Queens' very own Fran Drescher turns 52 today. Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard is turning 34. Jenna Elfman is 38. Monica Bellucci is turning 45. Phish's Trey Anastasio turns 45. Elie Wiesel, the Nobel-winning author and Holocaust survivor, is 81. PR veteran Bobby Zarem is turning 73. Money manager Marty Whitman turns 85. Hedge fund manager Israel Englander is 61. Actor Eric Stoltz is 48. Lacey Chabert (Party of Five, Mean Girls) is 27. And former professional tennis player, Martina Hingis, turns 29 today.

Andrew Saffir's Cinema Society hosted a screening of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh last night at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. Guests at the screening included the film's stars Sienna Miller and Peter Sarsgaard (left), along with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Wintour, Russell Simmons and Julie Henderson, Gilles Bensimon, Rachel Roy, Amy Sacco, Rachel Zoe, Beth Ostrosky, Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl, Jessica Joffe, Zoe Kravitz, Stefano Tonchi, Marina Rust Connor, Jennifer Creel, Richard Johnson and Sessa von Richchofen, Carlos Souza, Marcus Schenkenberg, Rosanna Scotto, Emma Roberts, Brittny Gastineau, Irina Pantaeva, Kiera Chaplin, Lisa Anastos, Jackie Astier, Kim Heirston, Nur Khan, Gilles Mendel, Bobby Kennedy III, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Olympic fencers Tim Morehouse and Jason Rogers. [PMc, Wireimage, VF, Paper, FWD]

The Savannah College of Art and Design held its Style Etoile Awards at the James Cohan Gallery on Monday night. The evening's honorees included Russell Simmons, Amanda Burden, Cornelia Guest, Robin Givhan, and William Ivey Long (left), and attendees at the event included Cynthia Rowley, Agnes Gund, Michael Fink, Yigal Azrouël, Mario Buatta, Bobby Zarem, music exec Michael Mauldin and his wife Judy, producer Tom Fontana, SCAD president Paula Wallace, Ann Slater, designer Lars Nilsson, and Russell's brother and girlfriend—Danny Simmons and Julie Henderson. [PMc, Wireimage, WWD, NYSD]

Celebrating birthdays today: Veteran publicist Bobby Zarem (left) is 72. Legendary money manager Marty Whitman is 84. Hedge fund billionaire Israel Englander is 60. Elie Wiesel is 80. Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard is 33. Actress Lacey Chabert is 26. Fran Drescher is turning 51. Jenna Elfman is 37. Phish's Trey Anastasio is 44. And former tennis star Martina Hingis is 28 today.

An all-around master of hype, Zarem was New York's original celebrity publicist, that is until he retired in 2010.

From the mailbag, regarding Former "It" Boy Fabian Basabe's blog post about his dissatisfaction with his publicist, who we'd assumed was R. Couri Hay: "High priced PR man could also be Bobby Zarem, who was hired after he split from Couri Hay... But of course, it's no one's fault that Fabian Basabe is essentially a d-list y-chromosome analog of Paris Hilton... And of course, the most ludicrous part is that Fabian paid $10K a month. Not a chance. He definitely doesn't have that kind of money."

The only reason to attend last night's premiere of the new Showtime series "The Tudors" at the W Hotel was because word on the street was that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers was going to be there. Seriously, never has creepiness and beauty so closely aligned in one human being. Those eyes: pale dreadful spotlights. Those nostrils, lupine and flared. Those lips, churlishly curled and plump. But he never showed up.

Slate has recruited PR pros to analyze the Iraqi information minister's bizarre speech in which he claimed that there were no Americans in Baghdador that perhaps there were Americans in Baghdad, but they were committing suicide en masse. (Or that maybe the Republican Guard had made themselves invisible and were now blasting U.S. Marines with their superhuman heat ray vision.) Some responses:
· Mike McCurry (Bill Clinton's press secretary): "I'm sure the poor guy has to do this because someone's going to shoot him if he doesn't. At least I never had that problem."
· Frank Mankiewicz (vice chairman of Hill & Knowlton): "I think this guy is playing on the fact that there are really millions of people who just don't believe the U.S. under any circumstances."
· Maurie Perl (Conde Nast's senior vice president for corporate relations) "I'm going to have to take a pass on this one," (adding that she's on deadline with something else.)
· Bobby Zarem (entertainment industry flack): "I want them all killed...I don't think anyone is listening or cares."
Professionals offer advice to Iraq's unhinged information minister [Slate]

Michael Gross speculates that Roman Polanksi's lawsuit against Vanity Fair may be a hot press item because other stakeholders are pushing itpeople who have an interest in making sure The Pianist doesn't get an Oscar. In other news, Gross reports that realtor Deborah Grubman has jumped to Corcoran; flak Bobby Zarem is still working; and a new book about independent NY producer Sam Spiegel reveals the darker side of Spiegel's successes.
The Word [NY Daily News]