Description

Get an insider look at the 2010 Rita Hayworth Gala at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. Host Thomas Farley interviews Hayworth's daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, Ivana Trump, Patty Smyth, Jay McInerney, Bryant and Hilary Gumbel and more. For more episodes of New York Insider, visit here. And don't forget to follow host Thomas Farley on Twitter.

Transcript

A Princess Remembers Her Hollywood Mom Thomas Farley: Tonight a princess honors the legacy of her late mother. We’re in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel for the 27th annual Rita Hayworth Gala. This is a party that happens every year in benefit of the Alzheimer’s association and it’s a gala that is thrown by Princess Yazmin Aga Khan who is the daughter of the late actress Rita Hayworth. She did in 1987 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Now Alzheimer’s is a very important cause to so many of us it touches us all not at least of which so many New Yorkers. We’re going to meet some of those New Yorker’s tonight find out their stories and also care what it is that they love so much and their memories of Rita Hayworth. Jasmin Aga Khan: I never thought that we would come this far. We have made giant strides. We don’t have a cure yet but there are drugs and medicines that are out there. There’s help for caregivers, there’s knowledge about the disease. Naeem Khan: You’ve really come a long way and we are really making a big effort to raise a lot of money tonight. Felicia Taylor: It could affect absolutely anybody. It’s not necessarily genetic and that’s why we’re here tonight. There’s not enough money that could be put towards this cause and the awareness for anybody and everywhere around us. So you can recognize the signals early enough to get help and truly make a difference in an older person’s life. Jasmin Aga Khan: We need the support of people. We need attention to the disease. We need more Federal funding. Bryant Gumbel: I think we’ve all been touched by it. We all have someone we know who was touched by it. I’m sure there’s still a long way to go. I hope each day gets us closer. Naeem Khan: Now I’ve had two very dear friends who succumb to this disease and you see the deterioration of the mind and the human. Your whole persona and you become another person. Jay McInerney: There’s been a lot of progress and in this organization has really been making its contribution. Ivana Trump: I thank you probably going to raise about $2 million to $3 million to the cause. I will never miss the cause like this. Naeem Khan: A disease is progressing a little faster. Now there are younger people who are getting it. So as much as they are trying to catch up with it but it’s catching up to them so it’s a big fight. Patty Smyth: Also it was just a scary ass disease, so I get to women’s disease, so primarily. Hilary Gumbel: My friends are all on the board and Claudia Khan is a good friend of mine and the year that I performed was the year she passed away and they just eventually asked me to draw in the board. Jasmin Aga Khan: We need to find cure and all the people here tonight they’ve just -- I can’t thank them enough. I mean if it weren’t for this people and the money raised, I don’t know where it would be. Hilary Gumbel: She just had a presence and a real ethereal beauty to her. She was very singular in her choices of movie. She didn’t just do anything. She had a real persona that you don’t see that often anymore and she kept a little mystique to her as well. Felicia Taylor: Certainly, Yasmin’s mother had more mystery around her than anybody. Alexandra Lebenthal: It’s the eyebrows, it’s the finger waves. It’s that old style of acting which is so out there and makes you in enraptured by a movie star and you know I think there’s also something about black and white film. Hilary Gumbel: She was a beautiful, glamorous lady but she was a very gentle person and I think that came across that gentleness came across on the screen. Thomas Farley: Tonight’s name has been experienced the mystery and there are two things about which I think there is no mystery after this evening. The first of course is the enduring legacy of actress Rita Hayworth. The second is the importance of ongoing research for Alzheimer’s. We need that cure. Thanks for joining as on New York Insider TV, the place where we bring you a taste of life on the inside and tonight a special, special bonus. We’re going to leave you with a performance by Rosanne Cash who is tonight’s featured performer.