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Prima Ballerina Margot Fonteyn, 54, will need all her poise to stay in the spotlight at the gala benefit in Manhattan for Washington, D.C.'s National Ballet next week. Appearing as Princess Aurora in a sequence from Sleeping Beauty, Fonteyn will be supported by a quartet of amateur ballerinas but professional scene-stealers: Film Star Paulette Goddard, 62, as the Queen, TV Panelist Arlene Francis, 65, as the Lilac Fairy, Broadway Dancer Gwen Verdon, 47, as a comical Little Red Ridinghood, and Actress Julie Newmar, 38, as the White Cat. Newmar rises to a majestic 6 ft. 10 in. on her toes, towering over her National Ballet partner Dean Badolato, 5 ft. 4 in. Said Julie regretfully, "I wanted John Lindsay to partner me. After all, he's done everything else." Instead, the mayor was recruited to help carry onstage the White Cat, who will be seated on a cushion, purring.
Assembled for a kaffeeklatsch on Barbara Walters' syndicated television show Not for Women Only were three bestselling authors and their analyst. Jacqueline Susann (Once Is Not Enough), Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (Breakfast of Champions), Alex Comfort (The Joy of Sex) and New York Times Book Reviewer Christopher Lehmann-Haupt participated in what turned out to be a brisk round of alternate back-patting and oneupmanship. Susann gushed to Vonnegut, who replaced her at the top of the lists: "I'm your No. 1 fan. People expect us to be enemies. We're not." Lehmann-Haupt reminded the authors that the Bible and the Boy Scout manual are still the alltime big sellers, but Comfort retaliated with: "The Joy of Sex is quite possibly the most frequently stolen book in all of history." Vonnegut said he knew why: "I think it has a beautiful plot."
The child star of Lolita, now a post-nymphet of 27, had to be hospitalized briefly on the eve of her wedding. Sue Lyon's ailment: strep throat and fatigue brought on by the hassles of arranging her marriage to a Colorado State prisoner, who is serving 40 years for second-degree murder and aggravated robbery. Sue first met Gary ("Cotton") Adamson, 33, in 1970, when she visited a friend who was sharing Gary's cell in a Los Angeles County jail. Now she plans to campaign for prison reform, specifically for prisoners' conjugal rights. As she puts it, "God said to procreate. The prison system is going against the Bible."