Lady Diana Cooper said it all: First you are young, then you are middle-aged, then you are old, then you are wonderful – which totally sums up the latest endeavors of some of our, shall we say, senior neighbors who simply refuse to sit back and watch the dandelions grow. They're twice my age, but they're out there in far-flung foreign locations making films, directing soon-to-be-classics, penning life-altering stories, picking up awards, and, in general, doing more in a day than I do in a week!

I'm referring to such local notables as Shelter Island documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles to start. He may be past 80, but he sure can hang with the young set. Albert, as you well know, has seen his 30-year-old film study of East Hampton's most eccentric recluses, "Grey Gardens", become a smash Tony Award winning musical and a soon-to-be film with Jessica Lange as Big Edie and Drew Barrymore as sexpot Body Beautiful, Little Edie Beale, and it's being directed by Quogue's own Mike Sucsy. Now, the energetic Maysles, who shot "Gimme Shelter" with The Rolling Stones three decades ago, is rocking on the road once again. He's been riding on Fall Out Boy's tour bus and taping the band behind-the-scenes for a new documentary on them. I hear the band is having a ball listening to his war stories about the Stones, Grateful Dead, and Marlon Brando.

Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas Photo by PatrickMcMullan.com

And while we're on Grey Gardens, I must tell you that fabled Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee (he's 86), its current owner, received the Legion of Honor from France this week. Ben's mother, Josephine, had also earned the Legion of Honor for her work with children during World War II. It's rare for a mother and son to both get it, so it's kind of a big deal for a big man. Among those on hand in Paris for the ceremony were his wife, Sally Quinn, their son Quinn Bradlee, Ben's granddaughter Beatrice (who just had her coming-out in Paris with twin sister, Josephine, at the Bal de Crillon), and the twins' mom Leslie Marshall.

Several weeks ago, at the Hooray for Hollywood tribute to Patricia Neal, the great Eli Wallach enthralled me with his well-remembered tales of working with the likes of Marilyn Monroe. Later in the evening, he had the crowd in fits of laughter when presenting the award to Neal with his wife, Anne Jackson, he said, "I've played Mexican bandits, Italian Mafiosi, a Greek jewel thief, and finally ended up as an old Jew." So after such a delightful evening with this multi-award winning legend, I am saddened to tell you he was hospitalized last week. But good news from his daughter, Katherine Wallach, the star of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", was in Lenox Hill Hospital for a hip-replacement upgrade and is now back on his feet and back to work. He's shooting one movie with Jon Heder and another called "Silence", with Federico Castelluccio (who played Furio on "The Sopranos"). Katherine said, "He's doing really well. He's sailing. They're calling him a medical miracle, because he defies all odds." Big birthday kisses to Eli who turned 92 – but will never turn in his SAG card and retire!

Also making me feel like a lazy, whining, sluggard is Lauren Bacall, whose name alone conjures up the essence of Hollywood glamour and grace. The star of classics like "To Have and Have Not" and "The Big Sleep" is one of the true old-school industry legends. And as befits her timeless beauty and talent, she continues to work. Now, at the age of 83, she has a starring role in Paul Schrader's new movie, "The Walker", which opens with one of the bitchiest scenes I've ever seen. Bacall is a jaded Washington socialite who plays canasta with other bored D.C. wives - Kristen Thomas and Lily Tomlin – and a gay Southern aristocrat portrayed by Woody Harrelson, whose main occupation is "walking" rich ladies to charity events. There's a murder and Thomas gets Woody to help her cover it up. Devilish and delish!

No roll call such as this would be complete without veteran director Sidney Lumet who for over a half century has thrilled viewers with such intelligent fare going all the way back to the production of "Twelve Angry Men" in 1957. Over the ensuing decades he helmed such gritty classics as "Serpico", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Prince of the City", "The Pawnbroker", "The Fugitive Kind", and "Running on Empty". Will you ever forget "Network" and Peter Finch urging viewers to open their window and scream, "I'm mad as hell and won't take it anymore"? Now 84 he shows his talent has only grown with the critically acclaimed "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" which this week helped secure him the New York Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Award. Look for Sidney and his lovely wife Mary on the red carpet come Oscar Night

And since we're talking about sexy, age-less Hollywood sirens, did you hear that Amagansett stage and screen veteran, Kathleen Turner, is directing a revival of the acclaimed Broadway hit, "Crimes of the Heart"? Kathleen, as I'm sure you know, garnered critical acclaim for her performances in many movies, including "Body Heat" (for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe), "Romancing The Stone" and "Prizzi's Honor" (both of which earned her Golden Globe Awards), "Peggy Sue Got Married" (which brought Turner nominations for an Oscar and a Golden Globe), and "War of the Roses" (that earned yet another Golden Globe nomination). Nobody does "tough blonde" like Kathleen!

