Pro wrestler Bill Goldberg is a fierce competitor in the ring but, as seen here in Atlanta, Ga., with a kitten named Mo, he’s got a soft spot in his heart for furry creatures.

Bill Goldberg, by his own admission, is a man of extremes. The 33-year-old World Championship Wrestling pro is known for signature moves that have names like “the Spear” and “the Jackhammer.”

At 6′4″ and 285 lbs, Goldberg, a former pro football player for the Atlanta Falcons and the L.A. Rams, seems custom-built for his over-the-top profession. But underneath all those muscles, he’s really just a big softy — especially when it comes to animals. In fact, he’s the official spokesperson for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). “Deep down inside, a lot of these tough-image guys have pets at home and adore them like they’re their children,” he says. “I can tell you for sure a lot of the guys in the WCW feel the same way.” Lately, Goldberg has had plenty of time to hang out with the pets he loves so much (not to mention long-time live-in girlfriend Lisa Shekter) because of a wrestling-related injury he sustained last December. While attempting to shatter a car window, he severed tendons and muscles in his arm, coming within a centimeter of hitting a crucial nerve. He admits that “the scar from the 190 stitches doesn’t look too good.” A recent return to the ring resulted in another injury. Fans might be surprised about his love of furry creatures, but he says those who know him well have long seen his sensitive side. “I’m an extremist in my difference of emotions,” the surprisingly soft-spoken Goldberg says. “I go from the bottom of the spectrum all the way to the top. People who know me expect nothing less.” He understands he may “shock” the average wrestling fan with his charity of choice but offers, “I’m a human too, just like anyone else.”   The wrestler’s interest in animals was sparked way back when he was a kid in Tulsa, Okla. “All the memories I have of the dogs the family had when I was a kid are all so positive,” he says, adding that it was when his sister gave him his own pup that he “learned the true meaning of the relationship between man and animal.” Then, when Goldberg’s parents — Jed, an obstetrician, and Ethel, a former concert violinist who’s now a professional orchid judge — were going through a tough divorce, he says he turned to his dog for comfort. “My dog Rocky, my Rottweiler, became my best friend at that point,” Goldberg confides.

A few years ago, after achieving so much success as a wrestler, Goldberg figured it was only natural to give something back. So in 1998 his agent, at Goldberg’s request, contacted the Humane Society. “To do nothing with [my success] would be worse than not having it,” Goldberg says. “So I turned my energy into doing as much as I could for the community.” One of the first official duties Goldberg performed for the Humane Society was in February 1999, when he spoke in front of Congress about illegal animal fighting. According to the HSUS’s Pat Ragin, senior director of campaigns and planning, “Capitol Hill was electrified.” In fact, Ragin couldn’t be more thrilled with Goldberg. “He’s very gentle and caring,” she gushes. “Kids love him. He stands and patiently signs every autograph for hours and hours . . . I’ve gotten letters from people who have joined the Humane Society because of him. He really cares about beings who can’t speak for themselves.” Right now, Goldberg says, he’s working on creating Bill Goldberg Pet Adoption Day. While he’s adamant about the importance of getting pets spayed and neutered, he believes, “If you can’t immediately raise awareness about neutering your animals, the No. 1 priority is to get good homes for the ones that are out there.” Goldberg’s other pet peeves include fur (”How bad is it to know that you could have a stuffed animal with cat or puppy fur on it?”) and pet stores (”I don’t think that should be legal. It kills me to walk into a mall and see a dog displayed behind a glass wall.”). His intense love of animals notwithstanding, Goldberg hasn’t taken the plunge into vegetarianism — yet. “I watch what I eat. I stay away from certain things,” he says. “I’m getting towards the idea that it doesn’t taste as good as it used to because I really think about where it came from.” The sensitive man of steel pauses for a moment. “I’m becoming aware of everything now.” — TRACEY MIDDLEKAUFF Posted on June 29, 2000 Copyright © 2000 Time Inc.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye offers an inside glimpse into the life of the former televangelist.

