The Best People of 1998

1. JERRY SEINFELD One magazine summed it up perfectly: Much Adieu About Nothing. But the sitcom that dominated the American television landscape for much of the past decade was always about something (Junior Mints, one's domain, puffy shirts, low talkers), and the news that Seinfeld was about to take Seinfeld off the air came as far more than a sign-off. The run-up to the show's final episode was a period of national mourning--filled with high-flown elegies and exhaustive studies of the Seinfeld canon. Handling the hoopla with typical timing and insouciance, stand-up comic Seinfeld showed he knew when it was time to step offstage.2. OPRAH WINFREY America's ranchers knew something of Oprah's clout when they sued her for saying that mad cow disease had scared her off of burgers--thereby supposedly driving down beef prices. They didn't know enough, though, because they lost. Few other obstacles stood in the way of the talk-show host, who shed enough pounds to win herself a Vogue cover and, more satisfyingly, earned raves for her starring role in the film version of the Toni Morrison novel Beloved--which she had nearly single-handedly brought to the screen.3. JACKIE CHAN Asia's grinning, hyperkinetic superstar had knocked on Hollywood's door many times before. But this was the year American audiences finally let him in: Chan's big-budget buddy flick Rush Hour raked in $33 million in its first week and has gone on to earn more than $140 million worldwide. In a hot-selling autobiography, Chan also described the hardships that preceded triumph. Now he's smiling all the way to the bank.4. CAMERON DIAZ The leggy stunner has forged a steady path toward acting respectability from her days as an Elite model and her sexpot debut in The Mask. In her brilliantly unfeigned performance in the year's sleeper hit, There's Something About Mary, she arrived. Glowing reviews for yet another dark (or in the case of Mary, many would say sick) comic turn in Very Bad Things top off a stint as what one U.S. magazine declared the It Girl of 1998.5. DANA INTERNATIONAL Many things tend to expose the rift between secular and ultra-religious Israelis, and a lissome transsexual chanteuse was, not surprisingly, one. Fans danced in the streets when the former Yaron Cohen won the Eurovision Song Contest. Detractors--including a deputy mayor of Jerusalem, which may host next year's contest--blasted the victory as an embarrassment. The sultry Dana handled the hubbub with the skill of a diplomat, announcing with a smile that, My victory was a present to all of Israel.PAGE 1|
There was more than just Monica
Nothing could touch Saving Private Ryan
Tom Wolfe returned as the novelist in full
France's World Cup of joy brimmed over
Seinfeld's sayonara was much ado about nothing
No prizes for guessing The Big One
A noble winner--and a pair of Nobel losers
Saving Suriname ... and the swordfish6. ALAIN DUCASSE The French chef won his first coveted three-star rating from Michelin at the age of 33. When he won his second--for the eponymous eatery he opened in Paris in 1996--the guidebook decided that was too many kitchens for one cook: it took one star away from his original establishment, Monaco's Louis XV. This year Michelin restored that star--giving a single-chef six for the first time in more than 60 years--and blessing the notion of the food designer who doesn't actually need to be present to craft haute cuisine.7. PRINCE CHARLES As he hit the dreaded Five-Oh, the Prince of Wales enjoyed a rebirth of popular affection. A glitzy birthday party thrown at his Highgrove estate by longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles--attended by celebrities and a slew of European royals, as well as Princes William and Harry--highlighted the fact that the public has warmed up to Charles in the year since Princess Diana's death and may even have begun to accept the idea of Camilla as the royal mistress, if not future Queen.8. NICOLE KIDMAN Although it may not have been, as one critic gushed, pure theatrical Viagra, Nicole Kidman's seductive turn in The Blue Room--David Hare's low-budget adaptation of the turn-of-the-century comedy of sexual manners, La Ronde--revitalized the London stage enough to win her a special prize at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards and a far more lucrative run on Broadway. A role in Stanley Kubrick's upcoming Eyes Wide Shut (with hubby Tom Cruise) promises yet more opportunity for critical overstatement.9. JESSE THE BODY VENTURA Demolishing their state's reputation for blandness, the voters of Minnesota gave America something to chuckle about when they elected the former professional wrestler as their Governor. Dismissing cracks that he may find the political ring more difficult than the other one, a very serious Ventura declared that henceforth he wanted to be known as The Mind.10. ZHANG YIMOU It seemed impossible that any production could live up to the, well, operatic hype that surrounded Zhang's rendition of the Puccini classic Turandot. The filmmaker's rare eye, however, transformed Beijing's Forbidden City into a radiant fantasia stunning both for its vast scale (cast of hundreds!) and its nuance (expensive costumes!). In his triumph Zhang conquered not only genre, but expectation.|2
There was more than just Monica
Nothing could touch Saving Private Ryan
Tom Wolfe returned as the novelist in full
France's World Cup of joy brimmed over
Seinfeld's sayonara was much ado about nothing
No prizes for guessing The Big One
A noble winner--and a pair of Nobel losers
Saving Suriname ... and the swordfish