Ultimately, a picture from any era can be extremely gorgeous. Not only that. They act as superb time capsules, taking us back to a time we will never know. These vintage photos may not have been taken on an iPhone, but they are absolutely gorgeous. Go on a journey to the past with these glorious photos.
Nowadays, taking a photo is one of the easiest things you can do. All you have to do is pop out your phone and you can take as many pictures as the iCloud can handle - which is a lot! Never before have we had the power to take pictures like we do now.
Does that devalue photos? It is hard to say. At the end of the day, nothing beats a good, old fashioned photographer with a good eye. It doesn't take the newest, most up to date camera either. Even a polaroid can look awesome if the photographer and subject are great.
Pictured here is Debbi Fields, a historic woman in the world of baseball. At the age of 13, she was hired as one of the first “ball girls” in Oakland. Ball girls were girls hired by the baseball teams to throw balls from the foul area. In this photo you can see that she's having a great time being a part of the game. I'm sure that throwing balls alongside some of the greats was quite a thrill.
She isn't only a pioneer in baseball. You might know her from her cookie business, Mrs. Fields cookies. That's right. She is THAT Mrs. Fields. She started the company with her husband, Randy Fields. They later divorced, but the cookie company still stands strong. She has also appeared on several TV shows including Frazier and the New Hollywood Squares.
Many young people may not know about Sonny and Cher, but there is no way they haven't heard one of their songs. They were a husband and wife duo who recorded the song, “I got you babe” in 1965, bursting them into stardom. They appeared on American Bandstand in 1965 - which back in the day, was a big deal. It was a performance show hosted by Dick Clark that featured teenagers dancing as musical acts performed.
Their romance wasn't as strong as their song “I got you babe” would suggest. They had some struggles due to the fact that they met when he was 27 and she was 16. In 1975 they went through a very nasty and very public divorce. Sonny Bono would die tragically decades later during a now infamous skiing accident where he ran into a tree.
Jim Liberman was a drag racer for the “Funny Car” circuit, but this photo is obviously not Jim Liberman. I bring him up because this is a photo of Pamela Hardy who was Jim LIberman's sidekick on the Funny Car circuit. At the age of 18, she made a spur of the moment decision to become his sidekick when she met Jim and saw his Corvette. The moment they met is like something out of the movies. He was driving past her, then immediately stopped, came back, and picked her up.
She loved cars and the lifestyle of drag racers, so the rest was history. Unfortunately she met an ironic death only a few years later. She was killed in a head to head collision with a bus. I'm sure if she would have had it her way, she would have rather met her maker on the drag strip.
Frank Zappa was a funky musician who was known for playing many different musical genres from rock music, to jazz, to pop, to even classical. That might make you think he was a drug user, like many rock musicians, but in fact he wasn't very keen on drug use after some bad experiences with marijuana. He was a big freedom of speech advocate, which is one of his lasting legacies beyond his music.
In this family photo with his parents, you can see his love for being funky. The room is almost entirely purple. Not only that, both he and his parents are matching with their outfits. By the looks of this picture, it is safe to say that his parents were supportive of all his funky endeavors. Either that or he forced them to take this photo.
This is a photo of famous actress Sharon Tate from Valley of the Dolls. It is a movie based on a novel by Jacqueline Susann about three girls who become addicted to pills while in show business. She starred in the movie alongside Patty Duke and Barbara Parkins. Tragically, Sharon Tate was murdered at a young age, only two years after the making of Valley of the Dolls.
Her murder was high profile due to the fact that she was eight and a half months pregnant and her death came at the hands of Manson acolytes. You may recognize the name from the new Tarantino movie, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, though you shouldn't expect an exact retelling of the events. Tarantino has a way of changing history for the sake of his movies, the same way he did with Inglourious Basterds.
Judy Landers was an actress who nailed the role of ditzy blonde in her heyday in the 70s. Her roles were always very fun and entertaining. Some of her movies include her first, Goldie and the Boxer, as well Armed and Dangerous with John Candy, the legendary comedian. She was also known to star in sitcoms like Night Court, Happy Days, BJ and the Bear and Charlie's Angels. You know she was a big star because those are shows that have stood the test of time and stayed in the zeitgeist.
During her interview on Johnny Carson in 1975, she mentioned to Johnny that she had a crush on him. He responded sharply by saying “when did the crush leave you?” Johnny Carson was known for his quick wit and ability to get the best out of the people he was interviewing. Sounds like another classic moment for Johnny.
This may not be the Steve Martin you recognize nowadays, then again, do any of us look the same as we did 50 years ago? I certainly hope not or else that might mean you are some kind of scientific experiment. Steve Martin is a beloved comedian who has inspired countless comedians to follow in his footsteps. From his early days on Saturday Night Live, he is a household name. He also got his start as a writer for The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, and the Smothers Brothers. His comedic pedigree is unmatched.
Some of his classic movies include The Father of the Bride, The Jerk, and The Man with Two Brains. One thing is for sure, Steve Martin is a zaddy nowadays, and he was a snack back in 1969.
At this time, Sophia Loren is 85 years old, but take a look at her back in the 70s, beaming with light and energy. She has been an actor since incredibly early in her life, acting in movies and joining in pageants. She won Miss Elegance 1950 when she was sixteen years old. This was part of the Miss Italia pageant. At 16 she got married to 37 year old Carlo Ponti. That might sound bizarre these days, but back then it was very common for a young girl to marry a much older man. It might have turned some heads at the time, but for the most part, it was natural. That is why it is hard to judge older relationships that are similar.
The 1960s were her heyday. She was one of the biggest stars in that decade, known for being a sex kitten.
Just ask your father or grandfather about Farrah Fawcett. There is a good chance they will start drooling, thinking about their memories of watching her. They might have even had her poster on their wall! Many men did! She was one of the original Charlie's Angels, the crime fighting, all-girl team. She was married to the Six Million Dollar Man, Lee Majors, so for the time they were married, they were quite the power couple. Nowadays we have three different sets of Charlie's Angels women, from the 2000s movie series and the newest 2019 picture.
After a while, she decided to move away from her sex symbol role and pursue more serious roles. Tragically, she died at the age of 62 from cancer. She is survived by her husband, Ryan O'neal who she was with for 29 years.
The story behind this driver's license is part of movie history. Robert De Niro starred in the classic movie, Taxi Driver. It is about a war veteran who battles his insomnia by becoming a night taxi driver. To get into character, Robert De Niro actually became a licensed taxi driver, which is why this license exists. This isn't unusual for De Niro. In Raging Bull, he actually trained in boxing with Joe Pesci. For Cape Fear, he transformed his body. He got tattoos, bulked up in the gym, and even ground his teeth down.
Taxi Driver has been in the public conversation recently because of the new film, Joker, which many say apes the Taxi Driver film. Joker is based off of the DC villain, but has very little ties to the comic book world.
Marilyn Monroe has been part of the public conversation for decades and decades after her passing. That is just how big of a star she was and still is. This photo is from a photoshoot for Life magazine. The photo shoot was entitled “Night with the Millers,” a series of photos depicting life between Marilyn Monroe and her 3rd husband, a playwright named Arthur Miller as they have a theater producer named Kermit Bloomgarden over for drinks. Bloomgarden and Miller knew each other from working on theater projects together. Unfortunately, their marriage didn't last long. Only five years before they realized they weren't a great match.
Marilyn Monroe is now an icon for feminism and beauty. To this day, people still get tattoos of her on their body, have cell phone cases with her picture on it, and dress up as her for Halloween.
This photo is from a network series entitled The Battle of the Network Stars that aired in 1976. The show focused on competitions between stars from different networks. It was awesome to see different celebrities challenge each other in ways you never would have expected. This photo is of Lynda Carter during her stint on the competition where she competed in swimming against other celebrities. She was training for the show while she was working on Wonder Woman, so she would wake up at 5am so that she would have time to film later in the day.
