People

By Michele Orecklin

EVEL'S HOG GOES WILD

EVEL KNIEVEL once fractured his skull and pelvis jumping over fountains at Caesar's Palace. Last week his leg was injured when his parked motorcycle fell over and pinned him to the ground. Knievel, 60, was rescued by neighbors who heard his pleas for help. Though he complained of leg pain and a scraped elbow, Knievel refused to be taken to a hospital. Even a glutton for pain is not impervious to a bruised ego.

HOGAN PLANS TO BE A CONTENDER

It was only a matter of time before other professional wrestlers followed Jesse ("The Body") Ventura's lead and declared their political candidacy. Personally, we were hoping it would be a long time. But this week ("Hollywood") HULK HOGAN plans to throw his bandanna into the ring and announce his intention to run for President in 2000. "When Jesse won, I said to my wife, 'My God, I'm 10 times more popular than him,'" says the man once known as Sterling Golden. "People know Hulk Hogan like they know McDonald's and Chevrolet." According to Hogan, those people include Ross Perot, Ted Turner and Oprah Winfrey, all of whom make the wrestler's short list for potential running mates--none of whom have yet been approached. Hogan feels his lack of political experience, or any real knowledge of policy whatsoever, will not be a hindrance. "If you have a lot of specialized people around you to bring you up to speed...you can basically sit down as a layman and decide what's right and wrong for the country." And if it comes to Jesse vs. Hulk for the presidency? "I'd like to get him in the ring, to basically stomp on him."

CAUGHT ON CAMERON

Much like the cover artists for Harlequin romances, the folks at Vanity Fair are powerless to resist featuring a beautiful woman astride a powerful beast. In its 1998 Hall of Fame issue, the magazine and photographer Steven Meisel present CAMERON DIAZ as this year's official model turned actress, dubbing her "a Tweety Bird with sex appeal." Though her gilded cage no longer includes Matt Dillon, the actress can be seen with another thuggish gent later this month when she co-stars with Christian Slater in the black comedy Very Bad Things.

THE ARTFUL ROGER SINGS DICKENS

When your acting debut involves playing a deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard in the first-ever rock opera, what do you do for an encore? If you're ROGER DALTREY, lead singer of The Who, you sign up to play that lovable old misanthrope Scrooge in the community-theater stalwart A Christmas Carol. When he takes the stage at Madison Square Garden later this month, Daltrey, 54, will perform not with his longtime bandmates but with the quaintly impoverished Cratchit family. Why would a rock star who once typified disaffected youth take on such a role? "It interested me because it involved children," says the newly avuncular Daltrey. The man who once defiantly sang, "I hope I die before I get old," can now be caught warmly warbling, "God bless us, every one!"

FEUD OF THE WEEK

NAME: (DON'T BELIEVE THE) HYPE WILLIAMS OCCUPATION: hipster/movie director BEST PUNCH: Accuses the former Laker of "censoring" his film by refusing to show it in the Magic Johnson Theater Chain due to possible violence.

NAME: (DO YOU BELIEVE IN) MAGIC JOHNSON OCCUPATION: hoopster/theater owner BEST PUNCH: Says Williams' film Belly depicts African Americans in a negative and violent light and has the potential to lead to "disruptive situations."

THE WINNER Magic, because he's still in control of Showtime