Vintage Photos That Were Never Edited - Look Closer
By | January 12, 2023
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
Step back in time and discover a world before the age of photo editing software. These vintage photographs capture a simpler era, when the only filter was the one on the camera lens. From the free-spirited youth of Woodstock, to the rise of legendary performers like a young Mick Jagger, to the sleek lines of classic muscle cars, these images offer a glimpse into the past, unaltered and raw. These photographs, taken in the 60s, 70s and 80s, have been preserved in their original state, and it's all the better for it.
But beyond just the cool photographs, there's also plenty of interesting behind-the-scenes stories, like the rise of horror host Elvira, and her program's five-season run from 1981 to 1986, her appearances on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, and even Fantasy Island. Each photo tells a story, and learning about these stories provides you a glimpse of life and people in those days.
So dive in and discover a world before the age of editing software. Take a closer look and be prepared to be surprised by what you find. This collection of vintage photographs is not just a window into the past, but also a journey of discovery.
Who remembers “Jungle Pam”, the drag racing sweetheart of the ’70s?
As the sidekick to drag racing madman Jungle Jim Lieberman, Jungle Pam was on the black top during the most seminal time in drag racing, the 1970s. Born Pamela Hardy, Jungle Pam met Jim in 1972, a few weeks before she graduated from high school, while walking to nearby West Chester, Pennsylvania. She told Hot Rod that he pulled up next to her in a Corvette and said, “Hi, I’m Jim.” From there, the duo hit the road and took the drag racing scene by storm.
At the time there were no women on the circuit that checked for leaks, or generally working with cars at all, so seeing Pam on the track doing the job of a man was a major draw. She learned on the job, and before long she was just as adept at packing parachutes and checking the nitro as any gear head on the track.
Freddie Mercury and his former girlfriend/lifelong friend Mary Austin in the 1980s.
There’s never been a closer relationship in rock and roll than that of Freddie Mercury and Mary Austin. The two first met in 1969 just after Mercury graduated university with big dreams of stardom and Austin was a shop girl. The two were quickly an item and moved in together. The two were married in 1974 and she was there for every moment of Queen’s ride to the top of the charts, and many of their biggest singles were written for her.
In 1976 Mercury and Austin’s relationship evolved from lovers to that of best friends when they divorced and she moved into a home next to Mercury’s so the two could be close even when they were apart. Austin continued to tour with Queen, and she stayed by the singer’s side until his death in 1991.
Robert Plant posing while enjoying an ice cream cone during Led Zeppelin's United States tour stop in Chicago, Illinois, 1977.
1977 saw Led Zeppelin embark on their final tour of America. Just prior to leaving for the states Robert Plant caught laryngitis and the tour was pushed back an entire month. Unfortunately the band’s instruments had already been shipped so the band wasn’t even able to rehearse while Plant was resting his vocal cords. In The Tight But Loose Files, Jimmy Page explained:
We didn't have any instruments for a month. All the equipment was shipped over there five days before we were due to go. I didn't play a guitar for a month. I was terrified at the prospect of the first few shows.
After the band made it to America the tour kicked off on April 1 in Dallas, and the group began setting record breaking sales and attendance numbers. Maybe plant was having a triple scoop of ice cream, to celebrate his sales success, or maybe he was just nursing some sore vocal chords.
Seductive Jayne Mansfield in a leopard print bikini.
A blonde bombshell for the ages, Jayne Mansfield came from Pennsylvania to Hollywood and she was a fast success. In February 1956, she starred in the The Girl Can’t Help It alongside rock and roll luminaries like Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, and Fats Domino.
Even with all the volatility of the 60's, Mansfield career surged. She took a successful nightclub act on the road, she hung out with Anton LeVay from the Church of Satan, and she even appeared on USO shows with Bob Hope.
Mansfield died in a fiery car crash that cemented her legacy in Hollywood as babe who fell victim to the curse of fame. Even though she passed away in 1967 she lives on in everyone who remembers that this silver screen pin up was too hot to handle.