Despite her best efforts, Lynda Carter got third place in the show. Nowadays, instead of putting celebrities against each other, there are reality shows where humans take on bears in physical activities. It makes you wonder what's next.
Charles Bronson is action movie royalty. If you love action movies, there is a good chance you have seen all his movies, including Death Wish, The Dirty Dozen, and The Great Escape. He was perfect for the genre since he was the ideal man's man back in the day. Nowadays, a man's man discusses his feelings and bakes his own bread. Charles Bronson is somewhere shaking his head.
In this photo, Charles is with his second wife, Jill Ireland. Oddly enough, she had previously been married to Bronson's co-star in The Great Escape, David McCallum. Hollywood is a weird place like that, especially with the high rate of divorce among celebrities. Actors and actresses just can't help but fall in love with each other on set. If you are dating an actor, watch out for who they are co starring with. You could be in trouble.
Brigitte Bardot was an Italian movie star who was best known for being blonde. That is why this picture of her as a brunette might be a little shocking, but in fact, she was born brunette. It was in 1956 that she decided to go blonde. Once she went blonde, she didn't go back (rarely at least). The Italians really knew how to crank out movies because Brigitte Bardot starred in 40 of them, including The Truth, And God Created Woman, and Naughty Girl, which was a musical. Italian movies were very interesting because a majority of them would record all the dialogue after the scenes were shot, and then layer them over.
She retired from acting in 1973 to become an animal activist. It is always great to hear about an actor retiring from acting and deciding to put their time and energy into something positive.
This photo is of Linda Vaughn, also known as Miss Hurst Golden Shifter. The women alongsider her are her Hursettes. None of that might make any sense to you, so allow me to explain. Linda Vaughn became Miss Hurst Golden Shift when she entered a contest between 200 girls for the Race Queen title. Her Hursettes were Nikki Phillips and June Cochran. All three of them together were quite the hot ticket back in the day.
The Hursettes would go to racing events such as the Nationals, the Indy 500, and the Daytona 500 and offer support (and a little bit of eye candy) . She wasn't just eye candy though. Linda loved racing and she was even a race car driver herself. She got her SCCA license at the Jim Russell school. Don't go challenging her to a race.
Yvonne Craig was Batgirl on the 60s Batman television series, known for being extremely campy and silly. You may know it from the onomatopoeias that would blast on the screen whenever Batman punched or kicked. Whack! Bam! Boom! Yvonne Craig was a ballet dancer and actress, which helped her be a nimble crime fighter. In the show, Batgirl is the alter ego of a librarian/police chief's daughter. This is roughly her backstory in other iterations of the character as well.
Unfortunately, the show only lasted a year after she became a part of it. Batgirl wasn't her only role though. She also starred in movies like Gidget, It Happened at the World's Fair, and Kissing Cousins. She is out of the acting game now. No, she's not a librarian. She is a real estate broker.
Elvis Presley is just Justin Bieber for the older generation. That may seem like an inflammatory statement for Elvis fans, but what part of it isn't true? You may not like Justin Bieber, but your parents probably didn't like Elvis at the time either. Elvis was known for both his music as well as his movies. This is a shot from Viva Las Vegas which he starred in alongside Ann-Margaret. It is arguably his best movie. In Viva Las Vegas Elvis plays a race car driver who has to work at a hotel as a waiter with Ann Margret's character. Their romance buds and the rest is rom-com history.
Some people have controversial opinions about Elvis, like those who claim he stole music from black artists. Even without having stolen any music, there are still legitimate arguments that he gained popularity in the blues genre because he was a white man.
Alyssa Milano is an example of a child actor who has stayed in the business and come out of the other side without any horrible trauma. She has been in many iconic shows like Who's the Boss, Melrose Place, Charmed, My Name is Earl, and Mistresses. She has her babysitter to thank for her acting success. Her babysitter took her to an audition for Annie in which she was chosen out of 1,500 girls.
She had a difficult time breaking into movies and shows as an adult, especially as a sex symbol, because people still saw her as the little girl from Who's the Boss. She ended up doing some risque photo shoots and roles to help break out of that good-girl image. Now she's known as a sex symbol. I know I had her poster up on my wall.
Elizabeth Montgomery is most well known for her role in Bewitched where she played a witch married to a regular Joe. She would wiggle her nose to use her powers, which became an iconic TV image. Girls all over the country tried to wiggle their nose to be just like her. Aside from her work on Bewitched, she also starred in other movies and shows. This picture is from a movie called Johnny Cool. It is about a sordid love affair between a socialite and a gangster named Johnny Cool played by Henry Silva. The movie had a star studded cast including Sammy Davis Jr. and Jim Backus.
I have always wanted a wife who was a witch with special powers, but she would probably just use them against me. That is the bad thing about marrying a witch. It is all fun and games until she uses her powers on you.
M*A*S*H was a very peculiar and interesting show. It lasted over a decade from 1972 to 1983 and centered around the Korean War. Oddly enough, it is a comedy-drama. You don't see a lot of comedies about war time, but M*A*S*H certainly nailed it. The show took place at an Army hospital base and was about the lives of the team of doctors on the base. It was mostly a comedic show, but being about war, it often strayed into very serious issues. The laughter was a great way to explore some of the more serious social matters inherent in war.
The show thrived during the time of the Vietnam War. You might think that people would want to avoid war shows at the time, but the tone of the show was so good that it became a welcome relief.
1977 was the year of Smokey and the Bandit, an action-packed, romantic comedy about beer, love, and Burt Reynolds. In the movie, Burt Reynolds has to illegally smuggle beer across state lines (at the time, it was illegal to do so). During his travels, he picks up Sally Field after she had just run out on her wedding. To make matters worse, she was supposed to marry a sheriff's son. The sheriff is played delightfully by Jackie Gleason who appears drunk throughout the entire filming.
Sally Field is dynamite in Smokey and the Bandit. The chemistry between her and Burt Reynolds is part of what makes the movie such a classic. By that photo alone, you can only guess how much of a sex symbol she was. To this day, Sally Field can get it. She is absolutely gorgeous.
Alexandra Bastedo was a British actress who had success in the ‘60s and ‘70s. She became a household name in 1968 with the series The Champions. In the show, she played a spy named Sharron Macready. That is where she gained the status of “sexy symbol.” She has also been in the movies 13 Frightened Girls, The Aphrodite Inheritance, and most recently Batman Begins.
She later became an animal activist, which seems to be a common thread among actresses. She passed away in January of 2014 of cancer, just a year after her husband. They had been married for 33 years. It is always both sad and beautiful when two people in love die so soon after each other. It is as if they can't go on living in the world without the other person.
Wonder Woman was an amazingly fun series about the DC comic book character of the same name. This shot is from an episode where she had to rescue Joe Atkinson's daughter from the bad guy - an evil rock star. That is the kind of campy fun that I'd like to see more of in today's TV shows. An interesting fact about the show is that it was originally called The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, but they changed it after the first season.
Nowadays, the Wonder Woman mantle is taken by Gal Gadot who is almost unanimously agreed upon to be a great Wonder Woman. She has an exotic look, the sexy body, and a lot of personality. The new movie might not have the campy quality that the old show had, but it still has plenty of humor.
Beach movies aren't really a thing anymore, but there was a time when Hollywood was churning out beach movies. These are movies that usually have the same theme and storylines about love found on the beach, and they were always a great time, filled with musical numbers and dancing sequences - and of course, bikinis. The movie Beach Party stars Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. Those two were big stars in the ‘60s. In most of their movies, they are madly in love. It is all very wholesome. These days, a beach movie would involve a Tinder hook-up.
Even though beach movies are full of sex appeal with all the bikinis and dancing, Annette Funicello always wore a very modest bathing suit. In a way, that actually makes her more sexy because she's different from the other girls.
