The $2,500-per-person evening at Gershman’s home raised money for local homeless relief organizations.

Dinner was served poolside. Chaka Khan was there; she belted out two songs, then bolted. The celeb cast was a strange one: Alan Thicke, Richard Lewis, Donna Mills, Red Buttons, Gail Zappa and Connie Stevens. Gore, in a black pantsuit and a triple-strand, gray pearl necklace, sat with her daughter, Kristen, and California’s First Lady Sharon Davis.

I sat with the president--TV president Martin Sheen, that is. The unassuming “West Wing”-er didn’t seem bothered to be relegated to a back table because of his late arrival. After shaking hands and introducing himself, he told guests that an episode of his NBC show will be shot at Staples Center on Aug. 18, the day after the Democratic National Convention ends. The cast and crew will make use of the red, white and blue balloons, streamers and podiums they expect will litter the place, to film a flashback episode about Sheen’s President Bartlet getting his party’s nomination.

On my way out, I spotted Gershman in the dark on her circular drive. A hundred guests were waiting to say goodbye, but she was walking Pepper.

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During cocktails, I caught up with actor James Cromwell (“The Green Mile,” “L.A. Confidential,” “Babe”), who told me about his project to help revitalize the culture of the Lakota Sioux people.

A trip to the impoverished Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota several years ago deeply affected him. “Pine Ridge is the poorest place in the nation,” he said. So, in 1998, he founded Hecel Oyakapi, which means, “they tell it this way.”

The Studio City-based organization works to provide the Lakota people with tools to rejuvenate their artistic traditions and restore their language, which is in danger of disappearing, he said. Plans include constructing an educational and performing arts facility, a film school and establishing a mobile arts teaching program for children to learn traditional arts and crafts.

Cromwell said he’s trying to organize a screening of his upcoming film “Space Cowboys” to benefit the organization. Info: https://www.lakotastory.com.