Back in the groovy era, it wasn’t uncommon to encounter friends, family members and/or strangers who were “stoned.” Smoking and taking drugs became a prominent recreational pastime of young people in the '60s and '70s.
What’s going on with your eyes right now? Are you… are you high? Have you been smoking reefer? Pot? Wacky Tobaccky, you know… grass? While weed was mostly popular with jazz cats from the 1930s to the 1950s, marijuana use surged in the 1960s thanks to college students experimenting with the drug on college campuses. From there, cool people - otherwise known as “heads” - across the country turned their pals onto this intoxicating plant.
According to the Saturday Evening Post, the best way to smoke pot in the ‘60s was to find a small party of fellow tokers and ask for a puff, once the high kicks in you can move from place to place with the ease of someone who walks on clouds. That is until you find yourself absolutely starving. But that's what Ben & Jerry's was invented for, right?
A drinking and smoking Billy Joel just hanging out by a sign,1974.
1974 saw the release of “Streetlife Serenade,” Billy Joel’s third album and the follow up to his smash hit “Piano Man.” In ’74 Joel was firmly ensconced in Los Angeles and he began to long for the sights of his home in The Bronx. In spite of his pop and classical leanings, Joel’s always been a bit of a rabble rouser. He battled the musical critics of the ’70 and ‘80s while partying just as hard as the rockers he shared the radio waves with.
In 2013 he discussed his drinking with the New York Times. He said, “I started with Dewars White Label Scotch and then, when I really got heavy into it, it was vodka. Vodka is a hard-core alky drink. I could take it in shots or I could just mix it with something. I can’t even smell the stuff anymore. It makes me sick.”
A young Faye Dunaway ready for some boating, 1967.
Born in Bascom, Florida Faye Dunaway’s career began in earnest in 1967 with a starring role in Bonnie & Clyde with Warren Beatty. Prior to being cast in the film Beatty was unsure about whether or not Dunaway could accurately portray Bonnie Parker, a regular young woman trying to escape her small town. He felt that Dunaway’s otherworldly bone structure was too stark, too striking for a simple girl to have.
However once he saw pictures of Dunaway posing on the beach, looking like a regular girl he knew that he found his Bonnie. Dunaway went on to appear in films like Network and Chinatown, but she got her start with these saucy beach photos from the ‘60s.
Paul Stanley of Kiss getting ready, 1975.
Would you look at all that hairspray? Do you think that’s how much the band went through in one night or was that supposed to sustain them through a tour? By 1975 KISS was already a must see touring act, with their larger than life personas and best band in the galaxy aesthetic firmly in place. But it was their double live album from the same year, “Alive!” that cemented their status as rock icons.
While Gene Simmons is the most vocal member of the band, it’s Paul Stanley who’s always carried and aura of cool around him. This pic shows just how hardcore Stanley was - even when he was wearing six inch heels and wearing more makeup than your mom and your sisters combined.
Raquel Welch stuns the audience on the Cavett Show, 1972
By 1972 Cavett was exhausted with his show, after all he’d been interviewing stars and star wannabes five nights a week for years. He needed a break. One of his last interviews prior to going on hiatus and waiting for ABC to come up with a better deal was with Raquel Welch, a regular guest on the show, and he also spoke to Mick Jagger and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones. As exciting as all that sounds he couldn’t muster much bluster for the stars.
While speaking to Rolling Stone (not the Rollings Stones mind you) before shying away for vacation Cavett said:
It’s inevitable after this many shows… Maybe somebody’s interested in all those people, but I’m not. There are times when my eyes have glazed over and I think, ‘Oh my God, I’m not going to be able to speak when it comes my turn. I don’t know what they’re talking about.'
1972 Dodge Challenger ad.
The 1972 Dodge Challenger is one of the most iconic muscle cars of the area, with its sleek curves and a hood that makes the driver feel like they’re behind the wheel of a retro-futuristic spaceship. Whether this car was seen peeling out in the street or idling in a parking lot it was the envy of gear heads and norms alike. You can easily picture a guy behind the wheel with a pack of smokes rolled up in his sleeves and Aerosmith blaring from the stereo.
