VANITY FAIR

July 1995

Volume 58 Number 7

Features

LA FEMME NICOLE With two upcoming movies. Batman Forever and To Die For, Nicole Kidman gives new meaning to the term "Hollywood wife." Leslie Bennetts takes a look at the double-dazzle stardom created by Kidman's marriage to Tom Cruise, who bakes Nicole cookies and indulges her love of danger. Photographs by Herb Ritts. . .62

EDGAR BETS THE HOUSE Seagram's youthful C.E.O., Edgar Bronfman Jr., has plunged his family's liquor empire into the rapids of Hollywood's river wild. As stockholders brace for the ride, Edward Klein has the off-camera, behind-the-scenes action: the secret trips to Japan and the long-distilled motives behind Bronfman's acquisition of mighty MCA/Universal. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz. 72

BIANCA'S DESTINY Bianca Jagger left the banquettes of Studio 54 for refugee camps and war zones, wielding her glamour in the struggle for human rights. Jennet Conant catches Jagger at the center of an uproar over C.I.A. involvement in Guatemala, standing by the maverick congressman with whom she has fallen in love. Portrait by David Seidner. . .82

A GUCCI KNOCKOFF Ronald Reagan swore by his; Audrey Hepburn danced in hers; all over the world Guccis are the mark of style and money. But after almost a century of success, the Gucci family imploded, losing control of the company. Who destroyed the dynasty? Investigating in Milan, Judy Bachrach discovers all fingers point to the last heir, Maurizio Gucci, who was mysteriously gunned down in broad daylight.86

MONET'S ILLUSION His image as an otherworldly artist masked Claude Monet's taste for luxury and head for business. As the largest-ever Monet exhibition opens in Chicago, Paul Hayes Tucker relives the struggle behind the first exhibition of the Impressionist's famous water lilies . .96

KELLY'S REBEL HEART Firooz Zahedi spotlights Kelly Lynch as Henry Alford gets the scoop on her upcoming role opposite Denzel Washington in the action thriller Virtuosity.104

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FOR DETAILS, SEE CREDITS PAGE

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THE CONROY SAGA After the triumph of his best-selling The Prince of Tides, Pat Conroy spent five years struggling with his next epic novel of familial dysfunction, Beach Music. On the eve of its publication, South Carolina's premier storyteller recounts for John Berendt the tangled family tragedies that have haunted and inspired him. Photographs by David Barry.108

THE DEMON ROMANTICS For more than 20 years, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and punk prophet Patti Smith had an intense relationship that took them from the Chelsea Hotel to Max's Kansas City to a Fifth Avenue penthouse. In an excerpt from her upcoming biography, Mapplethorpe, Patricia Morrisroe exposes the obsessions and jealousies that fueled their dramatic rise to fame.114

Columns

FOLLOW THE BLOOD DNA experts draw blood and Judge I to tightens the screws as Dominick Dunne uncovers new conflicts at the O.J. trial.30

KING WITHOUT A COUNTRY As his son makes a grand alliance with an American heiress, Constantine II of Greece is still hoping to regain his throne. Bob Colacello finds the exiled monarch in a deepening conflict with the Athens government, which has denied him his nationality and his name.42

Vanities

BJORK'S LATEST POSTING J. Hoberman toasts Bunuel's vintage Deneuve; New York's drama rat pack; meals on wheels with Biker Billy; True Lies II—the Hamptons.55

Et Cetera

EDITOR'S LETTER: The art of controversy.16

CONTRIBUTORS.18

LETTERS: Hollywords.24

CREDITS.132

PLANETARIUM: Live for the moment, Cancer.142

SOCIAL STUDY: Lauren Hutton has model answers to the Proust Questionnaire.144