Tammy Faye Messner — formerly Bakker — is a vision in lavender. Her 4′11″ frame is swathed in a full-length skirt and matching sweater set, accented with an eye-poppingly large amethyst ring, purple-beaded bracelet and matching necklace. The whole lot is topped off with a stunning red coif, and she’s been given a boost with the help of 3-inch heels on strappy silver sandals.

But it turns out that Tammy Faye, 58, doesn’t need any kind of a boost. The former televangelist known for crying mascara into rings around her eyes is now the star of a new documentary about her life. The Eyes of Tammy Faye (narrated by female impersonator RuPaul, a fellow extravagant dresser), will be opening across the country throughout August. And on this particular July day, Tammy Faye is greeting reporters at New York’s Essex House, a swanky hotel on Central Park South. She’s generous with friendly greetings and bubbly chit-chat, and her eyelashes don’t look nearly as extreme in person as they do on television.

In fact, Tammy Faye Messner is certifiably cute. And despite all she’s been through, she remains upbeat.

Born in a devout family in International Falls, Minn., she married itinerant preacher Jim Bakker in the early ’60s. They co-founded and served as hosts on the North-Carolina based PTL (Praise the Lord) Club, a 24-hour Christian broadcasting network, which reached over 20 million people in its heyday in the early ’80s and spawned its own Christian theme park, Heritage USA.

But then came the fall. Bakker became involved with PTL secretary Jessica Hahn in 1980, then in 1987 was convicted of tax fraud. Since then Tammy Faye has successfully battled drug addiction and colon cancer. She remarried (Heritage USA contractor Roe Messner) and faced his imprisonment (and release) on a fraud conviction for hiding $400,000 in assets during his 1990 bankruptcy proceedings. After her remarriage, she became estranged from her grown children from her first marriage, Tammy Sue and Jaime, but they’ve since reconciled.

Filmmakers intrigued by her attitude

It’s no wonder Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, directors of The Eyes of Tammy Faye, say they have been fascinated by their subject’s never-give-up attitude.

They were also clearly interested in her views. One of Tammy Faye’s unexpected facets is her open-minded attitude about homosexuality, which may seem paradoxical given her strong fundamentalist Christian beliefs. In fact, the film contends that the Christian right was instrumental in the PTL’s downfall, partly because of Tammy Faye’s beliefs.

Personally, she says she believes Christians are far too
judgmental. “The Bible says that our job is not to judge, it’s to
love,” she says. “And I think Christians ought to drop the judgmental
thing and begin to love people.” Besides, Tammy Faye — who cohosted
1996’s short-lived talk show The Jim J. and Tammy Faye Show, with the openly gay Jim J. Bullock — maintains she can never forget the way the gay community came to her rescue during her darkest hours.

“When [current husband Roe Messner] was in prison for two years, the gay community literally took care of me,” Tammy Faye remembers. “They sent me gifts, they sent me money, they sent me pictures of their dogs named Tammy Faye!”

She says her bond with the gay community is only natural: “I, too, have been a minority in that the whole world was against me. I know how that feels. I know how it feels to have people run you down and hurt you.”

These days, Tammy Faye and Roe Messner live in North Carolina. She was spending her time being a grandma — “Mama Faye, they call me” — when the film came along.

“We were gonna settle down and just enjoy life,” she says. “Well,  this movie came along and a bomb exploded in my life, and I’m really doing more than I’ve done in years. Which is fun because I’m not a person to just sit down.”

An added bonus was the bond she developed with the film’s narrator. “We have so much fun,” petite Tammy says of the 6′4″ RuPaul. “We laugh all the time we’re together . . . We talk about makeup, we talk about life, we talk about God, we just talk about everything.”

For the future, says the woman who’s done TV and now film, she’d
like to write books about fashion, style, “looking thin and dressing
thin, and how to make something out of nothing.” She’s also interested
in another TV platform: “I would love to have a talk show where
you bring people on who have been in similar situations and ask,
‘How did you get through it?’ And give people hope that no matter
what we go through life is still fun.”

