John F. Kennedy Jr.'s will—made public last week—left the bulk of an estate worth between $30 million and $100 million to his sister Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's children Rose, 11, Tatiana, 9, and John, 6. Other beneficiaries include his childhood nanny and two godchildren (the son and daughter of a school classmate). Kennedy, who died at 38 with his wife, Carolyn, and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette in a plane crash off Martha's Vineyard July 16, also left money for the Kennedy Library Foundation in Massachusetts and for Reaching Up, Inc., which he founded in 1989 to support the continuing education of health, education and social service workers.
More Than Spin
"I can expect in my 40s to face challenges most wouldn't expect until their 70s or 80s, if ever," Michael J. Fox, 38, told a U.S. Senate committee on Sept. 28. "But with your help, if we do everything we can to eradicate this disease, in my 50s I'll be dancing at my children's weddings." The help he's looking for is an additional $75 million to research Parkinson's disease, the neurological disorder he developed in 1991. Some 1 million Americans suffer from it; Fox called the current $100 million appropriation "meager."
So Nice, They Wed Twice
After a secret Caribbean wedding, Vanessa Williams and basketball's Rick Fox say 'I do' for family and friends
Focus
By the time Vanessa Williams and Rick Fox married in a Manhattan church Sept. 26, they were already playing a little game of I've Got a Secret. Which is to say that the 36-year-old singer-actress and the Los Angeles Lakers forward, 30, had already been wed for weeks. The first ceremony took place on an undisclosed Caribbean island this summer—but just about nobody knew. Last week's event was almost as private, with about 100 or so friends and family members present as Thomas Morrette, a deacon at Williams's Catholic church in suburban Westchester County, joined the couple as husband and wife...again.
"Vanessa was radiant," says Morrette. "I leaned over and told her, 'You're glowing.' And she said, 'I know. I am.' " Williams, wearing a Vera Wang gown with a taupe satin bodice and a full tulle skirt, was not alone in her emotions. Rick glowed too, Morrette says, and both "got teary-eyed."
Fox's sisters Jeanene and Sarah served as bridesmaids. Williams's two daughters from a previous marriage to Ramon Hervey—Melanie, 12, and Jillian, 10—served as flower girls, while her son Devin, 6, and Fox's son from a previous relationship, Kyle, 6 on Oct. 13, acted as ring bearers. Afterward, the couple held a reception at the St. Regis Hotel, where guests dined on sea bass and Bahamian conch salad and a calypso band played. "Vanessa and Rick danced," says Morrette, "and the kids were running around, having a ball."
In the past year newspaper gossip columns mentioned sightings of the couple dining in Boston (where Fox once played for the Celtics) and New York City. In February, Fox told PEOPLE he considered Williams, a former Miss America, "a loving mother and a very strong woman," adding "That's what I find attractive about her: the ability to balance all of that and still be a megacelebrity."
The couple plan to be bicoastal for the immediate future—and won't be keeping their careers a secret. He has just signed a new six-year contract with the Lakers, and she may star on the Manhattan stage.
Mackie, Back in Town
How do you delight a diva? With dazzle. "Make them look good and feel good," advises designer Bob Mackie, 60, who for years has kept Cher, Sharon Stone and Barbra Streisand comfortable in eye-catching clothes. Nondivas like him too. "He is a genius," gushes Carol Burnett, who wore Mackie's duds on her TV show and who, on Sept. 23, joined 2,000 revelers at Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology in celebrating a new book, Unmistakably Mackie, and a 160-dress retrospective of his 30-year career. Also present: Liza Minnelli, who recalls that when she was 17, "Everybody was caring what my mom [Judy Gar-was something else in land] looked like, and he another life," he says, was caring how I was looking." Another doll he particularly liked to dress? Diana Ross. "She "She was the empress of somewhere because she knew how to wear those clothes."
The Ryder Cup: Where Golf, Leno and Lee Collide
The U.S. Ryder Cup team's stunning comeback victory on Sept. 26 was one for the history books. And some of the credit should go to...Pamela Anderson Lee? Apparently. The hyperpneumatic actress was one of a number of celebs who appeared in a video aimed at boosting morale on the night before the final matches, when all hope seemed lost. "Go U.S.A.!" Anderson Lee urged the beleaguered linksmen. "Make your putts!" Team captain Ben Crenshaw's wife, Julie, surreptitiously found out who inspired the golfers most. "All the guys asked for Pamela," says video producer Mickey Holden, who taped Lee, Jay Leno, actor Matthew McConaughey, singer Huey Lewis, San Francisco 49er Steve Young and the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders (who chanted "Justin! Justin! Justin!" for eventual Cup hero Justin Leonard) among others. Says Julie Crenshaw of the video: "It was meant to inspire."
The New 'Do That You Do...
Every once in a while, a Hollywood hairstyle touches America's roots—(think Farrah ca. 1976 or Jennifer Aniston '95). The latest—although more limited—follicular phenom? The come-hither hairdo that stylist Enzo Angileri created for Rene Russo's sexpot insurance investigator in The Thomas Crown Affair. "I knew right away it was a positive look—it has a very sexy flair to it," says Angileri, 43, who also tends the tresses of Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman and Jodie Foster. Colorist Beth Minardi, who gave Russo a coppery-red shade for the film, says her clients are asking for the color too. Says Russo: "I think it's great that people are loving it."
"It's very popular," agrees Frederic Fekkai, another stylist to the stars. At least 60 clients have requested the Russo from Angileri. He bestowed it on 20. Though gracious, he can afford (at $250 per cut) to be honest. "Rene's cut," he says, "will not look good on everybody."
ON THE BLOCK
RESIDENCE GREY
Looks like performer Joel Grey wants to change his signature tune from "Life Is a Cabaret" to "Life's a Beach." The Oscar-and Tony-winning actor has put his 1,400-square-foot Hollywood Hills pied-à-terre on the market for $585,000 to move closer to the ocean. The contemporary-style two-bedroom home may be tiny by neighborhood standards, but the floor-to-ceiling glass walls offer amazing canyon views. The actor plans to look for a beach home after playing Off-Broadway in December.
Mikey Doesn't Like It
Tough town, Chicago. Michael Jordan is out of sports a little less than a year and—boom!—his restaurant will be replaced by one named after the Cubs' "Slammin' Sammy" Sosa next April. Gene Silverberg, who owns a controlling interest in the establishment, says he doesn't need Michael's permission to make the name change. (And menu change—Sosa's will feature Latin food.) Jordan may beg to differ. His lawyer said the Bulls great, who has reportedly made $4 million in royalties from the restaurant, would save his comments for the court. That's the court of law, not basketball. Sosa, meanwhile, says he likes Jordan, noting, "He's the man."
- Contributors:
- Larry Sutton,
- Mike Neill,
- Christina Cheakalos,
- Erik Meers,
- Liza Hamm,
- Karen Bates,
- Lorenzo Benet,
- Mark Dagostino,
- Joanne Fowler,
- Phyllis Karas,
- Jae Ha Kim,
- Sue Miller,
- Jane Podesta,
- Patricia Smith,
- Ulrica Wihlborg.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
