No Leo but Plenty of Stellas at NIAF Gala

The National Italian American Foundation scored big when it snagged Leonardo DiCaprio as an honoree for its annual gala this year. (Why, who knew Leo was Italian?) The news helped them sell scores more of the $400 tickets to the already A-listy black-tie affair.

But as the big night got underway at the Washington Hilton on Saturday, word slowly trickled through the room:

Leo was a no-show. He was in New York, in bed, with a form of pneumonia. No travel -- doctor's orders.

Oh. So much for the question we'd prepared: "How is it that despite being in three Martin Scorsese movies and having the most Italian-sounding name in the room, you've only played one truly Italian role?" (Can you name it? Answer at the bottom.)

But no worries. There was plenty of star power to please the 3,000 fans dining on antipasto, baked ziti and veal as the celebs trod the red carpet: Sam Alito, Michael Andretti, Ray" Boom Boom" Mancini, Dean Martin 's daughter Deana. ("She's so thin!" women kept whispering, admiringly.) Drawing the most rapturous ovations by far was an all-star bipartisan triumvirate: Nancy Pelosi, Rudy Giuliani and Yogi Berra.

Barbara Sinatra, widow of Frank, swanned into the super-VIP reception with the bedroom-eyed young crooner Patrizio Buanne. "He sang beautifully last night" at a Cafe Milano dinner, she said, and he bent to kiss her hand tucked in the crook of his arm.

And over there, in the diamonds and sequins and ostrich feathers -- a glowing Gina Lollobrigida.

"In Washington, I come here, I am treated like a queen," the bombshell actress, now 81, told us. "I came on a tour of the Senate, and the vice president showed me around. It was Nixon then . . . Nixon told me to talk on the phone to his friend. I am talking with the little English I have -- and it was Rockefeller!" Another time, she said, she attended a party at the Italian Embassy. "A senator, a man with no hair, I do not remember his name, he got in the queue twice to shake my hand. So Washington treats me very well."

It treated her well again that night, as NIAF gave her a Lifetime Achievement award. Lollobrigida, who took up sculpture and photojournalism after her movie career waned, turned coy about the whole "lifetime" thing when she came to the podium.

"I think it's a little premature," she cooed, noting that her aunt lived to 113. "I have a lot more work to do."

Other honorees: Aetna President Mark Bertolini, 7-Eleven CEO Joseph DePinto, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle and Gianmario Tondato da Ruos, chief exec of Italian food-services conglomerate Autogrill. NIAF's longtime executive director, John Salamone, was given the Italian Order of Merit "Commendatore" by Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta.

Pelosi took the stage to pay tribute to DiCaprio, noting that the 33-year-old Oscar nominee truly deserved his honor for environmental and political activism. (Note: He's a Democrat.) Leo's proxy for the night, dad George DiCaprio-- looking like an Italian pirate, with long black hair and beard -- accepted the award, reading the star's message about how humbled he was, and cited his Neapolitan immigrant forebears.

(Oh, and that one Italian role of his? Trick question: It's Romeo.)

Jill Biden's Gut Reaction

According to Vogue, Jill Biden wasn't always keen on the idea of her husband running for president. From a forthcoming profile in the November issue:

"A bunch of Democratic Party bigwigs had planted themselves in her living room to try to convince Joe Biden that 2004 was his year to unseat George Bush. Jill was sitting out by the pool in a bikini -- fuming. Unable to stand it any longer, she got up, found a Magic Marker, and wrote the word no across her stomach and then paraded through the meeting. 'They got the message,' she says with a laugh."

HEY, ISN'T THAT . . . ?

· Randy Jackson breezing past the long line waiting to get into Sushi Taro in Dupont Saturday night and heading straight to a table with a woman and another man. The "American Idol" judge apparently had made a reservation days before. Impeccably dressed, looked thin.