This picture has an interesting history, especially if you are a fan of Brad Pitt and Christina Applegate (how could you not be?!). This is a photo from the MTV movie awards in 1989 where Brad Pitt and Christina Applegate were on their first date. An award show is an odd place for a first date, but hey, Hollywood is a weird place. Despite being friends for a long time, this was their first official date, but it went south quickly. According to Hollywood history, she left Brad that very night for another guy.
As far as who the mystery guy is, no one knows for sure. It's been rumored to be Sebastian Bach, according to none other than Sebastian Bach, but Christina Applegate refuses to say. I'm not sure what woman in her right mind would reject Brad Pitt though!
Brigitte Bardot came into the Hollywood scene like a red hot comet. People just couldn't get enough of this dark-haired French girl. It quickly rose her to the status of one of the most beautiful women in the world. This all came about when she was just a teenager. She would later decide to go blonde (so that she could have more fun). People most likely remember her now as a blonde bombshell, even though she got her start as a brunette.
Nowadays, it is very common for actors from all parts of the world to act together and work on projects. In the ‘50s, a little French girl coming onto the scene was something much more unusual. I can see why audiences were so enamored by her. Being a cutie pie didn't hurt either.
Billy Joel is a music legend, and just like most music legends, he's had a rough life. He was married to a woman named Elizabeth Weber, his first wife and the absolute love of his life. She eventually divorced him which drove him to drinking. All that drinking got him into a situation straight out of a sitcom. One night he met 28 year old actress Christie Brinkley at St. Bart's and they hit it off. Unbeknownst to Brinkley, Billy Joel was also hooking up with a 19-year-old Elle Macpherson.
Billy Joel might have gotten away with it, but when he took Brinkley back to his place, Elle was there waiting for him. Busted! The story has a happy ending though. Brinkley and Joel eventually got married and had a daughter together. That sounds like it could be a Billy Joel song.
This photo is of a young Helen Mirren in the British film Herostratus. Just how young is she in this? It is her first movie! It is a very sexual scene where she talks straight to the camera seductively. The movie is about a poet who plans to commit suicide, but I wish it was an hour and a half of Helen Mirren talking dirty to me. Now that's a movie I would want to see!
Helen Mirren has gone on to become an acting legend. My favorite role of hers? Her role in the Fast and Furious series of movies. She has been in both Hobbs and Shaw as well as the Fate of the Furious. She plays Deckard Shaw's mother. One of my greatest joys in the world is knowing that Helen Mirren has played in the same movie universe as Dominic Turetto.
This is Beverly Pilkington, a British model who just loved nuts. I'm talking about Big D Nuts, a Dallas based nut company (the D stands for Dallas, not what you were thinking). She would be part of their ad campaigns, which led to massive sales. You might be wondering what “Europe or Bust” has to do with nuts. I don't want to get into the connection between nuts and busting, so I'll just say, this specific shirt wasn't for Big D's nuts at all.
This shirt was part of a campaign to keep Europe in the EEC. It's great to see her use her sexual powers for something other than selling nuts. I truly believe that politics can be better shaped by sex appeal than by actual policy. Nine times out of ten, I'll vote for the hot person.
I just love the name Barbi (with an E or without). It isn't a name you find out in the wild anymore. It seems that the name has fallen out of fashion due to modern feminism having complicated feelings about Barbie the doll. Girls with the name Barbi(e) are just naturally cuter. It's science.
This is Barbi Benton who was a singer, model, and actress. She was in the show Hee Haw for four seasons. For you horndogs out there, she was also in Playboy magazine at the ripe young age of 18 which spawned her relationship with Hugh Hefner himself. Their relationship lasted seven years. When she was 20 she starred in a movie called The Naughty Cheerleader, so it is pretty obvious that she had no issues flaunting her sex appeal. I have no issues with it either.
Bruce Lee is one of the most famous martial artists in the world, which is saying something since there are tons of great action movie stars both past and present. There was just something about him that was magnetic. His physical abilities were unparalleled. He would have to move slower when shooting movies because his movements were too fast for the camera to pick up. He even created his own martial arts system called Jeet Kun Do, which he developed while he was paralyzed. That's how much of a bad ass he is.
He came back into the spotlight most recently in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood where he was depicted by actor Mike Moh. Some called the performance unfair to Lee's legacy because he is shown as a braggart who gets bested by Brad Pitt.
Remember phone booths? Maybe you do, in which case you must be 30 or older, or you don't which means you grew up after they've been decimated by cell phones. Phone booths were a necessity back in the day. No one loved them more than Bruce Springsteen. When he was a teen, he would escape to the phone booth to talk to his girl for hours, even when it was cold in the winter time. This was all because he didn't want to go home.
If you've listened to Bruce's music, you can guess that he didn't like his home life very much. He would fight with his dad all the time. One of their worst incidents was when Bruce's dad had a barber come and cut Bruce's hair while Bruce was recovering from a motorcycle accident.
You can't talk about funk music without talking about Chaka Khan. She was the queen of funk. She was the lead singer for a group called Rufus in the 1970s. Rufus did incredibly well. They had four gold albums, two platinum albums, and four gold singles. Of course, that is back when people were actually buying music. Oh, how the times have changed. It is getting harder for musicians to make money, but I don't feel too bad about that. I still see musicians buying mansions, so they can't be doing that badly.
Chaka Khan's song, “I'm every woman” is one that most people know because it has been used in TV, movies, and commercials for decades. It was the theme song for the Oprah Winfrey show for many years, which is where I remember first hearing it. My mom would watch Oprah and I would gleefully sing along to the theme song.
Italian actresses were all the rage in the 60s and the 70s. The Italian film industry was booming which made for a lot of opportunities for Italian actresses to crossover to American films. That is exactly what Claudia Cardinale did. She acted in Italian and American movies, really blowing up when she was in The Pink Panther in 1963. Other notable performances include The Blindfold, The Professionals, and Once Upon a Time in the West. Tarantino's new movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a play off of the “Once Upon a Time” title moniker, but that's not the only connection. The main character, Rick Dalton, goes to Italy to star in Italian movies just like Claudia Cardinale.
She is regarded as one of the most beautiful women in film history. Don't believe me? Check out LA Times Magazine in 2011 where they named her one of the 50 most beautiful women in film history.
Clint Eastwood is seen here hanging out with the orangutan, Clyde, from the movie Every Which Way But Loose, which is an absolutely insane movie. It is a comedy about a motorcycle riding Eastwood who hangs out with an orangutan and gets into fights. It spawned a sequel called Any Which Way You Can which is just as beloved.
The movie is a lot of fun, but also very strange. Multiple times throughout the movie, it'll break into the titular theme song “Every Which way but Loose.” They really wanted to get their money's worth out of that song. Clyde the orangutan later moved to an orangutan haven to live out the rest of his life in peace. At the end of the day, an orangutan just wants to chill, not worry about being a Hollywood actor.
Peter Sellers was an iconic actor and singer who thought he struck gold when he met 20 year old Britt Ekland and got her to fall in love with him. Who wouldn't want a smoking hot, fun 20 year old as their wife? Apparently the answer is Pete Sellers. The two of them married after ten days, but within a year of their marriage, he suffered 13 heart attacks. No woman is worth that, Peter. Britt Ekland claims that he was insanely jealous, so all those heart attacks might have actually been his own fault.
Despite all the heart attacks, they lasted four years before getting divorced. In their four years together, they had a child. After their divorce, Britt went on to several other high-profile marriages like George Hamilton, Warren Beatty, and Rod Stewart.
You may not like race car driving, but I can guarantee you one thing: you know the name Dale Earnhardt. He is the most famous and popular Nascar driver, or should I say “was.” He tragically died on February 18th, 2001 while competing in the Daytona 500. During the final lap, he was part of a three-car crash that killed him instantly. It is insanely ironic that he would die on the final lap. Nascar stock cars go in excess of 200 miles per hour, so when the tiniest of mistakes are made, the damage is absolutely devastating. That being said, there is nothing like the thrill of driving that fast.
