Glitz Mondale

Eleanor on TV

Eleanor Mondale debuts this month as TV's newest infotainment princess. She'll be a bebopping correspondent for The Rock 'n Roll Evening News, a weekly pop-culture yakfest. You probably remember Eleanor from Election Night two years ago, swathed in black lace, party-ready with no place to go: a beached blonde. While her father, Fritz, cashed in his presidential chips, she quavered behind him, on the verge of a cinematic mascara spill. In that pouting moment, she gave the Minnesota Mondales, a clan never synonymous with shimmer, an unexpected touch of gloss. Even the grudge that ensued is refreshing: "Hi, this is Eleanor," her answering machine recently explained. "Our president is on television, so I have to go throw up!"

"Being a political kid certainly prepares you for life," says the former Second Daughter, now twenty-six. "People are always very willing to say, 'Hey, you suck! And, by the way, I don't like your shoes.' " It also taught her how to talk to strangers in front of a camera, which translated into monosyllabic cameos in a handful of Nielsen clinkers and freelance TV reporting jobs in Los Angeles. "She has a wild streak that I like," appraises Andy Friendly, the videomeister who produced Entertainment Tonight and hired Eleanor for The

Rock 'n Roll Evening News.

The twist is that she'll be based in Chicago—"Hey," she swaggers, "I'm a Midwest gal." Her local profile has risen steadily due to radio whirligigs as a trafficopter reporter and a serious swoon over Keith Van Home, the massive Chicago Bear tackle, who reportedly got so goo-goo-eyed over Eleanor in a restaurant that he left a tip bigger than the check.

Bruisers fit into her curriculum. "She's strong," at-

tests Friendly, who fondly recalls her reaction upon being signed to his show. "Do you want me to pick you up?" Eleanor asked, then proceeded to hoist him overhead and twirl his six-foot-two body. "I pick people up a lot," she confesses. "I guess it is a weird habit. I just get a little overexuberant when I'm happy, that's all." —Bill Zehme

Bill Zehme