Nikki Haskell’s 80th Birthday Parties

Nikki Haskell has been a fixture of the Upper East Side scene for decades. So our feelings were slightly hurt when she chose to celebrate her eightieth birthday in Los Angeles, where the canapé platters were out of reach even for the famously telescopic arms of New York City party reporters. Nonetheless, we hope her many friends among Avenue readers will enjoy these party pictures, supplied courtesy of Patrick McMullan.

Being Nikki, she had not one, but three parties. The first was held at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday of last week, where 60 guests helped extinguish birthday candles with a fire extinguisher. Beverly Hills Mayor Robert Wunderlich declared May 17 “Nikki Haskell Day” in a proclamation delivered by Ed Mady, regional director of the Dorchester Collection and general manager of the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Other parties were also held at the homes of real estate personality Josh Flagg and art aficionado Eugenio Lopez, with drag performers who looked suspiciously like many of the guests. Those included, over the course of the week: Wolfgang Puck, Michael Chow, Melissa Rivers, Stefanie Powers, Candy Spelling, Jacqueline Bisset, Kathy Hilton, Wendy Stark, Suzanne de Pass, Dennis Basso, Cornelia Guest, Denise Hale, and Ryan O’Neal.

Nikki closed her speech with the line, “I realized sooner or later I’d be 80, but I never realized it would be sooner!”

Happy birthday Nikki, we love you.