Now here's some super dish. At a recent investor conference, NBC Universal Chief Executive, Jeff Zucker, said his company would consider buying DreamWorks from Viacom Inc. should the movie studio become available. "If the opportunity were to arise, it's something obviously we would look at," Zucker told those assembled at the UBS-sponsored event. "We know them well; we have a long history with them."

Viacom paid $1.6 billion for the studio in 2005, making DreamWorks part of its Paramount Pictures unit, but reports have emerged in recent months that blockbuster director and DreamWorks co-founder, East Hampton's Stephen Spielberg, has been unhappy under Viacom's ownership. The Viacom folks are insisting that everything is hunky dory – but insiders are waiting for the other shoe to drop!

Ca-ching! Remember when I told you that Kelly Klein was doing an Ellen Barkin and selling off her big baubles from former husband Calvin Klein? Well, the gavel went down not once, but many times, at Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels auction. A collection of natural pearls sold for $4.8 million, a sale that soared above the estimated $3.1 million. Sotheby's raked in a record $49.8 million at this December sale, held Monday in New York City, the highest total ever for a jewelry sale at the auction house. A single-strand natural pearl and diamond necklace from the collection fetched $3.6 million all by itself. Other significant sales included a pair of Harry Winston diamond pendant earrings for about $4 million, almost double the estimated sale price of $2 million. Nearly 80 percent of the lots sold above their high estimate. Sotheby's recorded eight lots selling for more than $1 million each and three lots selling for more than $3 million each.

It's been weeks of exciting inconvenience, but New Yorkers can now take back the streets since Sarah Jessica Parker and her gang have wrapped filming. After months of shooting "Sex and the City: The Movie", the cast held an official wrap party at the Royalton Hotel. The stars must have found it a little on the dull side, though – our spies at Elaine's later spotted Parker and pals sipping drinks there until the early Sunday morning hours. Despite Vatican-like secrecy, I keep being told stories about the lack of love between Kim Cattrall and her "Sex and the City" sisters. Meow!

More gorgeous gals were on hand at the Valentino store, where Patrick McMullan was signing autographs for his gorgeous anthology of New York and international pulchritude and fabulousness, "Glamour Girls". Some of Patrick's Glamour Girls were hosting and still more were in attendance. It was nice to see Blaine Trump, Nina Griscom with Leo Piraino, and Cece Cord whose husband, Dr. John Baldwin, recently assumed the presidency of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas. McMullan's Hamptons ladies, most featured in his book, turned out in full force: Cynthia Lufkin, Somers Farkas, Debbie Bancroft, Cornelia Sharpe Bregman, Fe Fendi, Bettina Zilkha, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Paola Schulhof, and Joanne de Guardiola. There were plenty of boys on hand, as well, including Luigi Tadini, Carlos de Souza, and Jay McInerney. Patrick is being feted everywhere by Glamour, Elie Tahari, you name it. I just want to know why he didn't include me?

Kathie Lee Gifford has had a hot houseguest keeping her Hamptons home warm in the recent chilly weeks. Eduardo Verastegui, who produced and stars in the new film "Bella", has been staying with her. "Look at him! I brought him to Bloomingdale's to buy some cologne and it was like walking in with Antonio Banderas," Gifford gushed of her new friend at an event hosted by Harvey Weinstein and Peggy Siegal.

Meanwhile, Harvey has snapped up rights in what we hear was a low-seven-figure deal for Morgan Spurlock's, "Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?" People are wondering if the scruffy 37-year-old director has found the answer to the question that has baffled the Bush administration for the last six years. Spurlock's director of photography, Daniel Marracino, has gone so far as to claim that Spurlock has "definitely got the holy grail." Morgan rose to fame exposing the nutritional sins of McDonald's, but now the "Super Size Me" filmmaker is pursuing someone more elusive than the Hamburglar.

Also turning her hand to filmmaking is Maria Cooper Janis, the daughter of one famous man and the wife of another (Gary Cooper and Byron Janis, respectively). Maria is now working with award-winning filmmaker Peter Rosen on a documentary about Byron, who's recovering from hand surgery. His best Christmas gift came from surgeon Charles Melone, who is making it possible for Byron to continue his career. A warm and gentle woman, Maria's getting kudos for her best selling book, "Off Camera, Life with Gary Cooper", which has been termed (not surprisingly, to those who know her) "heartfelt" and "compelling."