Sue Mengers and the Hollywood Salon She Left Behind NYTimes.com
For nearly 20 years, without a single velvet rope or red carpet in sight, Sue Mengers, a retired Hollywood agent, brought the biggest of names to her table for intimate Saturday night dinners that would often end past midnight in a haze of wine, smoke and gossip about movies, politics and the entertainment business. These were salons in their grandest tradition, the West Coast equivalent of the gatherings of politicians and news media titans in Georgetown or socialites and financiers on Fifth Avenue, though with a movie-screen sheen provided by someone who, until at age 79, adored and collected celebrities. Even in her retirement, Ms.