He began racing when he was 24 years old and was given the title, “The Intimidator.” He won seven Winston Cup Championships and is now followed by his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr who is also a Nascar driver.
Grease is an all-time classic movie about the greaser era of teen culture. It has everything you would want in a movie about boy and girl gangs: singing, dancing, love, and drag racing. It is a Romeo and Juliet-esque tale about two people from different worlds falling in love. Just about everyone has heard the song, “Summer Nights.” That is just one of the many hit songs that musical theater geeks can't help but sing along to.
The movie stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John who couldn't have been hotter than in this era of movies. It was later followed up by Grease 2 which is an odd entry in the series. Grease 2 is a sort of commentary on gender roles. It stars Michelle Pfeiffer and isn't as universally loved as the first movie, but it has a huge cult following.
Here is a picture of Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery when she was very young. Bewitched was a big paradigm shift in how people saw witches. The usual look for a witch was an old, disgusting crone. Elizabeth Montgomery couldn't be farther from old or disgusting. In the show, she would usually try to help her husband with her magic, but PLOT TWIST - he never wanted her to use her magic. That's because things would usually get worse once she started using her powers.
Will Ferrel and Nicole Kidman would later star in a film adaptation of the show, but it didn't connect with fans. People weren't even as sick of remakes back then as they are now. I guess there wasn't really a desire to see the show made into a movie, and the movie just wasn't very good.
The March of Dimes is an organization that helps mothers and children. Back in 1956, Joanne Wilson was the poster girl. That's the little girl in this photo with Elvis Presley. Having grown up poor himself, Elvis Presley was incredibly charitable with his money. That's just the kind of guy he was. He was also the kind of guy who would watch twenty TVs at the same time and turn them off by shooting them with his pistol. People are very complex, aren't they?
This photo was taken after he performed live on the Ed Sullivan Show. Joanne Wilson was interviewed and asked if she was a fan of Elvis. Hilariously, she said, “no and I didn't want to kiss him.” She might have been the only girl in the world who didn't want to kiss Elvis at that time. He was the world's biggest star.
Whiskey a Go Go is an iconic nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West hollywood. It opened in 1964 and has been a part of music history ever since. Many bands got their start at Whiskey A Go Go. Iconic bands like Motley Crue, Guns N Roses, Steppenwolf, and Van Halen. There are other Whiskey A Go Gos in Chicago and Washington DC. It is such an important part of music history that it was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
Rock and roll isn't quite what it used to be. It used to be so reckless and crazy. Now it is much more tame, but a lot of that is actually a good thing. We have all seen great musicians get chewed up and spit out by drug abuse. New musicians are a little smarter about what they do.
Jim Morrison is a rock and roll legend who was the lead singer and writer for The Doors. He was given the nickname the Lizard King and was also known as the king of acid rock. This photo is from Life Magazine. The article talks about the way he listens to music - incredibly loud and on repeat so he can hear the words. All that creativity took a toll on him though. After this photoshoot, his health fell drastically. He began drinking and doing drugs very heavily, which later contributed to his death at the age of 27.
Morrison is part of the 27 Club, which is full of stars who died at the young age of 27. Many people think it is a cursed age for celebrities. No one wants to die young, but it is seen as a point of pride to be part of the 27 Club.
Lynda Carter is obviously a beautiful woman, but as if you needed any more proof (other than her face), she is also an official Miss World America. Her modeling proved she was a beauty, but her acting proved she had plenty of talent to go along with it.
It is interesting to look back at Superhero TV shows and movies from the past now that we are in the height of superhero content. Superheroes have a long history of being on television, though the TV shows from back in the 60s and 70s are nothing like what we have now. Gritty superhero shows are what's most popular now. In several decades from now, the landscape of superhero TV shows may look completely different. That is if TV even exists in a couple of decades from now. We may have completely new forms of entertainment.
Gloria Paul was an actress and dancer who was originally born in London. She acted in several shows and films in the 60s and 70s, including The Benny Hill Show, The Intelligence Men, and Darling Lili with Rock Hudson and Julie Andrews. She would have had a longer career, however, tragedy struck her life in 1996. She was taking a shower when suddenly a water heater fell through the ceiling on top of her. It paralyzed her from the waist down, destroying her acting and dancing career.
For a dancer, that is especially tragic. Out of all the accidents you expect to happen in the shower, the last thing you expect is something to fall from the ceiling on top of you. Suddenly I'm a lot less worried about slipping in the shower. I am going to start wearing a helmet in the tub.
Helen Mirren may be well known for her roles in films, like the award worthy action-drama Hobbs and Shaw (I'm joking), but she got her start with the Royal Shakespeare Company. This is a photo from a production of Troilus and Cressida. This was just her fourth production with the group where she played Cressida, one of the lead roles. For those unfamiliar with this specific Shakespeare joint, it is about a girl, Cressida, who teases a character named Troilus, only to later fall for him, and then eventually leave him for someone else.
Critics liked Mirren's performance in this production, but they weren't keen on the play as a whole. That must be a conflicting review for an actor. It is great to get the compliment, but at the end of the day, you'd rather have the entire production be a success.
Bullitt is a class action crime drama. It stars one of the hottest actors of his day, Steve McQueen. It is a riveting movie about McQueen's attempt to take down a crime boss while keeping a witness protected. Not only is the crime boss after the, but also a web of people involved with the crime boss. McQueen doesn't know who to trust. He acts alongside Jacqueline Bisset who plays his girlfriend.
Steve McQueen is a true man's man of his era. At the age of 25, he already looked like a weathered man in his 50s. That's just how men looked back then. There was something sexy about the leathery, weathered look back then. Now it is much more in style to be manscaped and sensitive. It is interesting to see how things change with the times.
The Girl Can't Help It is a very funny musical comedy from 1956 with a great premise. Jayne Mansfield plays a gangster's girlfriend with absolutely no talent. The humor comes from the fact that her gangster boyfriend tries to hire a talent agent to make her a recording star. Despite not having talent, she does have an interesting skill - or rather, it's an interesting effect on men. She's so beautiful that men lose control in comedic ways. For example, she makes a man's glasses break just by looking at her, and the milkman's milk boils when he sees her. It doesn't really make sense because why would she affect the milk? Shouldn't his blood be boiling instead? I guess that would make it a horror movie.
The premise of the movie sounds a lot like a lot of Instagram star's stories. A talentless person tries to become a star yet only succeeds because of their looks.
Johnny Cash is an iconic figure in music. Known as the Man in Black, he is a country music legend who even performed in front of inmates. That's how badass Johnny Cash was. In this photo, he is on the Jimmy Dean Show where he would perform his songs Ring of Fire and Understand Your Man. Johnny Cash has since passed away, but not before leaving a lasting impact on the music world.
The Jimmy Dean Show was a big deal for country stars. It was a variety show that was so popular it went from being a half-hour show to becoming an hour-long show that would play on Saturday nights. Country singers and stars would host the show, adding new excitement every week. You might think that Jimmy Dean hosted the show, but Jimmy Dean just refers to the sausage company.
Gypsy stars Natalie Wood as a girl who starts the movie as a very shy girl with no talent, but just like This Girl Can't Help It, someone in her life pushes her to become a star. In this case, her mother wants her and her sister to become vaudeville entertainers. Natalie Wood plays the main character who ends up becoming a stripper at a crappy burlesque club. At that burlesque club, she finds her star power and ends up becoming a big star. As for her mother, Natalie Wood tells her to “get lost.”
Don't go watching this movie expecting something like Showgirls. Despite its subject matter, not a lot of sexually explicit content is in the movie. If you want to see sex appeal and stripteses, you might have to settle for Hustlers starring Jennifer Lopez.
Olivia Newton-John was the perfect actress to play Sandy in the movie Grease. She is a great singer and dancer, and cute as a button. Those are three qualities the Sandy character needs to have. In the movie, Olivia Newton-John plays a good girl who falls in love with a bad boy. At the end of the movie (spoiler warning!), she takes on a bad girl persona to get with John Travolta's character.
