People Of The Century

By Michele Orecklin

MURDER INC. Crime and fame make a lethal cocktail. This century, the public drank it up.

STANFORD WHITE MURDERED: In 1906, the country's foremost architect was killed by the husband of EVELYN NESBIT, with whom White had had an affair. SPAWNED: A vaudeville career for Nesbit; a subplot for Ragtime

FATTY ARBUCKLE ACCUSED: In 1921, the comic was charged with, but never convicted of, the rape and murder of a starlet he met at an orgy SPAWNED: The Hays code, an attempt to clean up Hollywood's image by limiting sexual content in films

CHERYL CRANE KILLS: In 1958, Lana Turner's 14-year-old daughter fatally stabbed her mother's mobster boyfriend SPAWNED: Theories suggesting Turner was the real killer; a renaissance in Turner's career

O.J. SIMPSON ACQUITTED: The football star was charged, and found not guilty, in the 1994 murder of ex-wife Nicole and her acquaintance Ron Goldman SPAWNED: Best sellers by previously unknown writers; Marcia Clark's TV career; Johnnie Cochran's TV career

TILL BOREDOM DO US PART

Gloria Swanson and Hedy Lamarr each married six times; Ernest Borgnine and Martin Scorsese, five apiece. There's a word for this kind of person: amateur. Following is a list of those who took serial-vow taking seriously:

ZSA ZSA GABOR

OCCUPATION: Actress MARRIAGES: 9 SHORTEST: 1 day LONGEST: 13 years and counting ODDEST MATE: Her divorce lawyer from a previous marriage

MICKEY ROONEY

[OCCUPATION:] Actor [MARRIAGES:] 8 [SHORTEST:] 100 days [LONGEST:] 22 years and counting [ODDEST MATE:] AVA GARDNER, the renowned, and tall, beauty

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

[OCCUPATION:] Actress [MARRIAGES:] 8 [SHORTEST:] eight months [LONGEST:] 10 years [ODDEST MATE:] Larry Fortensky, a construction worker she met in rehab MARTHA RAYE

[OCCUPATION:] Actress [MARRIAGES:] 7 [SHORTEST:] less than a year [LONGEST:] 11 years [ODDEST MATE:] Mark Harris, 32 years her junior, after a three-week courtship

LARRY KING

[OCCUPATION:] Talk-show host [MARRIAGES:] 7 [SHORTEST:] less than a year [LONGEST:] seven years [ODDEST MATE:] Two marriages to the same former Playboy bunny

HELLO, YOUNG LOVER What happens when Men of a Certain Age are drawn to women of a teen age?

CHARLIE CHAPLIN AND OONA O'NEILL He was 54; she was 18 But: two of his previous brides were even younger

JERRY LEE LEWIS AND MYRA GALE BROWN He was 22; she was 13 But: they were second cousins, so they knew each other really well

FRANK SINATRA AND MIA FARROW He was 50; she was 19 But: his friends found it amusing. "I have scotch older than Mia Farrow," quipped Dean Martin

ELVIS PRESLEY AND PRISCILLA BEAULIEU He was 24; she was 14 But: they didn't have sex or get married for eight years

WOODY ALLEN AND SOON YI PREVIN He was 56; she was 21 (although she has no birth certificate, and could have been younger) But: technically, he was not her father

FEUDS OF THE CENTURY

MARY MCCARTHY AND LILLIAN HELLMAN Best Punch: McCarthy on Hellman--"Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.'"

ORSON WELLES AND WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST Best Punch: Citizen Kane

JOAN CRAWFORD AND BETTE DAVIS Best punch: Davis on Crawford--"She slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie."

GEORGE STEINBRENNER AND BILLY MARTIN Best punch: the five times Steinbrenner fired Martin