The Insider

Last weekend we went to the estate sale of the late rat-pack comic Jan Murray at his midcentury modern former home in Beverly Hills. The place was packed with furniture and collectibles – photos of Jan with Sinatra and Milton Berle, Joey Bishop and Henny Youngman – all those old-time Las Vegas comics, and Jan’s massive cuff link collection. We spotted a 1960’s royal blue Italian ceramic turtle on a shelf and were reaching for it when a pretty blonde in short shorts yelled “That’s mine!” It turned out to be Lara Spencer who explained she was gathering items for “a house” she was decorating and scooped up the turtle. We were surprised to hear that the former host of “Antiques Roadshow” and present host of “The Insider” was decorating someone’s house – she never seemed very interested in the furniture on “Roadshow.” But not only is she decorating, but she wrote a book on the subject – being published next October. So she didn’t need Mary Hart’s job on E.T. anyway.