The big question is this: what is your favorite Sandy, bad girl Sandy or good girl Sandy? The answer will reveal a lot about your personality. That's not to say that it's an easy choice. If you find yourself unable to decide, don't worry. I am in the same boat. This picture of Olivia Newton-John as bad girl Sandy is definitely pushing me in a certain direction though.
Hollywood is not the best place for long lasting marriages. There are just way too many attractive people! Can you blame actors for not being able to stay tied down? Most Hollywood marriages end very quickly, which is sad, but these people are rich so how sad can it really be? Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are the exceptions. They enjoyed 50 years of marriage together which only ended when Paul Newman passed away in 2008.
According to a quote from Paul Newman, he said, “People stay married because they want to -- not because the doors are locked.” He also said another interesting relationship quote, “I have steak at home. Why should I go for a hamburger?” Some might see him equating his wife with a steak as problematic, but I find it to be very sweet.
The hotel depicted in this photo is the Sands Hotel which was one of the many hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. As you can see, it was known for its unique features, like the craps table that floated on the pool. If you don't know how to swim, I wouldn't gamble with it! The hotel and casino was open from 1952 to 1996 when it was destroyed. At one point in the 1960s, Howard Hughes purchased the hotel and made some improvements to it.
Las Vegas is one of those places that can be weird and get away with it. Is there any real benefit to playing craps in a pool? No, but it's awesome. It's just very sad when you lose. It's one thing to walk away from a bad table. It's another thing to have to swim away from it. For some reason that's extra humiliating.
Jaclyn Smith is one of the legendary Angels from Charlie's Angels. She is considered to be the most official angel because she stayed on the cast for the entire series run from 1976 to 1981. The other cast members rotated several times, but not Jaclyn. She was also incredibly popular as an angel. She had the perfect mix of women idolizing her and guys ogling her. That's how you make a star!
She is an entrepreneur as well. She had her own perfume and clothing line in 1985, and more recently in 2008 she started a wig company. Those were wise business decisions since girls could attempt to be even more like her by wearing her clothes and perfume. She has continued acting in movies like Deja Vu and Nightkill, and has been in CSI.
Pictured here are Ron Howard and Pat Morita, two characters from the hit TV series Happy Days. People loved Happy Days for its big laughs and heartfelt stories. It centered around a gang of people who hung out at Arnold's Restaurant. Ron Howard played Richie, the level-headed character who would get dragged into problems by his friends Ralph and Potsi. Pat Morita is also known for The Karate Kid where he played the karate master, Mr. Miyagi, who teaches his ways to Daniel, played by Ralph Machio.
The biggest star of the show was Fonzie aka the Fonz. He was the cool character who could fix a jukebox just by punching it. Fonzie is played by Henry Winkler who is totally different from his character on the show. Henry Winkler can be seen on the show Barry where he plays a character closer to his actual personality.
Elvis and Priscilla Presley have one of those weird, old timey marriages where a much older man marries a much younger woman. They met in Germany in 1959 when she was only a teenager. 14 years old to be specific. In 1967 they finally tied the knot and got married. Their marriage didn't last though. After seven years they got divorced. Staying married to someone like Elvis is no easy task. The man was the object of every woman's desire, so I'm sure Priscilla was often afraid that he would stray from her.
It is easy to criticize men who cheat, but imagine if every girl is throwing herself at you. It must be pretty hard to stay on the honest track, or maybe I'm just a bad guy? It's tough to say since I've never had women throw themselves at me.
This is a picture of the Rome-born actress Sophia Loren visiting Disneyland. Disneyland is a magical place for families, and that's exactly how Sophia Loren saw it as well. She had a rough upbringing, so being able to enjoy such a magical place with her family was important to her. She called it a “dreamland.” Despite her tough upbringing, she was an incredibly successful actress who was popular in both Europe and the United States.
Disneyland sure is fun, but so many families that go there spend the majority of their time arguing and being stressed out. The stress of taking care of your children while standing in lines for hours can be daunting. That's why I always go alone. You might think that's sad, but that's a good thing. People usually feel so bad for me that they let me cut the line.
George Burns discovered Ann-Margret and turned her into one of the top actresses in the 60s. Some of her movies include Viva Las Vegas with Elvis, Magic with Anthony Hopkins, Grumpy Old Men with Walter Matthau, and Bye Bye Birdie. Basically, she's acted alongside some of the greats! She also has the honor of having been made a cartoon in The Flintstones where she played herself (a Flintstone's version of herself).
What I'm about to tell you next will sound unbelievable. In 1972 she fell 22 feet and broke bones in her face, as well as her arm. That's not the crazy part. The crazy part is that her husband took her to the hospital in a stolen airplane. What would you do for love? Would you steal a plane just to get your wife to the hospital a little quicker?
The Hell's Angels is an interesting group. They are known as a motorcycle club, but they also have criminal enterprises. It is a strange dichotomy because on the one hand, you can go to a store and buy a fun Hell's Angels T-shirt. On the other hand, they deal in drugs and violence. This, of course, isn't the case for all Hell's Angels groups. Many are just about riding Harleys and organizing events. The name doesn't exactly help their image though. The Hell's Angels sounds like a criminal organization right out the gate.
What they all have in common (other than their love of motorcycles) is that they wear the same emblem, pictured here. If you see someone wearing that emblem, it is best not to mess with them. If you mess with one angel, you are messing with all of them.
Check out that cast! There are a lot of heavy hitter actors in The Outsiders. Ralph Macchio of Karate Kid fame plays a character named Johnny Cade who is part of a gang. Macchio's gang ends up killing a rival gang member, so he and his fellow gang member Ponyboy, played by C. Thomas Howell, go on the run so they don't get sentenced to death. My biggest question? Why is his name Ponyboy? Hopefully he doesn't give his friends pony rides.
Among the other actors in this film are Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, and Matt Dillon. Every single one of these actors would go on to have amazing careers after this. Just look at Tom Cruise. He's one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and when it comes to action movies, no one beats Cruise.
Who doesn't know Elizabeth Taylor? She was an incredibly big star ever since she was a teenager. She acted in films alongside legends like Rock Hudson, Paul Newman, and Richard Burton. She stayed in the public eye for decades until she passed away in 2011.
One of her most memorable films is Giant, which might be memorable for all the worst reasons now. It is a movie about a ranching dynasty starring Rock Hudson and James Dean. This was James Dean's last film before he died tragically in a car crash at the young age of 24. His death is similar to actor Paul Walker in that they both crashed their Porsches. The movie was well received, so luckily that means his last movie was a hit, just like Paul Walker with the 7th Fast and Furious movie.
Jimi Hendrix was a true rockstar. He helped define a specific electric guitar sound that would remain popular to this day. He was also an artist who would frequently smash his guitar after performances. That's something you can do when you sell millions of records. Someone like me can't exactly afford to smash a guitar after every performance. I do, however, smash my keyboard after every article I write.
Jimmi Hendrix taught himself the guitar, which is why he plays it upside down. He never had anyone tell him to do it differently. He got so good at playing upside down that there was no reason to switch it up. In the 70s he died of an apparent drug overdose. He had allegedly taken nine sleeping pills while drinking alcohol. That is a deadly combination.
Paul McCartney is one of the legendary Beatles. The Beatles are regarded as one of the best rock acts to ever record music. They swept the nation, making teens go crazy for them. In a way, they were kind of like The Jonas Brothers or One Direction. That might seem like an unfair comparison, but it's true. The Beatles were the biggest boy band of their era. One thing The Beatles have over their contemporaries is that they let their sound evolve as they continued making music.
In this picture, Paul McCartney is with his family after his band Wings toured the globe. They had a farm where they gained a love for animals that eventually turned them vegetarian. In 2009 he started a campaign called Meat Free Mondays that encouraged people to start their vegetarian journey by eating vegetarian on Mondays.