The first generation Challengers truly are a work of beauty, and this one almost looks good enough to make you forget about the babe hanging out in the grass.
Bettie Page posing in her animal print bathing suit, 1954.
Once Bettie Page began posing for pin-up photos in the early ‘50s she took the world by storm. Prior to this film shoot in Boca Raton, Florida Page was already one of the most famous models in New York, but after agreeing to be photographed at the Africa USA wildlife park by Bunny Yeager she became arguably the most famous pin-up on the planet.
This photo collection, known as “Jungle Bettie” featured leopard print lingerie that Page sewed herself and was so arresting that when Hugh Hefner saw the photos he immediately made Page the Playmate of the Month for January 1955.
Couple at Woodstock
This couple might look like a pair of hipsters that you’d run into while walking through Silverlake, but they’re actually a pair of hippies chilling in the mud during the Woodstock festival. With the actual festivities being start-stop at best, there was plenty of time to hang out, walk the grounds, and get groovy during the day while you waited for your favorite band to play.
The cut off shorts and afro look sure is definitely a decision that this guy made, but his chick’s blonde locks and tattered dress still looks hip all these years later.
Jimi Hendrix holding a Lucky Lager and enjoying a good laugh with Buddy Miles in the '60s.
After Hendrix put an end to the Experience, he picked up bass player Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles to help him make a change of pace with his sound. The first recording that the band made was the live album “Band of Gypsies, recorded at the famed Filmore East in New York City. The group recorded 47 songs over the course of four shows and two nights. The band played a ton of new material, along with tracks like “Purple Haze” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”
While the record was more of a contractural obligation than anything else, it showcases Hendrix’s killer guitar playing and his new backing band’s ability to roll with whatever changes Hendrix came up with on the spot.
A very cool 1953 Gibson guitar advertisement!
Solid body electric guitars have been around since the early 1930s, but no guitar has been able to match the pure cool factor of the Gibson Les Paul. First introduced in 1952, early models of the Les Paul signature guitar featured P-90 or “soap bar” pickups and a “trapeze” style bridge that required the strings to be placed beneath the bridge rather than over it like in later models.
Many early “goldtops” featured a signature gold color on the body, but seeing as how assembly lines in the ‘50s weren’t as spot on as they are now, many models came out of the factory with fronts, backs, and necks covered in gold. If you’ve got one of these bad boys around the house you know that the look doesn’t matter because they sound as good now as they did in the ‘50s.
Ann-Margret sitting in the Autumn leaves, 1965.
By 1965 Ann-Margret was already a certified star. Not only had she appeared with Elvis in Viva Las Vegas, but she’d been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and won the Golden Globe for “Best Newcomer.” Even though she fit the ideal of a blonde bombshell, Margret was anything but a flash in the pan. While other women in her field disappeared, died, or fell out fashion, Margret continued to build a body of work that continues into the 21st century.
This photo was taken just before she took a break from acting to appear in a run of Vegas shows that were so successful that they’d push her back into the world of Hollywood.
Anne Bancroft, the seductive Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate" by Mike Nichols in 1967.
Is there anyone that Anne Bancroft couldn’t seduce? Those smokey eyes, that sultry mouth, and her raspy voice thick with smoke, she ignited a fire in the loins of every young man who watched The Graduate. Her turn as the proto-cougar made the older woman an object of desire to every college student who had a friend with a hot mom.
Wildly enough, Bancroft wasn’t the first choice for the role of Mrs. Robinson. Instead, Mike Nichols wanted to cast French actress Jeanne Moreau, but after some soul searching he finally settled on Bancroft and the rest was groovy history.
The pretty Italian singer, Patty Pravo in 1970.
With songs like “La Bambola” and “Se C’E’ L’Amore” Patty Pravo brought the Italian torch songs to the world at large, and made men swoon regardless of whether or not they could speak the language. This five foot two singer with eyes of blue was a true Italian beauty who was friends with both poet Ezra Pound and Pope John XXIII by the time she was 15.
