Kate Spade turns 47 today. Hedge fund manager Jim Chanos is turning 52. Former Observer owner Arthur Carter is 78. Jonathan Benno, Per Se's outgoing chef who will soon be opening a restaurant of his own, is 40. Annette de la Renta, the wife of Oscar de la Renta and a charity gala fixture, is turning 70. Ryan Seacrest turns 35. Ricky Martin is celebrating his 38th. Author Mary Higgins Clark is turning 82. Heiress Marylou Whitney is 84. And actor Mekhi Phifer is 35. A few people with Christmas birthdays are listed below.

Annette de la Renta, the gala staple and wife of Oscar de la Renta, turns 69 today. Designer Kate Spade is 46. Hedge funder Jim Chanos is turning 51. Former banker and Observer owner Arthur Carter is 77. Per Se's Jonathan Benno is turning 39. Heiress Marylou Whitney is turning 83. Ryan Seacrest is 34. Author Mary Higgins Clark is turning 81. Actor Mekhi Phifer is 34. And singer (and new dad) Ricky Martin is celebrating his 37th birthday today.

The widow of Cornelius "Sonny" Vanderbilt Whitney, Marylou Whitney inherited an estimated $100 million when her husband died in 1992. A social staple, philanthropist, and horse aficionado, Marylou now has a husband who could easily pass for her grandson: She remarried tennis pro John Hendrickson in 1997 when she was 71 and he was 32.