Hollywood Toasts Bill and Hillary

— -- The spotlight may be set to shine on Al Gore, but for now he finds himself in the Clintons’ shadow. Read about the first couple’s star-studded L.A.fundraiser.

ABCNEWS.com

Aug. 13 — The first couple has gotten a jump on Al Gore’s Democratic National Convention, attending a $10 million brunch today benefitting President Clinton’s future library following a star-studded Hollywood fund-raiser Saturday night for first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s New York Senate campaign. The event, hosted by comic book publisher Stan Lee at the Los Angeles estate of businessman Kenneth Roberts, featured a chart-topping line-up of singing stars including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Michael Bolton, Cher, Toni Braxton, and Melissa Etheridge.

About 1,000 guests sat on specially made directors chairslabeled “Hollywood Tribute to William Jefferson Clinton” on ahillside lawn overlooking the city. Guests paid $1,000 each toattend the concert; about 300 couples paid $25,000 to attend adinner afterward with Clinton.

In between the tribute speakers and performers, guests wereshown snippets of a re-edited Man From Hope video on Clintonthat was featured at the 1992 Democratic nominating convention. Theupdated version intercut new interviews with Clinton in which thepresident reflected on his early childhood and his start inpolitics.

“I was looking at those movies up there … and I was thinkinghow quickly it all passed and what an absolute joy it was,” Clintonsaid after viewing the video. “Every day, even the bad ones, weregood ones.”

A host of speakers included Red Buttons, Shirley MacLaine, Jimmy Smits, Whoopi Goldberg andRosa Parks. For good measure, the president’s speech came with warm-upremarks from actor John Travolta.

“You ignite in others things that we have not resolved in ourselves,” MacLaine said. “I thank you for that. You are a mirror for all of us.”