VANITY FAIR

DECEMBER 1999

No. 472

FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS

Features

THE 1999 HALL OF FAME | 307 From Mia Hamm and the cast of The Sopranos to NATO generals Wesley K. Clark and Henry H. Shelton, Vanity Fair salutes 40 people who capped the millennium with a V for victory. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz, Herb Ritts, Harry Benson, Jonathan Becker, David LaChapelle, and others. Text by James Wolcott.

MADCAP WITH A TWIST | 336 Despite a happy marriage to Dennis Quaid, a $ 15 million paycheck, and the lead in another Ephron-written movie, Hanging Up, the life of Meg Ryan is no romantic comedy. Michael Shnayerson looks beyond the giggle to Ryan's grittier ambitions. Photographs by Mario Testino.

EVERY INCH AN ORIGINAL | 344 As designer Pauline Trigère turns 91, Amy Fine Collins profiles a gutsy French immigrant who stood by her timeless couture, staring down fads, the licensing rush, and Chapter 11. Portrait by Eric Boman.

THEY MADE VEGAS SWING | 348 The innocently bawdy, pack-'em-in rhythms of Louis Prima and Keely Smith had become dad music by the time Prima died in 1978. But with lounge nostalgia refusing to fade, David Kamp revisits the 50s heyday of an act—and a marriage—that was too hot not to cool down.

DRAMA BY DESIGN | 354 When Picasso biographer John Richardson packed up a life's work to head downtown, the art historian did more than transform a 5,000-square-foot lower-Fifth Avenue loft: he found echoes of his bohemian past and the inspiration for a just-published memoir. Photographs by Todd Eberle.

Columns

PARTY OF TWO | 128 As Rudy and Hillary prepare to slug it out in New York's Senate race, Christopher Hitchens sees only one reason for their tangling: true love.

NOTHING LEFT TO FEAR | 142 Next to the chances of George W. Bush, those of Republican presidential hopeful John McCain may look slim. But probing McCain's Vietnam heroism and his political near death in the Keating Five S&L scandal, Carl Bernstein identifies the Arizona senator's unique advantage.

THE MIRANDA OBSESSION | 178 In the early 1980s, many of the entertainment industry's most famous men fell for "Miranda," a mysterious voice at the other end of the line, who claimed to be a wealthy model. More than a decade later, Bryan Burrough traces the woman who launched a thousand calls.

CLASH OF THE TIMES MEN | 194 In his recent memoir, former New York Times executive editor Max Frankel went public about a decades-long feud with his predecessor, the volcanic and visionary Abe Rosenthal. The resulting furor, David Margolick writes, has led to a vicious dissection of two conflicting legacies.

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CASHING OUT YOUNG 214 After leaving Microsoft and other high-tech companies, thousands of young, retired millionaires are creating a new West Coast subculture. From paragliders to philanthropies, reports James Atlas, they've put a different face on capitalism. Photographs by Harry Benson.

LADY OF SORROWS | 234 Julian Broad and Leslie Bennetts spotlight Emily Watson, who adds to her heartbreaking repertoire by playing Frank McCourt's mother in Alan Parker's film version of Angela's Ashes.

INTO THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS | 236 In an excerpt from his screenplay for Isn't She Great, which will star Bette Midler, Paul Rudnick shows how Jackie Susann turned Hollywood, sex, and pills into a record-breaking best-seller, Valley of the Dolls.

COWBOY WONDER 246 Seven times a world rodeo champ, Texan Ty Murray rides back into the arena this month. Kurt Markus and Scott Gummer watch his dust.

DIAMONDS AREN'T FOREVER 248 During her metamorphosis from a glamorous heiress into a disfigured, gem-encrusted eccentric, Carolyn Skelly also became the most targeted jewel-robbery victim in America. Mark Seal investigates the chilling mystery.

CAPTURED YOUTH | 272 Ned Zeman spotlights Bruce Weber's new collection of photographs, The Chop Suey Club, which follows the adventures of a Wisconsin farm boy.

SAIGON QUARTET 274 On February 10, 1971, four of the Vietnam War's premier combat photographers, including Life's Larry Burrows, were shot down in a UH-1 Huey helicopter; their bodies were never recovered. After 27 years, Richard Pyle returns to the crash site in Laos and finally lays the dead to rest.

Vanities

THE DIVINE MS. EM 291 Designer Matt Nye's tailor-made speed dial; Intelligence Report: The campaign trail; Hot Tracks—this winter's best albums; Ed Coaster's letter from Down East; George Wayne dishes the dirt with Eddie Fisher.

Et Cetera

EDITOR'S LETTER: A New Dawn and Pro Wrestling | 72

CONTRIBUTORS | 96

LETTERS: Gods and Monsters | 108

CREDITS 376

PLANETARIUM: Get a grip, Sagittarius | 380

PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE: Rip Torn | 382

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