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By Chris Nashawaty
Chris Nashawaty
Chris Nashawaty
Chris Nashawaty is a senior writer for EW, and author of EW.com's DVD Insomniac column

It would be a bit of a stretch to compare Bill Clinton to Harrison Ford's heat-packin' Commander-in-Chief, James Marshall, in Air Force One. Wendy Crewson's Air Force First Lady (pictured at right), however, is a different story: She's straight-up Hillary Rodham Clinton. Not only does she stand by her man and protectively cling to her adolescent daughter, she even sports a sensible, '90s, go-everywhere coif. But Crewson's not the first big-screen presidential wife to smack of a real-life First Lady:

SIGOURNEY WEAVER in Dave: Fashionable and aloof; Weaver's husband (Kevin Kline) is a lothario who becomes ill and is replaced (Kline again) in a conspiracy; her real-life father worked for the NBC TV network. JACKIE KENNEDY: Fashionable and aloof; Kennedy's husband was a lothario whose assassination is thought by many to have been a conspiracy; worked really well on network TV.

SHIRLEY MACLAINE in Guarding Tess: A saucy, argumentative, highball-drinking, golf-playing presidential widow with a dog of a hairdo and wacky hats; comes off like a hairy drill sergeant while bossing Nicolas Cage. BESS TRUMAN: A saucy, argumentative, highball-drinking, bridge-playing presidential widow who popularized the ''poodle cut'' and wore even wackier hats; nicknamed the Boss by Harry.

GLENN CLOSE in Mars Attacks!: Has an icy personality, an infinite wardrobe of pricey red outfits, and a fetish for White House china; loathes visitors commuting from Mars; appears in movie with crooner Tom Jones. NANCY REAGAN: Had an icy personality, an infinite wardrobe of pricey red outfits, and a fetish for White House china; loved visitors and consulted the stars; appeared at galas with crooner Frank Sinatra.

MARY MCDONNELL in Independence Day: Is killed in an alien attack during her husband's administration; Milquetoast presidential spouse goes to war; you could stuff the Federal Reserve with ID's profits. ELLEN WILSON: Is killed by an attack of kidney tuberculosis during her husband's administration; Milquetoast presidential spouse (Woodrow Wilson) goes to war; her husband created the Federal Reserve.


Posted Aug 01, 1997 | Published in issue #390 Aug 01, 1997 | Order Article Reprints