Her career ebbed and flowed throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and she even posed for Playboy in 1980. However in the early 2000s she had a major comeback and still plays to adoring crowds across Europe.
Barbara Bach from the movie James Bond 007 - The Spy Who Loved Me 1977.
New York born beauty Barbara Bach got her start in front of the camera as a model for magazines like Seventeen and Vogue in the 1960s, but she quickly turned to acting in 1968 when she played Nausicaa in an Italian adaptation of The Odyssey. From there she went on to star in a series of giallo films in Italy until she appeared in The Spy Who Loved Me as Anya Amasova.
After divorcing her first husband, an Italian businessman, Bach married former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr after meeting him on the set of Caveman. The two are still married, sorry guys.
Behind the scenes of "A Clockwork Orange," a 1971 dystopian crime film, is director and producer Stanley Kubrick taking an on set photo.
A Clockwork Orange is pure insanity. Not only is it the closest that director Stanley Kubrick ever came to directing a musical, but it’s full of some of the most affecting an intense sexual and violent imagery that’s ever been committed to celluloid. The film lovingly follows the exploits of Alex, a young man who rapes and murders his way through a dystopian, futuristic London.
The film presents his crimes with such panache that copycat crimes soon followed. While Stanley Kubrick didn’t feel that he was responsible for the crimes, he willingly pulled the film from circulation. At the time he told journalist Michael Ciment:
No one is corrupted watching A Clockwork Orange any more than they are by watching Richard III... The film has been accepted as a work of art, and no work of art has ever done social harm, though a great deal of social harm has been done by those who have sought to protect society against works of art which they regarded as dangerous.
Burt Young and Sylvester Stallone on the set of Rocky, 1976.
In 1975 Sylvester Stallone was a middling character actor with about one hundred dollars in the bank. However after seeing the Muhammad Ali - Chuck Wepner fight he had an idea. The story of a down on his luck boxer who’s only goal was to go the distance with a superstar. He wrote the script for Rocky in a three and a half days, and after a few rewrites and some wheeling and dealing he was set to start shooting in January 1976.
According to Stallone, the shoot was heavily under budgeted and plagued with issues, but that just made everyone work harder and the cast and crew became like a family. Stallone explained, “We didn’t have the money to shoot a normal union film at that time in Philadelphia, so we would travel in a van.” It’s crazy that within a couple of years Stallone went from a guy watching a boxing match on a closed circuit TV to an Academy Award winning star.
Donyale Luna & Brian Jones, 1968.
By 1968 Brian Jones had written and played on some of the most important rock records of the decade. He started The Rolling Stones, wrote their earliest hits, and he even wrote a jingle for Rice Krispies. Donyale Luna was the first black supermodel, and the first woman of color to appear on the cover of British Vogue.
It’s no surprise that these two crossed paths at the height of their powers, and while there’s no record of these two ever hooking up, it makes sense that in the swinging ‘60s something would happen with the hottest model of the decade and the driving force behind the coolest band in the world.
A year later Jones would mysteriously meet his end, and a decade later Luna died of a heroin overdose in Rome.
Gorilla make-up and costume test for “Planet of the Apes” on April 12, 1967 - via William Forsche
Planet of the Apes is one of those movies that’s so good you forget how good it is. In 1968 this science fiction film starring Charlton Heston started a series of films hat are still running today. However, one of the greatest things about these movies is the makeup.
The makeup was created by John Chambers and he had a full one million dollar budget in order to get 200 actors in full ape makeup - which took three hours per person. The makeup was so affecting that Chambers took home an honorary Oscar for makeup more than a decade before a makeup award existed.
Jayne Mansfield on tippy toes in ballet slippers, 1955.
In 1955 Jayne Mansfield was just coming into the public eye with the release of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter, and at the time the producers were going all in with the star. She was hired in order to become 20th Century Fox’s replacement for Marilyn Monroe after she started getting into drugs and becoming difficult.
