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Crazy like Napoleon. Margaux has picked up the fashion world and wrapped it round her little finger; she has tamed the press and subdued Madison Avenue. "It's like a fairy tale," she agrees. "But blah blah, woof woof, as Jimi Hendrix used to say." Says Miss Mary, Ernest Hemingway's widow (and Margaux's step-grandmother): "She was such a nice healthy kid, I hope nothing spoils her, natch." About her publicity-hating grandfather, Margaux is admiringly respectful, exulting: "Grandpa's spirit's in my marrow." But she prefers people to realize that it is Margaux, not Ernest, who is the big name today. She is even getting over her fear of competition. When Joan came to New York recently to promote the movie Rosebud, for which she had helped write the original novel, Margaux talked up Muffet's forthcoming cookbook, Picnic Gourmet, to the press.
Now that she is rich and free, "the girl of the '70s," Margaux is moving from pop fame to superstardom. Her life seems to stretch ahead of her like a field of virgin snow. Margaux likes that terrain. Says she: "I love to ski in powder. Then I can look back and see my tracks alone—nobody else's at all."
Professional Beauties
Although Margaux is almost literally out of sight, she is not alone in the rather special world of professional beauties. Many make $100,000 a year or more from their looks. "You either have it or you don't," says Carrie Donovan of Harper's Bazaar. "A beauty must be able to project herself, be dramatic, an actress." Hollywood Starlet Deborah Raffin, 22, a lean blonde with almost cliché American looks, has projected herself with more effect on the covers of glossy magazines than in the movies. Picked at age 19 to play Liv Ullmann's daughter in 40 Carats, she also starred in the uproariously bad Once Is Not Enough. Deborah insists on being identified when she models. "She does it to build her name," says her husband-manager, Michael Viner. The Viners are a refreshingly naive couple in Beverly Hills. Deborah likes stuffed animals, and Michael, who is also a record producer, insists that no mention of hard drugs be made in any of the songs he produces. Deborah, too, has firm ideas. In Enough, she played January, the chick who matures with the help of alcohol and drugs, but she modified the role to a more normal adolescence. She also objects to nudity in films: "It violates my privacy." That stand prompted Co-Star Kirk Douglas to ostracize her on the set. He accused her of being frigid. "It seems funny now," says Deborah. "But at the time it took all my strength to hold back the tears. I never want anyone to think I'm one of the thousands of 'starlets' who will do anything to be in a movie."