The Faces of 1994 : From the Twentysomething Mayor Who Stayed Home to the Eightysomething Photographer Who Returned There, We Catch Up With some of These Pages’ Most Interesting Personalities : KATHLEEN SULLIVAN : ‘This Is Going to Be a Great Year!’

Going, going, going . . . gone!

First went the gray hair, then went the fat. And now, the pudgy Kathleen Sullivan of the baggy sweaters and the salt-and-pepper locks is--dare we say it?--gone forever.

In her place is a svelte, smart, raven-haired beauty with oh-so-many job offers and oh-so-much to share about losing weight “the healthy way” (“Winning for Losing,” Feb. 24, View).

On New Year’s Eve, the world will see what a year of Weight Watchers can do for a gal--and, not coincidentally, for her career.

In the first of the diet plan’s commercials for 1995, we’ll witness the sweet-faced, tart-tongued Sullivan in a black spandex cat suit bragging about how she lost 30 pounds. And brag she should. After all, wasn’t it just a few seasons ago that she was unemployed, overweight, depressed and broke?

Sullivan, 40, made her national debut as the first Olympic anchorwoman in 1984. In 1987, she switched from ABC to CBS, where she woke us up to the fact that the early morning news shows weren’t just for perky blondes.

Critics raved about her wit and her refreshingly natural (that is, slightly graying) good looks. But on Valentine’s Day, 1990, when she was fired, some suggested that it was because she had grown too natural for her own good.

So imagine our surprise when another, considerably heftier Kathleen Sullivan made her debut a year ago as the spokeswoman for Weight Watchers. Again, the girl from Arcadia won us over. “One moment I’m a network anchor and the next, well, look at me,” she told millions of viewers while patting her ample belly.

Now instead of a belly, Sullivan has her own TV pilot--”The Kathleen Sullivan Show,” which she described as a kind of “Queen for a Day for the ‘90s--a show designed to make women’s dreams come true.”

Sullivan’s own dreams continue to come true as she enters the second year of what has been called the most public diet in history. While most of her excess weight is history, Sullivan says her goal for 1995 is keeping it off.

“This is the toughest thing,” Sullivan said, “but with 2 million other people out there who’ve done it, I’m really inspired. This is going to be a great year!”