At the time Mansfield was a huge deal and she went on to appear in big budget films like The Girl Can’t Help It and even an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Wayward Bus. The same year she won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year.
Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger, 1970s.
After the swinging ‘60s Mick Jagger ditched his boyish looks and tried out the biker look for a few years. It’s good that he was one of the most famous rock stars on the planet or he may not have been able to hang onto supermodel Jerry Hall. The couple, who had four kids together, stayed together through Jagger’s heroin habit - something that he kept secret from the model for years. Hall wrote in her memoir:
Mick had told me he took LSD every day for a year in the ’60s. He also admitted he was smoking heroin. I was disgusted. I told him I couldn’t see him if he took drugs, saying, ‘Go away and don’t come back until you’re straight’. He succeeded – he had amazing will power.
Johnny Cash in Los Angeles, 1962.
Hubba Hubba, who knew Johnny Cash was such a hunk? By 1962 Cash was at the top of his game, despite a debilitating pill habit. In the same year he released “Hymns from the Heart,” “The Sound of Johnny Cash” and “All Aboard the Blue Train.” He spent much of the year on the road touring big cities and small towns, and he even did an eight day run in Las Vegas. He finished off the year with a New Years Eve show in Los Angeles at the Great Western Exhibition Showgrounds.
Even though he was already a heavy drug user by ’62, he’d double down on his drug use in the coming decades. Luckily, Cash and his family made it out of their very dark hole.
Madeline Kahn in Young Frankenstein - 1974.
Funny woman Madeline Kahn made a habit of stealing scenes in whatever films in which she appeared, but she did her best work in the films of Mel Brooks. In 1974 she appeared in both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein as fast talking, sexy women who set the screen on fire. Her turn as Elizabeth Benning in the latter is especially stellar. Not only does she play an excellent foil to Gene Wilder’s Frankenstein, but when she goes full “Bride” after sleeping his Monster it’s a true delight for horror and comedy fans.
Kahn's role is minor at best in Young Frankenstein, but whenever she appears onscreen she absolutely lights it up.
Popeye (Robin Williams) and Olive Oyl (Shelley Duvall), in the musical comedy film "Popeye", 1980.
Robert Altman (Nashville, MASH) is the last person you would expect to direct an adaptation of the 1920s cartoon Popeye, and to be fair Robin Williams isn’t exactly who you think of when you think of rough and tumble sailor men. However in spite of, or perhaps because of, the challenges the production presented.
Aside from Altman’s usual all over the place filmmaking, there was rampant drug use on set and an entire city had to be built in Malta in order for the production to go forward. Altman changed much of what people know about the character. Popeye hates spinach, and Olive Oyl is in a relationship with the bully Bluto. The movie wasn’t a hit, but it’s a fascinating addition to Altman’s cannon.
Reba McEntire singing at Gilley's in 1983.
If you’ve seen Urban Cowboy then you’ve visited Gilley’s, a honky tonk in Pasadena, Texas where country stars cut their teeth and wannabe bull riders hopped on a mechanical bull to see if they could last a full eight seconds. Reba McEntire was one of many future country superstars who put in their time at the dingy club.
By 1983 she was touring her fifth album, "Behind the Scene," which peaked at number 36 on the Billboard country charts. Reba played Gilley’s multiple times, and in 1985 she even released a live album recorded at the venue - "Live From Gilley's."
Sharon Stone, 1985.
Sharon Stone went to New York in the late ‘70s to become a model, and later went to Europe where her career middled. She came back to New York City in 1980 and dove into the acting world. She quickly earned a background spot in Stardust Memories. Following that role she appeared in a series of small television and film roles without ever having a breakthrough.
In 1985 she began a run of B-movies beginning wth King Solomon's Mines, an Indiana Jones rip off produced by Cannon Films. It would be another five years before she appeared in Total Recall.
Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner on the set of "the magnificent seven", 1960.
