PEOPLE

By Belinda Luscombe

NOW ENGLAND SCHWINGS

When they were young lads growing up in Toronto, MIKE MYERS and his brother were sent Beatles suits by an aunt in Liverpool, whence his parents had emigrated. Thus, perhaps, was Myers' deep-seated anglophilia born. His newest creation, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, is clearly from a place far, far away from Wayne's World. He's a swinging '60s English fashion photographer by day and secret agent by night, who has himself frozen, as does his nemesis, Dr. Evil, also played by Myers. When Evil returns in 1997, so must Powers, along with his 1967 sexual mores and bad teeth. "The English won the war," says Myers of the many dental jokes in the movie, "and lost their teeth."

SEEN & HEARD

Available soon in the jazz-to-die-for genre, A Very Still Life, a CD featuring the work of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Don't expect "horribly morbid stuff," warns Resist Records owner Chad Williams, who says Kevorkian's compositions are "upbeat." Backed by the Morpheus Quintet, the doctor improvises on flute. Some of the proceeds, if any, will fund an assisted-suicide clinic.

Wedding gifts aren't considered campaign contributions, which is just as well for the second family. Karenna Gore, 23, has become engaged to Andrew Schiff, a Manhattan doctor. Karenna's father-in-law-elect is a Republican, but her betrothed supports the home team. No juicy details of how they met have been released, but the happy nuptials are in November.

HILFIGER'S BAD RAP

Fashion designer TOMMY HILFIGER is the subject of a lot of traffic on the Internet, normally a good thing for companies that sell to urban young groovoids. But Hilfiger's getting the wrong kind of attention. E-mail groups run by African Americans and other minorities--core Hilfiger clientele--have been getting messages urging them not to buy Hilfiger clothes because of racist things he allegedly said on Oprah. The rumor spread so fast that Oprah's producers received dozens of calls wanting to know if it was true. The clothing company would not speculate whether the Web traffic was an act of malice or idle talk run wild, but Hilfiger has started an E-mail campaign of his own to fight back. For the record, Hilfiger has never even met Oprah. "Although," noted his publicist, "he'd love to be on the show."

JESTER FOOL FOR LAUGHS

To make a complete fool of oneself movie after movie takes confidence. Not a problem for JIM CARREY. "I don't care if people think I am an overactor," he says, "as long as they enjoy what I do. People who think that would call Van Gogh an overpainter." Unlike Vincent, Carrey has found fans while he's still alive. So far, most have Y chromosomes and are under 25. But he's hoping his newest movie, Liar Liar, in which he plays a dad who has to tell the truth for a day, will change that. "It will open my work up to a different audience, like older women, who I may have alienated," he says. As for going over the top, his current project, The Truman Show, about a man who discovers his life is literally a TV show, may cure him. Says Carrey: "It's like laser surgery compared with what I normally do."