VANITY FAIR

October 2002

no. 506

features

THE PARAMOUNT CENTURY To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Paramount Studios, 90 celebrities, from Tom Cruise and Hilary Swank to Jane Russell and Charlton Heston, gathered at its gates for a historic portrait by Annie Leibovitz. Dominick Dunne table-hopped at the candlelit dinner that followed ... 304

MADONNA MARLENE After a theatrical challenge in London, the heat-seeking diva nested in Beverly Hills, writing a spiritual children's book with husband Guy Ritchie, her director in this month's Swept Away. Even as she channels Dietrich for YF.'s cover, Steven Daly wonders if Madonna is moving beyond her image. Photographs by Craig McDean.308

RETURN TO HOGWARTS Mark Seliger and Sam Tanenhaus preview the second film from J. K. Rowling's books, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, with its souped-up special effects—think elves, huge spiders, and a flying car .... 314

FOREVER MODERN Lever House, the glass tower that opened on Park Avenue in 1952, has undergone a $60 million renovation. Matt Tyrnauer tells how a modernist landmark made careers, broke technological barriers, and changed the face of New York. Photographs by Todd Eberle....318

HEATHER MILLS'S PRIVATE CRUSADE Heather Mills survived a Dickensian childhood and the loss of a leg with the same determination that won her the heart of Paul McCartney. Leslie Bennetts reports on a romance that has alienated McCartney's kids and thrust Mills's life under a tabloid microscope. Plus: in an exclusive from her memoir, Mills relives her courtship by a Beatle. Photographs by Mark Seliger...324

DEGAS AND THE DANCERS A definitive exhibition opening this month assembles 150 of Edgar Degas's paintings, pastels, monotypes, and sculptures. Exploring the obsession behind them, John Richardson reveals what led a conservative bachelor artist to focus his greatest work on the painful beauty of ballet....330

ROCKWELL ROLLING Mark Seliger and Evgenia Peretz spotlight Sam Rockwell, the star of George Clooney's directorial debut. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind .336

GOLDEN IN GREENWICH While the Hilton girls became "Page Six" stars, the Noel sisters have taken a more understated approach. With 14 children and nary a table dance among them, the five Connecticut beauties give Kristina Stewart a family recipe for gracious goodness. Photographs by Bruce Weber ...338

TO BE A ROCKEFELLER Driven by the example of his famous father, John D. Rockefeller Jr. raised his own children to further a legacy of power and philanthropy. In an excerpt from his Memoirs, David Rockefeller, the youngest son of the third generation, describes his extraordinary childhood and his family's role in creating Rockefeller Center and the World Trade Center. Portraits by Nigel Parry .342

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Fanfair

31 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE Sweet Tartt—Elissa Schappell on The Little Friend. Hot Reels: Bruce Handy reviews Auto Focus and Eight Women; Coming Attractions—Walter Kirn picks White Oleander. Elissa Schappell's Hot Type. Leslie Bennetts reviews Francine Prose's The Lives of the Muses. Anne Fulenwider on visual books for fall; Laura Jacobs salutes Alexey Brodovitch. A. M. Homes on art dealer Marian Goodman; Evgenia Peretz on Versace's new exhibition. Patricia Bosworth revisits The Misfits; Henry Alford remembers the Ridiculous Theatrical Company's Charles Ludlam. Michael Hogan on post-punkers Interpol; Jeremy Eichler on opera singer Rene Pape. Brenda Cullerton on Dolce & Gabbana's new digs. Cynthia Rowley shows her stuff; Hot Looks; Go Fig—David Colman on fig fragrance...143

Columns

OXFORD'S REBEL ANGEL Beyond the magic act of J. K. Rowling and the Christian tradition of C. S. Lewis lies the dazzling fantasy world of Philip Pullman, a former Oxford schoolmaster whose subversive trilogy treats innocence as overrated. Christopher Hitchens falls under the spell. Portrait by Christopher Simon Sykes.174

THE PENANCE OF PIRATES Not since the 1980s has the nation clamored so loudly for the heads of white-collar offenders. James Wolcott examines America's punishment principle and predicts a future parade of celebrity ex-cons atoning on the morning talk shows.182

OF BUTLERS AND BILLIONAIRES With two big-time trials (and a novel) in the offing, Dominick Dunne devotes this month's diary to the charges against Princess Diana's butler, a new Safra autopsy report, and the threat to a venerable Hollywood cemetery.188

ENEMIES IN THE BOARDROOM The beginning of the end of Jean-Marie Messier's Vivendi reign may have been his acquisition of Universal. But despite his all too apparent flaws, Messier still had the support of his French directors, oui?Non. Vicky Ward files a boardroom postmortem.194

GLAMOUR WITH ALTITUDE In the 50s and 60s, a white-gloved lipstick elite sought love and liberation at 30,000 feet. Before deregulation, political correctness, and 9/11, Bruce Handy recalls, stewardesses—uniformly young, single, and desirable—put the alluring mystique in the golden age of air travel.214

THE UNSINKABLE ELOISE After a 40-year drought, there's new trouble at the Plaza Hotel. Get ready, warns Amy Fine Collins: Eloise Takes a Bawth is about to flood a nightstand near you. Illustrations by Hilary Knight.228

FOR DETAILS, SEE CREDITS PAGE

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FOR DETAILS, SEE CREDITS PAGE

SEAGAL UNDER SIEGE Steven Seagal is an aging action hero with a penchant for concealed weapons and Buddhism, but neither guns nor Zen could protect him from what appears to have been a Mafia extortion scheme. Ned Zeman taps the goombah connection—part Sopranos, part Deepak Chopra—between Hollywood and Staten Island .236

Special Report

THE NEW ESTABLISHMENT 2002 PCs annual ranking of the 50 most powerful leaders of the Information Age has familiar faces mingling with fresh blood (Tom Hanks), new attitudes (a media-friendly Bill Gates), and some rather eccentric tastes (office plushies, Miller Genuine Draft) that speak of a yearning for reassurance on the edge of the precipice.253

Vanities

JUST JOSH Ed Coaster's family affair. Q&A: George Wayne shares the company of actor John Ritter. Dame Edna restores civility to society. Neal Pollack's media memoir; Out & In: Michael Jackson, Snakehead, and Traficant .... 289

Et Cetera

EDITOR'S LETTER: Temples in the Sky 92

CONTRIBUTORS 96

LETTERS: Down and Out in Beverly Hills 120

CREDITS. 370

PLANETARIUM: Look out, Libras .... 374

PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE: Peter Jennings 376