Hollywood Wives

Though they are the grande dames of an elite kingdom, these women work hard: with their children, their charities, their own businesses, and their husbands, who are some of the most powerful men in Hollywood. FIROOZ ZAHEDI photographed a gallery of ladies who do more than luncj

FIROOZ ZAHEDI

Hollywood wives are as driven as their husbands, and as tough.

Today's Hollywood wife has about as much in common with the old myths as Hillary Rodham Clinton has with the crinolined hostesses of yesterday's state dinners.

Hollywood wives do what they want—and say what they think. They've earned the right. Mrs. Lew (Edie) Wasserman, whom many designate as Hollywood's First Lady, is a skillful, creative fund-raising force and has amassed millions over the last decade for the Motion Picture and Television Fund. Anne Douglas, Kirk's wife for 39 years, has played a similarly important role and was recently honored with the establishment of the Anne Douglas Center for homeless women at the Los Angeles Mission. "I've never been demeaned or flattered by being called a Hollywood wife, whatever that means,'' she says. "Does anyone care?''

"I'm not into lunch-bunching,'' says Candy Spelling, wife of veteran TV producer Aaron Spelling. Currently negotiating with a top manufacturer to create a line of Candy Spelling Fantasy Dolls (her Holmby Hills mansion contains a doll museum housing her collection of hundreds of antique dolls), Spelling does her own thing. Who cares what the neighbors think?

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"Family above all, then work."

"I'm not into lunch-bunching."

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Hollywood women's lives are based on combinations: children and careers, activism and production deals, social commitments and private time. Patricia Duff Medavoy, wife of TriStar chairman Mike Medavoy, has very little private time these days. A political veteran, she has worked in Washington, mounted campaigns, served on the platform committee of the Democratic National Convention, and helped found Show Coalition and a new group, the Common Good, an organization designed to recognize television series and other projects that exemplify the spirit of compassion and humanity. The list of issues that draw her attention is endless—and she's currently developing film and TV projects.

Hollywood wives are as driven as their husbands, and just as tough. It takes energy, Hollywood—and a survivor's will. There's drama at every turn. Husbands with heads full of corporate politics and box-office figures. Projects in rapid turnaround. Children in changing worlds with problems the writers of Beverly Hills, 90210 haven't even begun to think about. Earthquakes coming and mud slides in the hills.

The six wives on these pages bring substance to their world. Grace under pressure. Backbone and enough wit to sit back and laugh when things get crazy.

The sustaining element in their lives is family. In a town where success can be isolating, most Hollywood wives—and husbands—have learned to keep the home fires burning. "Family above all, then work,'' vows Wendy Finerman, who heads her own production company and shares her life with Mark Canton, chairman of Columbia Pictures. Jane Bovingdon Semel, who has been married to Warner Bros, president and chief operating officer Terry Semel for 15 years, seems to agree. "You don't wave a wand to be a good mother— you're there around the clock.'' It's a far cry from what the novels have led us to expect. But Jane Semel isn't too interested in old fictions.

"Frankly, they can call me anything they damn well please, Hollywood wife or whatever,'' Semel continues. "I know who I am.''

That pretty much says it.

GEORGE CHRISTY

Edie Wasserman, whom many designate as Hollywood's First Lady, has amassed millions for the Motion Picture and Television Fund.