But on this day she is most looking forward to her upcoming visit
to a New York City gay bar. “I can’t wait to get over there,” she
says. “I don’t drink, though. I will just be drinking Diet Coke.”

But Tammy Faye delivers her biggest surprise when she reveals
that she won’t be shopping on this particular trip to New York. “I have been busy from early morning to late at night,” she says
with a sigh. “But can you believe, Tammy Faye saying she’s too tired
to go shopping?”

— TRACEY MIDDLEKAUFF

Fighting AIDS in Memory of Her Father

British actress Natasha Richardson used to put her money where her heart was when it came to charities– and that was it. But when her father, director Tony Richardson,died of AIDS in 1991, she realized that she wanted to do more than sign a check.

So Richardson, 37, asked the American Foundation for AIDS Research if it could use her help. The answer, of course, was a resounding yes.

Cut short her honeymoon to help

Richardson didn’t just lend her name to amfAR, she started organizing and planning, and she hasn’t stopped since. In fact, she even cut short her 1994 honeymoon with actor Liam Neeson to work on a benefit gala for the premiere of her father’s last film. She and Neeson,who starred together in 1994’s Nell, now have two sons (Michael,5, and Daniel Jack, 4) and Richardson has continued to work steadily as an actress in films and theater. She won a 1998 Tony for Cabaret.

“Whenever it gets to be too much and you think, ‘Aaahhh, I’d rather be with my children or doing anything other than making all these phone calls or writing all these letters,’ then you remember just how many people are sick and dying,” she said in a recent telephone interview. “That just spurs you on.”

Founded in 1985, about two years after attention began to focus on the AIDS epidemic, amfAR has so far raised nearly $166 million for the cause. Funds are raised for AIDS research and prevention,and lobbying for AIDS-related public policy. Though Richardson is not the only celebrity to speak on the organization’s behalf –Elizabeth Taylor and Sharon Stone are also well-known supporters– she is highly valued.

“She is an absolute magnificent pro,” says Jerry Radwin, amfAR’s CEO. Recalling when Richardson hosted amfAR’s 1996 World AIDS Day Luncheon, he says: “It was quite spectacular. She is an incredible presence, so articulate and so clearly motivated. That dedication really comes across to people.”

Richardson will be recognized for her contribution on Nov. 30, 2000, at amfAR’s World AIDS Day Honors. Although the actress says she is “touched and humbled” by the recognition,Radwin maintains that it’s long overdue.

A London native, Richardson belongs to the formidable Redgrave acting clan; she and sister Joely are part of the third generation to pursue the profession. Mom Vanessa Redgrave won an Oscar for 1977’s Julia and continues to act, and dad Tony Richardson,who won two 1964 Oscars (for direction and best picture, for Tom Jones), worked until he died. In fact, Natasha’s first major benefit for amfAR — after a benefit screening of her 1993 PBS filmSuddenly Last Summer — was the 1994 premiere of Blue Sky, her father’s last film, which stars Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones.

Premiering her father’s last film

This particular event served a dual purpose. “At the time, Orion[the studio that produced Blue Sky] had collapsed, so there wasn’t really anyone behind the movie,” says Richardson. “I thought it was important it have an impressive opening, and I knew it would benefit amfAR.”

Most recently, Richardson conceived and masterminded the Unforgettable Fashions of the Oscars dress auction in conjunction with Christie’s auction house. By all accounts, the event was an enormous success,raising over $1.5 million.

“That’s probably the most satisfying thing, to know that the money is going into research to save lives,” she says.

Even though Richardson doesn’t have a major benefit in the works right now — she’s been busy working on her forthcoming films, Wakin’ Up In Reno with Billy Bob Thornton and Never Better –you can bet her work with amfAR will continue.

“I think all people have the responsibility to give back,” she says. “I’ve always thought — I don’t know which gospel it is in the Bible because I’m not very religious — but, ‘Cast your bread upon the water and it shall be returned a thousandfold’ . . . I’ve always felt that very strongly.”