Jamie Lee Curtis comes from famous parents. Her father is Tony Curtis and her mother is Janet Leigh. Jamie Lee made her film debut when she starred in the John Carpenter classic, Halloween. Her role in that movie cemented her as a horror movie icon. She went on to star in other iconic horror roles in Prom Night, The Fog, and several Halloween sequels. Halloween II, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, and the recent Halloween: Resurrection. Interestingly, Halloween: Resurrection erased most of the previous movies from the canon.
Although she's had a great acting career outside of horror, she returned to her horror roots in the show Scream Queens, which is named after actresses who played in horror movies and had amazing screams. The show was a comedic parody of horror movie tropes from the same producers who created Glee.
Pam Grier and Juanita Brown were big blaxploitation movie stars. The term is short for exploitation of blacks, though many of the movies were very empowering to black people. Some of these movies include The Big Bird Cage, Coffy, Foxy Brown, Caged Heat, Willie Dynamite, and Sheba baby.
Pam Grier stars in one of Quentin Tarantnio's most underrated films, Jackie Brown, which is very inspired by blaxploitation films of the 70s. People tend to forget about that movie since it is much more subdued than his other films, but Pam Grier gives a stellar performance alongside Robert Forstr. The film also gave Robert Forstr a career resurgence. She also had a relationship with Freddie Prinze (father of Freddie Prinz Jr) after meeting on the movie, Coffy, though their relationship ended when he committed suicide in 1977.
Claudia Cardinale was a huge star for her roles in The Pink Panther, Girl with a Suitcase, and The Leopard. One of her most notable roles is in Once Upon a Time in the West with Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, and Jason Robards.
An interesting fact about Claudia Cardinale has to do with her very secretive pregnancy. She was in a bad relationship with a man who got her pregnant. Desperately wanting to keep it a secret, she signed a seven year exclusive contract with a production company in return for keeping her pregnancy a secret. She kept the secret so well that even her son didn't know. How is that possible? He didn't live with her. The story was cracked wide open by a journalist years later, which is how her son found out.
This is a still from the movie Bobbie Joe and the Outlaw. In it, Lynda Carter plays the titular Bobbie Jo while Marjoe Gortner plays the outlaw. In the movie, she helps him in his criminal pursuits like stealing cars and robbing banks. It is a fast paced action movie full of car stunts like you'd see in Dukes of Hazzard.
Marjoe Gortner plays a Billie the Kid type character named Lyle Wheeler who wants to live a life of crime. Girls always fall for the bad boys, don't they? In reality, bad boys aren't sexy. They are mean, don't shower, and end up getting locked up anyway so what's the point? As much fun as it might seem to drive around evading the police, it would be torture. Having to always look over your shoulder is no fun.
Jamie Lee Curtis is horror movie royalty, but she also had a great film career outside of the horror genre. She played opposite Eddie Murphy in the comedy Trading Places, as well as the movie A Fish Called Wanda. One of my favorite movies of her is True Lies alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. In that movie, Schwarzenegger plays a secret spy whose identity is even hidden from his own wife.
Jamie Lee Curtis plays his wife who can't possibly believe that her nerdy husband is a secret agent. That is a little far fetched considering he's Arnold Schwarzenegger. He may be a nerd, but the guy is built like an oak tree. Of course he's a secret spy! Oddly enough, in the movie she believes that Tom Arnold is a secret spy when he's actually just a used car salesman.
Here is the gorgeous and vibrant Sharon Tate. She was a rising star that was taken from us way too soon. She was part of the grizzly Manson murders. She was eight and a half months pregnant and newly married when she was killed in the Summer of 1969. Most recently, Margot Robbie played her in the Quentin Tarantino movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Margot Robbie does a great job portraying Tate's fun loving energy. Her performance only makes history seem even more tragic.
Sharon's sister, Debra, has been very active in keeping those responsible for Sharon Tate's murder in prison. Whenever they are up for parole, Debra Tate makes sure they don't get it. Whether or not the killers were brainwashed by Manson, they deserve to be in prison for life. Don't you agree?
Raquel Welch was a huge sex symbol in the 60s and 70s, despite the competition being incredibly fierce. There were a lot of blonde bombshells in the 60s and 70s, but she set herself apart. She wasn't just a pretty face either. She won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy in 1974 for her role in The Three Musketeers. She also had a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Television Film for her performance in Right to Die in 1987.
Just getting a nomination for a Golden Globe Award is something big to brag about. There are only so many winners every year, and the competition is stiff. Some actors go their whole careers being nominated but never winning. That doesn't sound so bad to me.
You can't talk about beautiful women from the 50s and 60s without bringing up Brigitte Bardot a couple of times. In this beautiful picture she was in Cannes, France. Cannes is where the Cannes Film Festival takes place, which is one of the most respected film festivals in the world. If your film can play in Cannes, then it has a great chance at success. Many films that do well in Cannes, also do well in awards season.
Brigitte Bardot retired relatively early in her career, so it's interesting to think what films she would have been in if she kept acting. Maybe she would have ended up in a Fast and the Furious film like Hellen Mirren? She's still alive, so maybe now is a good time for her to come out of retirement and join the franchise.
Italy is full of beautiful women. Something about that place just breeds to the most gorgeous women you'll ever see. Want proof? Take a look at Claudia Cardinale. She crossed over from Italian cinema to American films with ease because who wouldn't want to look at her for two hours? 90% of my movie choices are just based on what pretty girl is in the movie. Sorry, but I'm not sorry.
Italian movies were very strange because many of them wouldn't record sound while shooting. They would later record the dialogue separately and layer it on top of the movie. This can lead to an uncanny feeling when watching the movies, but that is also part of their charm. There's a good argument for using that method, but with technology these days, it's pretty easy to record quality sound no matter what shooting condition.
This is a scene from the Wonder Woman television show where Lynda Carter is sharing the screen with Leif Garrett's younger sister, Dawn Lyn. Leif Garrett was a child actor and musician. Sounds like he used his power in Hollywood to get his sister a nice little role alongside Lynda Carter. At the time, Lynda Carter was one of the biggest stars in the world. How could you be Wonder Woman and not be one of the world's biggest stars?
Lynda Carter is still a Wonder Woman in many ways. She is an LGBT right advocate and is passionately looking into ways to find a cure for cancer. I'm sure she's not looking into any microscopes to do it, but just having her name attached to such a cause is enough to propel it forward.
Telly Savalas was the Vin Diesel of his time. Coincidentally, he also looks like Vin Diesel in this picture. He was known for having a deep, gravelly voice, just like Vin Diesel. He was a character actor who worked for decades on notable films like The Dirty Dozen, Battle of the Bulge, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and even played the villain in a Bond film, Her Majesty's Secret Service. Being a Bond villain has to be one of the coolest roles for an actor. There are certain iconic roles that really cement an actor in film history. Being a Bond villain is definitely one of those roles.
For his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He's an incredibly versatile actor who would later get into TV acting on the crime drama Kojak.
The Quiet Man is about a boxer from America who returns to his homeland of Ireland after retiring. There he falls in love with a feisty Irish woman. It was a no brainer to cast Maureen O'Hara as the feisty Irish woman. Playing opposite the quintessentially American John Wayne was the perfect role for her. She was a feisty Irish girl herself.
She was good friends with John Wayne and the two of them worked on many films together. Of course, many of those were Western films. The 1950s were a great era for Westerns. Audiences just ate them up, especially if they starred John Wayne. For many men in the 50s, John Wayne was their example of what a man should be. Whether or not that's a good thing is up for debate.
Raquel Welch is looking adorable here, as usual. She is seen rowing a boat on a Lake in London, though what kind of psycho is letting her row her own boat? If I was the photographer I would have thrown my camera down and taken over for her. That's called chivalry, folks. It's not dead. It's just on life support. I'm not ready to pull the plug yet, are you?
