People: Apr. 28, 1986

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All right, contestants, is this a treatment for the latest Jackie Collins mini-series . . . or is it the Real Thing? Born in London to Irish and Iraqi- Chilean parents, and already a top fashion model at 16, she is introduced to Director Roman Polanski, who casts her in his new film, Pirates. Next, she beats out 500 other girls for a coveted part in the upcoming Eddie Murphy comedy Golden Child. Then gossip columnists report that Charlotte Lewis, 18, once linked with Polanski, is now seeing Ballet Star Mikhail Baryshnikov, but the lady describes both men as "just good friends." Sorry, folks, a script it's not. She says that it is all true, and why not believe her? Lewis is delightfully candid and seemingly unaffected by her promising career. "I don't think I knew anything about the business," she says sweetly. "I still don't."