Marion Wiesel

Ruda Awakening

Algonquin Round Table? Nah, it’s some French joint! Elaine Stritch, Griffin Dunne, Swoosie Kurtz, Richard Price, hostess Ruda Dauphin, Debra Winger, Matt Dillon (with beard).
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Algonquin Round Table? Nah, it’s some French joint! Elaine Stritch, Griffin Dunne, Swoosie Kurtz, Richard Price, hostess Ruda Dauphin, Debra Winger, Matt Dillon (with beard).

Morgan Freeman and his wife, Myrna Colley-Lee, were the first to arrive. They stepped out of a town car in front of the French restaurant Tocqueville on East 15th Street and made their way to the empty bar area. Neither knew what to expect; the hostess, Ruda Dauphin, had called it a “salon.” They were offered flutes of Ruinart champagne; the Oscar winner asked for vodka on ice.

Ms. Dauphin is a petite, stylish but tough lady who grew up in Brooklyn. Her father was in the shmatte business. She wanted to be an actress, and she married the director Claude Dauphin and they moved to Paris.  read more »