SHORT TAKES : Roberts Breaks GQ Tradition

NEW YORK — Calling her “every man’s fantasy,” GQ magazine has put actress Julia Roberts on its cover, the first woman to appear alone there since the male-oriented quarterly became a monthly in 1981.

“We’ve debated--often hotly--whom our first cover girl ought to be,” GQ Editor-in-Chief Art Cooper said. “But when we finally decided to do it, there was no question that it would be Julia Roberts: the hottest, most riveting actress in Hollywood.”

The 23-year-old star of “Flatliners,” “Pretty Woman” and the soon-to-be released “Sleeping With the Enemy” appears wearing an oversized white shirt, provocatively draped.

Actress Geena Davis appeared on the cover in 1989 with then-husband Jeff Goldblum.