Great Hollywood Mistakes.

We're not going to dwell on so-called movie "bloopers" as there's a ton of websites out there that can point out even the smallest continuity screw up. No, I'm talking mistakes that have derailed, even ruined the careers.

Image, for example, is everything. Letting the whole world know you're an irresponsible drunk not only drives away your audience, it drives away investors who might finance your next film.

Look no further than Mickey Rourke, who only last year was able to crawl out of his self-created black hole and find a role that was able to capitalize on the actor's past. What comes next is up to him.

It's worse if you're a woman in Hollywood. All but a few have a relatively short shelf life in film, and this isn't the forum to argue about the cruelty of that fact. Add irratic behavior and the public perception swings from "oh, isn't she cute" to "look at that crazy bitch". Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Lindsay Lohan...

Lohan didn't help herself by becoming attracted to a lesbian disc jockey and proclaiming she was gay to everyone who would listen. While Hollywood is certainly one of the most gay-friendly industries around, a certain amount of modesty in the matter makes a great deal of difference to the ticket-buying public. Good job: Jodie Foster. Bad job: Anne Heche.

Dis-figure this: Actors have long relied on cosmetic surgery to prolong their careers, but sometimes the change can make them unrecognizable. The recent death of Patrick Swayze reminded me of his co-star in two movies, Jennifer Grey. Her nose job was probably the most costly in history, though she continues to get work, according to IMDB.

Which brings us to tonight's winner. Once so huggable you'd believe she could both shit kittens and piss glitter, Meg Ryan suffered not one but two tumultuous marriages to Miami Vice star Don Johnson (where'd he go, by the way?) and the fatal blow of getting her lips injected with collagen. She went from looking like America's sweetheart (see Sleepless in Seattle) to just another sultry looking woman in a cosmetics ad. We've got plenty of sultry women in Hollywood, but not enough sweethearts. Sorry, Meg.