VANITY FAIR

Volume 57 Number 1

January 1994

Features

Top Gere: Once Hollywood's brooding rogue, Richard Gere has finally found personal and professional peace of mind. Though his new film is called Intersection, he is back on the Leading Man superhighway. And, he tells Leslie Bennetts, life is sweeter since he started sharing it with Cindy Crawford. Photographs by Herb Ritts. 64

Nightmare in Neverland: The stunning charge that Michael Jackson was a child molester has sparked a global media frenzy. Maureen Orth nails down the excruciating details of a scandal that is part reality, part illusion, and pure Hollywood. 70

The Old Girls' Club: Eric Boman spotlights the fabulous over-35 look of 13 models who are suddenly in hot demand again. 78

Paramount Player: Among the Paramount deal-makers, Steven Rattner is the new wave of Wall Street—and whispered heir to Felix Rohatyn's legend at Lazard Freres. Edward Klein takes the measure of one of investment banking's top guns. 80

Sexual Congress: Douglas McGrath adds a few entries to Senator Bob Packwood's infamous diary. 86

Fellini and His Women: Helmut Newton and Alice Springs pay tribute to the director and his divas. 88

King Koppel: Dave and Jay are finding that their real late-night competition is Ted Koppel, as Nightline's ace interviewer bursts the bounds of his studio earpiece and blue blazer. Jacob Weisberg examines Koppel's big move. Illustration by Risko. 96

Armani's Place in the Sun: For 20 years Giorgio Armani has thrived on pressure, but he still needs a refuge. Jay Cocks takes an exclusive look at the designer's new piccola casa in St.-Tropez. Photographs by Christopher Simon Sykes. 100

Chen Up: Firooz Zahedi spotlights Joan Chen, who moves Heaven and Earth. 108

London Burning: In a season of fresh violence, Graham Boynton reports on the bitter English reaction to director Jim Sheridan's new film, starring Emma Thompson and Daniel Day-Lewis, about 11 people wrongly imprisoned for brutal I.R.A. bombings. 110

A Lady and Her Court: Brigitte Lacombe and George Kalogerakis spotlight the woman whose trials are fascinating America—Court TV's Cynthia McFadden. 116

Columns

Cultural Elite: Forget sugar and spice, says Christopher Hitchens; when it comes to kid lit, Roald Dahl knew what children want—vengeance, subversion, and the icky stuff . . 26

The Admirable Crichton: Zoe Heller talks to supemovelist Michael Crichton as he wraps up his latest controversial blockbuster-to-be. 32

Vanities

Down Patra; Hype & Glory—1993 R.I.P.; Kate Moss grows on George Wayne; a Valentino valentine; why the San Fernando Valley is suddenly so chic; and much more 51

Et Cetera

Editor's Letter: Scandal in Hollywood. 8

Contributors. 12

Letters: High-wire act. 22

Credits. 142

Flashback: Frank Lloyd Wright. 143

Planetarium: Obsess yourself, Capricorn. 145

Social Study: Fashion doyenne Eleanor Lambert addresses the Proust Questionnaire .... 146