When you see pictures like this, it is easy to see why the world fell in love with Raquel Welch. She beams positive energy and beauty. You can tell by the smile. A good smile tells you everything you need to know. Empire Magazine named her one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in Film History and Playboy ranked her on their 100 Sexiest Stars of the Twentieth Century.
Elvis wasn't just a huge pop star and lover of music. He also really loved guns and law enforcement. In this photo, he is being given an honorary police badge in Colorado. I'm not sure how much authority that gave him, but considering he was well known for using a gun to turn off TVs, I'm terrified. Elvis sounds like the last person I would want to arrest me. If he treated me anything like his TVs, I wouldn't make it to the station.
There are many interesting stories about Elvis' eccentricities. Some stories say that he would frequently bring a gun on airplanes. If anyone gave him trouble for having the gun, he would cause a stink. When you are as rich and powerful as Elvis was, you start to think that the rules don't apply to you.
Debbie Harry was the lead singer of the band Blondie. This photo is taken from the video shoot of their hit song “Heart of Glass.” It is a painful love ballad, but according to the band, it isn't about any person in particular. The music video is interesting because Debbie Harry and the band stay stationary.
According to Harry, “"For the video, I wanted to dance around but they told us to remain static, while the cameras moved around. God only knows why. Maybe we were too clumsy. I wore an asymmetrical dress designed by Steve Sprouse, made the boys' T-shirts myself, and probably did my own hair. Everyone says I look iconic and in control, but I prefer our other videos. It was No 1 around the world. We'd had a lot of hits, but this was our first at home. Chapman was in Milan with us and said: "Join me in the bar." I thought: "Oh God, I just wanna go to bed." But we dragged our ***es down and he told us it was No 1 in America. We drank a lot."
The Partridge Family are one of America's iconic families, kind of like The Brady Bunch. Unlike the Brady Bunch, this family sings! Shirley Mae Jones (pictures) played the role of Shirley Partridge. She was a widowed mother who raised five musically gifted children, including David Cassidy who was her stepson in real life. There were frequent musical numbers in the show, making for great, wholesome family entertainment. The show lasted from 1970-1974. This photo is from a Christmas photo shoot in 1956.
Shirley Jones had a decades long career in show business, mostly in musicals like Oklahoma and Carousel. Despite her homely image, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress when she played a prostitute in Elmer Gantry. That's the best way to try and get an award: play against your type.
It is pictures like this that really show how much of a dreamboat Sharon Tate was back in the 60s. This photo is from 1968 when groovy headbands like that were in style. Though, if you are someone who looks like Sharon Tate, you can pull off a headband like that in any decade. She got her start in the film Eye of the Devil, but she really blew up when she starred as Jennifer North in the film Valley of the Dolls. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in that film.
Her rise to fame was only fueled by her high profile marriage to Roman Polanski who was the hottest director in Hollywood at the time. The two were going to have a child together before she was tragically murdered.
Mod Fashion is a fashion movement that began in the 1960s in England and took over the globe. It was a very bold and groundbreaking style at a time when the world was starting to make funkier choices in fashion. The style consisted of bold geometric shapes and looked like something out of a high fashion runway. Mod fashion was used both on the runway and out in public. To some, it must have looked like the future had arrived.
Austin Powers fans might recognize the style because that series of movies is full of the mod style. It is a style that can still work today, though many styles can work today as we've become less restrictive with our styles as time goes on. At this point, you could wear a paper bag and people would probably be OK with it as long as you owned it.
This is famous singer-songwriter Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk. Kind of a long, hard-to-pronounce name, right? She thought so too, which is why she just went by Melanie professionally. Some of her hit songs were “Brand New Key,” “What Have They Done to My Song Ma” and “Ruby Tuesday.” She wrote a song about her experience performing at the 1969 Woodstock music Festival called “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” which became her first top ten song in America. People love a song with a story.
Melanie went on to create her own record label called Neighborhood Records which she started with her husband Peter Schekeryk. Her song “Brand New Key” was released on her Neighborhood records label and did incredibly well, selling three million copies worldwide. It was featured in the movie Boogie Nights starring Mark Wahlberg.
If you are thinking this woman looks like the quintessential pin-up model, you're right. That's exactly what she is. This is Betty Brosmer, a 1950's pin-up girl and commercial model. She was the winner of Miss Television, as well as many other beauty contests in the 1950s. Her title as Miss Television got her on TV alongside Steve Allen, Jackie Gleason, and Milton Berle just to name a few. The press generally considered her to have the most gorgeous body in the 50s, due to her incredible waistline and body stats of 38-18-36.
After her career as a model, she got into physical fitness. She has written several books on the topics of physical exercise and fitness, and she has been a vocal spokesperson for health and bodybuilding. This shift in her career came after marrying Joe Weider in 1961.
This candid photo next to a vending machine shows off some of the fashion of the early 70s. There were many different fashion movements gaining traction at this time, but this is one of the classic looks. Girls weren't afraid of fun prints, as you can see with some of the shorts on these girls. The quilted print on the girl on the right is both bold and also classic at the same time.
Here they are enjoying a vending machine, which looks very different from our vending machines now. The food choices must have also been very different. We have so many preservatives in our food now that the food can stay safe to eat for months if not years. I'm not sure if it was the same back in 1971. You'd want to gobble up those treats quickly so they don't go bad.
To many people, Audrey Hepburn is the perfect woman, both in personality and physical appearance. Who are these people who think that? Well, I'm one of them. That's for sure. Here she is in Paris, France in 1956, looking her usual adorable self. She rose to stardom after her role in Roman Holiday in 1953. She won three awards for that role: Golden Globe, Academy Award, and a BAFTA award. She was the first actress to earn three awards for one role, though many more have followed her.
She is also part of a rare group of 12 people who have won the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). The EGOT was popularized in recent culture when the series 30 Rock referenced it. In the show, Tracy Jordan (played by Tracy Morgan) desired to win an EGOT.
This is a photo of Agnes Moorehead in the year 1955. She was known for her role as Endora in the series Bewitched. Endor was the mother of the main character, Samanta. That meant tha Endora was also a witch and was always up to something. She didn't hide the fact that she hated the man her daughter chose to marry, so she would usually cause trouble in their marriage. Her role as Endora earned her six Emmy nominations, so the character was certainly a fan favorite. Her life was cut short though. Two years after the show ended, she died of cancer.
Can you imagine having a mother in law with special powers? You would have to walk on eggshells all the time. God forbid you ever get a divorce. Then you'd be in big trouble.
This is a beautiful photo of Agnetha Faltskog from the band ABBA. She's looking absolutely adorable in her fuzzy fur coat. ABBA was a four-person musical group from Sweden composed of Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Yep, those are definitely Swedish names. As you might have picked up on, the band name comes from combining the first letters of all their names. Not the most clever name, but their music sure is memorable.
ABBA is insanely popular. You may have heard their songs in the musical Mamma Mia which features their songs heavily. I think everyone goes through an ABBA phase at some point in their lives, whether they like it or not. Picture a burly truck driver coasting across the country singing ABBA tunes. You know it's happening out there somewhere.
This photo shows legendary folk singer, Bob Dylan, next to a painting by Andy Warhol, the pop artist. Bob Dylan was an art lover, but not in the way you might think. He allegedly purchased this Andy Warhol piece and would throw darts at it. I shudder to think about how much this piece of work must have cost. That was Dylan's style when it came to art. Another story claims he traded one of Warhol's pieces of art for a couch. That's the most rock and roll thing I've ever heard.
Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol both have achieved legendary status for their contributions in their field. You'll be hard pressed to find a musician who doesn't have a huge amount of respect for Dylan. He's performed with other rock legends like George Harrison, The Grateful Dead, and Tom Petty.
