VANITY FAIR

December 2004

No. 532

FEATURES

342 THE SKY'S THE LIMIT Seven years after the Titanic deluge, Leonardo DiCaprio is poised to star as the young Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese's long-awaited movie biography, The Aviator. Evgenia Peretz interviews the 30-year-old actor about his soaring fortunes. Photographs by Brigitte Lacombe.

352 PRIME-TIME PRINCESS Don Flood and Krista Smith spotlight Mischa Barton, poor-little-rich-girl heroine of Fox's primetime hit The O. C.

354 THE GOSSIP BEHIND THE GOSSIP How do readers learn the latest on canoodling pop tarts, bloviating actors, and the "hot tamale from Somalia"? They read the New York Post's "Page Six," naturally. Frank DiGiacomo takes an uncensored look at America's most powerful gossip column. Photograph by Norman Jean Roy.

360 CASH ONLY Mark Seliger and Carolyn Bielfeldt spotlight the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

362 TWO SONS, ONE DESTINY Joseph P. Kennedy always wanted his son to be president—but he wasn't thinking of Jack. Poring through a trove of just-released letters, Cari Beauchamp reveals a new dynamic in the making of a dynasty.

370 EMINEM'S WORLD As Eminem prepares to release his fourth major album, Encore, he's struggling with some big issues. In Detroit, the controversial rapper tells Lisa Robinson about his private life, his music, and his most difficult year ever. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz.

376 AN UNCONVENTIONAL HEART Like the exclusive London nightclub that bears her name, Lady Annabel Goldsmith is the embodiment of beauty, glamour, privilege, and discretion. In an excerpt from her new memoir, she opens up. Portrait by Jonathan Becker.

FANFAIR

145 31 DAYS IN THE LIFE OF THE CULTURE Bravo!—Ben Whishaw, the U.K.'s newest leading man. Hot Reels: Bruce Handy on House of Flying Daggers and A Very Long Engagement; Guilty Pleasure—Meet the Fockers. Elissa Schappell's Hot Type. Krista Smith gets hooked on Fuel; Henry Alford unmasks America's favorite voices; Edward Helmore reviews Lisa Eisner's Shriners; Kate Spade's new CD. Daniel Kunitz on German artist Eberhard Havekost; Blanche Caldwell Barrow's Bonnie and Clyde diaries. Punch Hutton selects the best holiday gifts. Kristina Stewart tracks the international social calendar. Jessica Flint weighs the big-book craze. Eve Epstein on L'Atelier du Savon; My Stuff— Margherita Missoni.

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COLUMNS

172 KISSINGER DECLASSIFIED Christopher Hitchens has put Henry Kissinger on trial before, but now there's fresh evidence, just declassified, of the former secretary of state's deadly politics.

180 HALL OF FA ME Adam Laukhuf nominates the art world's pre-eminent sleuth, Harold J. Smith, subject of a new documentary. Photograph by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

182 A DARK AND BUSY NIGHT This month's diary has Dominick Dunne at two swell parties, missing Martha, and remembering Janet Leigh. Photograph by Kevin Mazur.

196 EXECUTIVES AT THE GATE As the MurdochRedstone-Eisner generation of media titans contemplate retirement, Michael Wolff profiles their likely successors, whose unmogul-like virtues of patience, compromise, and politeness suggest an epic change. Illustrations by Risko.

204 WEAPONS OF SELF-DESTRUCTION Soldiers seem to be again returning from Iraq with the debilitating, potentially fatal conditions known as Gulf War syndrome, which some researchers now say is caused by the U.S.'s own weapons. David Rose investigates. Photographs by Robert Maxwell.

220 INDISCREET SIXTEEN With the U.S. publication of 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, Holly Brubach learns how Melissa Panarello's diary of her shocking sexual adventures landed the Sicilian teenager on the best-seller lists of Europe. Photographs by Brigitte Lacombe.

228 THE HAND OF FASHION In the Parisian fashion world, Rene Gruau was the illustrator who captured chic for Chanel, Dior, and other elite designers. His death last spring, writes Amy Fine Collins, came with a characteristically stylish coda.

232 THE DANGER LIST When Hank Asher invented matrix—a controversial personal-information database—he gave the government an invaluable tool for tracking terrorists. Few are thanking him for it. Michael Shnayerson explores the maverick career of a cyber-realm tycoon. Photographs by Jason Schmidt.

248 SCENTS AND SENSIBILITY Laura Jacobs gets to know Jo Malone, whose exquisitely adventurous nose led her from a London walk-up to the top of a billion-dollar fragrance empire in just 10 years. Photographs by Hugh Stewart.

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258 SCANDAL OF RECORD When The New York Times caught 27-year-old Jayson Blair fabricating stories, it assigned a team to investigate. Soon, "the Blair Witch Project," as staffers called it, was threatening the paper's top editors. In an excerpt from his new book, Seth Mnookin charts the fallout. Photographs by Mark Schafer.

282 THE SORROW AND THE PILATES An out-of-shape Brit assumed New York's high-end gyms were full of type-A narcissists with washboard abs. But after an excruciating weekend of African dance, disco spinning, and oven-roasted yoga, A. A. Gill concludes that the health-club scene is mostly for misfits. Photographs by Jason Schmidt.

292 HOSTAGE TO FORTUNE Once, A&P heir Huntington Hartford had it all. Then he ran through most of his vast fortune, plunged into drug addiction, and ended up a virtual recluse. At 93, rescued by his daughter, Hartford tells Suzanna Andrews about his battle to survive his money.

SPECIAL SECTION

305 MASTERS OF PHOTOCRAPHY Fearless and witty, the late Helmut Newton worked on the visual edge of fashion, sex, and celebrity. As part of its 20th-anniversary series, V.F. presents a portfolio of fame and infamy, Newton-style, while Vicki Goldberg measures his impact.

VANITIES

323 VIVA LA VEGA "The Food Snob's Dictionary, Volume 2," by David Kamp and Marion Rosenfeld. Henry Alford imagines: what if Paris Hilton were president? George Wayne interrogates Val Kilmer. Ed Coaster crashes a wedding, gout notwithstanding.

ET CETERA

88 EDITOR'S LETTER Over There, Over Here

96 CONTRIBUTORS

116 BEHIND THE SCENES Runway Maneuvers

118 LETTERS The Ballad of Rick and Johnny

170 PLANETARIUM Zip it, Sadge

412 CREDITS

414 PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE Louis Auchincloss

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