Braff, a Harvard man?

By Carol Beggy and Mark Shanahan, Globe Staff  |  October 10, 2007

Zach Braff was in Boston over the weekend, honored by the Harvard Lampoon as its "Man of the Year." Wondering what exactly the "Scrubs" star did to deserve the distinction? We were, too, so we called someone on the humor mag's masthead. "He'd been begging and pleading," explained Lampoon treasurer Hayes Davenport. "We finally said, 'Fine, Zach, you can be Man of the Year.'" Braff stayed at the Ritz-Carlton and was accompanied by his girlfriend du jour, "Roswell" actress Shiri Appleby. (A few years younger than Braff, Appleby plays a character called "Jailbait" in the upcoming Mike Nichols movie "Charlie Wilson's War.") Braff and the Lampoon bunch went racing at F1 Boston in Braintree, and then he fielded a few questions at the Brattle Theatre. About "Garden State," which he wrote and directed, Braff said he was mostly struck by the success of the soundtrack: "I won a [expletive] Grammy for making a mix CD."... While Braff was inside, Oktoberfest was raging outside in Harvard Square. "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno dispatched a film crew to tape a segment called "Drunk or Not Drunk." The piece will air Friday.

Jewelry designer David Yurman wanted to do something different for tonight's opening of his new boutique at Copley Place. So the New York-based maker of beautiful bling and baubles tapped Radius and Via Matta chef/coowner Michael Schlowto create a fabulous dinner at the Institute of Contemporary Art. The evening begins with a cocktail soiree to benefit the ICA hosted by the museum's auxiliary board including Ellie Cornish, Abi Ross Goodman, Jeanette and Todd McSweeney, and Nicole Moss. Then guests will head to the ICA, where Yurman and his wife, Sybil, will join museum supporters Laura and Alex Zecca in hosting the dinner created by Schlow and Steve Madonna, executive chef at the ICA’s Wolfgang Puck eatery.

If the Museum of Fine Arts is looking a little pink today, it should. As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino and wife Stacey flipped a switch last night that bathed the building in pink light. Lending a hand were museum director Malcolm Rogers and Stoughton singer Lori McKenna. . . . And over the weekend, Steven Tyler's daughter Liv joined mom, former Ford model Bebe Buell, at the Emergen-C Pink launch in New York. Buell, who lives in Portland, Maine, made a plaster cast of her bust to raise money for breast-cancer research.

Homeboy Jay Giannone is pleased to report he was on the red carpet Monday at the LA premiere of Ben Affleck’s "Gone Baby Gone." "It's a very long way from the South Bay House of Corrections," Giannone said yesterday, referring to the rough-and-tumble time spent in the South Boston projects. The aspiring actor, who showed up in "The Departed" and has a memorable scene in "Gone Baby Gone," credits Affleck for keeping it real. "So many people come to Boston and try and steal our culture," he said. "Ben came and decided to give something back. He put a lot of Boston in this movie." (The honors already are rolling in for the brothers Affleck: Casey will receive the "Breakthrough Actor of the Year Award" at next week’s Hollywood Film Festival, while Ben will be recognized with the "Breakthrough Director of the Year Award.") Also at the premiere: Boston actor Brian Scannell, Casey’s costar Michelle Monaghan, Laurence Fishburne, Amy Madigan, Neve Campbell, Daniel Gillies, Rachael Leigh Cook, Scott Caan, Garcelle Beauvais, and Affleck's buddy, director Kevin Smith.

Former senator Carol Moseley Braun and onetime member of the Egyptian Parliament Mona Makram-Ebeid are among the new crowd of visiting fellows at Harvard's Institute of Politics. The pair, called "two of this generation's most impressive women leaders" by director James Leach, join high-powered fall fellows: South African Member of Parliament Tony Leon; Meghan O'Sullivan, deputy national security advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan; former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell; Noelia Rodriguez, former press secretary for first lady Laura Bush; Washington Post deputy business editor Maralee Schwartz; and former congressman Clay Shaw.

Taking time out from practice, Pats players Ty Warren, Ellis Hobbs, Willie Andrews, and Eric Alexander were at the Boys & Girls Club in Chelsea yesterday teaching kids about the importance of eating healthy.

"Things We Lost in the Fire" director Susanne Bier (left) wants you to leave her films wondering about what happens to the characters. "It has some very painful moments," the Danish filmmaker said yesterday of the movie, which stars Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro. "But it very much is a movie about hope." (The script was penned by Allan Loeb, the writer who adapted Ben Mezrich's book "Bringing Down the House" - called "21" when it was filmed in Boston last year.) A remake of Bier's 2004 flick, "Brothers," may be shot here later this year, this time starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman. As for having someone else remake one of your films, Bier quipped: "It's a bit like your child being adopted and raised by a stranger."

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