Carly Simon is a musician who had a notable rivalry with fellow folk singer Joni Mitchell. Their beef wasn't over music or anything like that. Their beef was over the guy standing next to Carly Simon in this photo. That's James Taylor, who was also a musician. Both Simon and Mitchell loved James, but Carly ended up snatching him up in the end. The two of them got married in 1972.
The two of them had two kids together, but they eventually separated a little bit over a decade later in 1983. Joni Mitchell wasn't around to step in and reclaim her man, unfortunately for her. I've never been part of a love triangle like that. I'm sure it sucks for the two people competing for the other person, but it must be pretty cool to have two people who want you so badly that they'd fight each other for you.
Now this is a hilarious picture. You might need some help figuring out who that is on account of her being so young in this picture. This is pop star Cher from Sonny & Cher. She was born Cherilyn Sarkisian, and this is her mugshot from when she was just 13 years old. Apparently she had taken one of her friend's cars to a drive-in movie and ended up getting caught by the cops.
I didn't even know they did mugshots for little kids. At thirteen years old, why don't you just send them home with a slap on the wrist? It seems a little ridiculous to book a thirteen year old, but this was also a really long time ago. Everything was much different back then. For example, a 27 year old man could marry a fourteen year old girl. That's exactly what her husband, Sonny Bono, did.
They don't make men like Evel Knievel anymore. Born Robert Craig Knievel Jr, he was a stunt performer and global superstar. He would put his body and life on the line to put on some of the most amazing feats of stunt work you've ever seen. He did his first stunt in 1966 at the National Date Festival and then continued doing crazier stunts from there.
He was known for his ramp-to-ramp motorcycle stunts, but they were far from simple, and nowhere near safe. For one stunt, he tried to jump over several buses parked next to each other. In modern day, you see people doing stunts similar to his in the motocross circuit, but no one is putting on big shows like him anymore. All I know is that he inspired a lot of dumb boys like me to jump their bike over dangerous objects.
Just take a long look at Rita Hayworth. She is as Hollywood as Hollywood can get. In the 1940s she was one of the biggest film stars, and throughout her 37 year long career, she was in over 61 movies. Her most famous role is in the film Gilda in which she plays the titular role.
She has that specific 40s era Hollywood look. It is almost as if Hollywood grew her in a lab, specifically designed for the movie screen. It is interesting to see how the stars change in different eras. Look at women in film from the 80s compared to women in film today. Things have changed a lot. Sometimes this leads to older movies feeling dated, but by looking at them as time capsules, it can be a good look into how things were at the time.
This was an ad for the Dodge car brand and Catalina Swimwear. The two companies teamed up for one ad, which is actually pretty brilliant. Babes and cars? The two go together like peanut butter and jelly. I'd like to see more companies pair up for ads. I'm sure it saves them on cost, and it helps me make decisions. I'm totally fine with advertising controlling my life. How else would I know how to spend my money?
The small print on the ad says, “Great combination for young swingers. Catalina Swimwear to put your shape in… and a Dodge Charger R/T… great shape to be in.” Well isn't that clever? It goes on to boast, “Both have beautiful styling and comfort. Both attract attention wherever they're seen. So go get in the swim' n swing of things with Catalina' 68 and Dodge 68.”
Dolly Parton is a country music legend. Scratch that. She's a music legend, period. Many young people probably know Dolly for how she looks today, a little bit older with crazy big hair. This photo shows a totally different side of her, but for many, this is the side they know and love. Her hair is still big and wild, but in a different way. I wonder how much hair spray it took to get her hair like that. It's probably why our ozone layer is depleted.
In this photo, she's with her husband Carl Dean. He must be quite a guy to handle the force that is Dolly Parton. Not many men can handle strong willed women. I hate to say it, fellas, but it's true. You gotta step up your game if you are going to keep up with the Dollys of the world.
This is a great group photo of the cast of Danger Island. That was a live-action adventure show from the 1960s made by Hanna-Barbera. It was part of a bigger show called The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. There were 36 different chapters that all amassed into a six-hour story. Each segment ended in a cliffhanger, so audiences always wanted to know what was going to happen next.
The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was a variety filled with different animated and live segments, hosted by the Banana Splits. Variety shows have generally gone out of style, but they can be a lot of fun. Plus, they are great avenues to introduce audiences to new shows and characters. If everyone likes the ten minute version of a show, there is a good chance they will like a full hour version.
The Doors' frontman, Jim Morrison, was known for being a wild man, especially when it came to women. There are stories that I won't go into detail about regarding certain sexual acts that may or may not have happened in the recording booth. That being said, he was married to a woman named Pamela. Here he is, giving off huge hunk vibes. He couldn't help it. He was a hunk!
The Doors were very influential to rock music. Their lyrics were very controversial, and Jim Morrison was a frontman unlike anyone had ever seen before. When Morrison died in 1971, the band ended up breaking up. As talented as all the people in the band were, it just wasn't The Door without Jim leading the pack. That's the trouble with frontmen. Very few bands survive changing them.
This is a picture of Karen Carpenter of the musical duo, The Carpenters. She's sporting a huge smile, which is a great look on just about everybody. I know a lot of people are ashamed of their smile due to teeth issues or insecurity, but everyone loves to see a smile. Be like Karen Carpenter. Don't be afraid to smile.
Karen and her brother Richard were signed to a record company in the late 60s and had a distinct soft sound. Their two hit songs were “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and “We've Only Just Begun.” The songs are so sweet and sultry that it's a little odd to know that they are brother and sister. That brother and sister energy did the mwell, because in their 14-year career they sold over 90 million records.
I love the premise of the First Annual Rock and Roll Celebrity Sports Classic. It was a sports competition show on prime time TV where different musical stars like Leif Garret, the Jackson 5, and Joan Jett would compete in sports against each other. It is such an absurd premise given that some of them may have no history in sports. If there is one thing I love, it is seeing people who are successful at one thing, totally suck at another thing.
There were some heavy hitters involved in the show, like The Commodores, ELO, Boston, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Rod Stewart, Kenny Loggins, and Leif Garret. I would love to see something like this brought back. We have plenty of great musicians to include. Who wouldn't want to see Pitbull run the 400 yard dash against Justin Bieber?
Grace Kelly was an actress who rose to stardom in the ‘50s, but then she had a career change. She went from actress to Princess of Monaco. Wait, what? That's right. A real princess. In her six year career she ended up getting nominations for Academy Awards and Golden Globes. Some of her films include Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, High Society, and High Noon. That's just to name a few.
She was only 26 when she decided to leave it all behind and marry a prince so that she could become the Princess of Monaco. You can't exactly be an actress and an acting princess. Just ask Meghan Markle. It makes a lot of sense for actresses to become princesses. They are beautiful, adored by the public, and they take direction well.
Here we have one part of the high-pitched brother group The Bee Gees during his wedding to a Scottish singer named Lulu. They look happy here, but things didn't pan out for them. In 1975 they got divorced after his heavy drinking took a toll on their marriage. Yeah, blame the drinking.
Lulu once gave his quote about her first time meeting Maurice, "I thought Maurice was cute, so I said, 'In that case, tell him to stop talking about me and take me out', He did just that, I never expected much to come from this, but in fact our relationship grew, after a fashion. Going steady is quite the wrong way to describe what was happening between us. Going unsteady might better sum up the way we fell in and out with each other".
Michael Caine is a lowkey stalker. This is how he met his wife, Shakira Baksh. The British actor had seen her act in a coffee commercial for Maxwell House in the early 70s. For him, it was love at first sight. He set his sights on finding her, and coincidentally, she lived only a couple miles away from him. That's fate, right? He found her and the two ended up falling in love. The alternate version of this story is that she rejects him and he murders her. I don't know why it has to be that extreme, but it does.
Here's a tip for doing a Michael Caine impression. Just say “my cocaine” in a british accent. Try it. It worked, didn't it? Now go use it at parties. You might meet the love of your life. Just make sure to get her number so you don't have to resort to stalking.
