The

By RICHARD CORLISS

At 50, George Orwell said, everyone has the face he deserves. Barry Diller had that face by the time he was 30 and a fast-tracker at ABC. His premature baldness and stark visage gave him the look of an Edsel with the top down. And he already possessed that icy stare that made him, according to one Hollywood wit, "the last person you'd want to spill a drink on at a cocktail party." These, and a great gut for pop culture, served him well as chairman of Paramount Pictures from 1974 to '84, when it produced golden-calf movies (Grease, Flashdance) and cash-cow TV series (Taxi, Cheers). Then he took over 20th Century Fox, where he stanched its financial hemorrhaging, stabilized its film program and, oh, started the first successful TV network in 40 years.

On Feb. 2, though, Diller turned 50. And the miracle mogul had to wonder, Did he have the power he deserved? Spawning Home Alone and The Simpsons loses its savor if the profits you generate go out of Fox's entertainment pocket and into the frayed purse of the newspapers owned by your boss, Rupert Murdoch. Or any company owned by anyone else. At Disney, Diller's friend and former underling Michael Eisner answers only to God and the Bass brothers. Ted Turner, Larry Tisch -- these guys own stuff. Diller just ran things. "For 30 years I've been an employee," he says. "It's long enough."

That was Diller's explanation for his abrupt announcement last week that he was leaving Fox. The funny thing is that it may be true. "I decided to leave in June of last year," he says. "Finally, I ran out of excuses." With Fox TV in its third profitable year, Diller could leave with a keen sense of accomplishment. "I was there when Fox was a minute-and-a-half from going under," says producer James Brooks, who brought the network respect with The Tracey Ullman Show and then killer clout with The Simpsons. "But Barry brought it off. It wasn't an act, it wasn't manipulation. It was sheer force of will."

Some observers say Diller is getting out while the getting is good. The film division has floundered with costly snoozers like Dying Young and For the Boys. The TV network could sail back into red ink when it expands from five to seven nights. And Murdoch, now based in Los Angeles, promises or threatens to be a hands-on boss.

Diller may want to get his hands on another network -- NBC seems tantalizingly vulnerable -- and remake it in his own image, with spikier programming, homemade stars and a skeletal news staff; he could even sell the network's local stations. "Whatever happens," says David Geffen, the movie- and-music magnate who has been mentioned as a potential Diller investor, "he won't rest for long. He loves a challenge. He's not afraid. He's got elephant balls."

For now, Babar hints at his future by invoking his past. "The only things that have interested me are the things I've started: the movie of the week, the novel for TV ((he bought Roots for ABC)), building that fourth network from a blank piece of paper. Things that haven't been done before don't scare me. So today I feel euphoric and lucky. I can put all my energy into this new project. Whatever it will be."

Barry, you tease!

With reporting by Sally B. Donnelly and Martha Smilgis/Los Angeles