Many people don’t realize that 1960’s The Magnificent Seven is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, but be that as it may, the film is a stand out of the western genre. In the film, a town hires seven down on their luck cowboys to protect the town from a group of baddies.
Brynner and McQueen are the most “classic” cowboy actors in the film, however McQueen went on to have a more varied career while Brynner reprised his role in follow ups to the film and he even played similar characters in Italian westerns.
The film is truly one of the greatest westerns ever filmed, and it serves as an effective ending to the genre.
Who remembers watching movies in class with projectors like this one?
Ah, there’s nothing like hearing the click and hum of a school projector. The look of the dust in the light and the way the projector represented at least 30 minutes with no studying, no books, and no teacher running their mouth. Everyone has their favorite classroom film, be it “Story of a Writer” the 25 minute movie about Ray Bradbury, or “Gateways of the Mind,” a nearly hour long movie that represented a full class off from book learning.
Most of these movies were shot on 16mm film, which means that if you have a projector you can watch your favorite educational films on your own time.
"The Honeymooners" (1955-56)
Bang, zoom… straight to the moon! An evening spent watching The Honeymooners was great way to pass the time to watch this classic sitcom. When the 39 episode series from the late 1950s went into reruns, the show became even more popular with an entirely new generation of viewers.
The series starred Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, a bus driver in New York City who’s in a constant verbal sparring match with his wife, Alice. Their neighbor’s, the Norton’s, live upstairs and they often get carried away in the Kramden’s escapades. You can still catch the series on reruns somewhere.
“What did you do, wake up this morning and say/ Today I’m going to ruin a man’s life?” -Jack Colton, "Romancing the Stone" with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. (1984)
Romancing the Stone is one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made. Women love it because it’s so sweet and funny, men love it because it’s full of action. The movie stars Kathleen Turner as a romance novelist who flees to Columbia after someone tries to kill her for a treasure map. While in Central America she meets Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) an exotic bird smuggler and the two get caught up in south of the border adventure.
Even though the film is spectacular, Kathleen Turner hating working on the picture. She explained:
I remember terrible arguments [with Robert Zemeckis] doing Romancing. He's a film-school grad, fascinated by cameras and effects. I never felt that he knew what I was having to do to adjust my acting to some of his damn cameras – sometimes he puts you in ridiculous postures. I'd say, 'This is not helping me! This is not the way I like to work, thank you!
A group of Hells Angels at the Isle of Wright, 1969
What the hell were the Hells Angels doing on the Isle of Wight? Well they weren’t vacationing in England that’s for sure. The biker gang popped over to the south England island in 1970 for a huge rock festival that swelled with 600,000 attendees. The Isle of Wight Festival boasted the final UK performance of Jimi Hendrix, but it completely fell apart by the end of the show.
While the Angels are usually an unnerving presence at a festival like this, the worst part of the get together was the toilet situation. One festival goer recalled:
I have strong recollections of the toilets. I don’t think I have ever seen such big toilets and such lousy ones. There were about 100 cubicles, none of them had doors and they were suspended over really deep slit trenches that were about 15 foot deep. I believe this was done because the toilets were insufficient in 1968 and there was a huge cesspit, which someone is rumored to have fallen into whilst tripping.
Barbara Bach in "Force 10 from Navarone" in 1978 is a British-American war film loosely based on Alistair MacLean's 1968 novel.
Loosely based on The Guns of Navarone, Force 10 from Navarone follows a group of American military people who have to escape Germany while stopping a German assault in Sarajevo. Barbara Bach plays Maritza Petrović, a captive in the German camp who tries to help Force 10, but ends up on the wrong end of the German Captain Lescovar.
Weirdly enough, Barbara Bach appears in the film with multiple actors who appeared in James Bond films: Richard Kiel (The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker), and Edward Fox (Never Say Never Again). Kiel also appears with Bach in The Humanoid.
Bob Hope with Joey Heatherton entertaining the troops, Vietnam 1966.
Bob Hope tried to visit Vietnam so he could entertain the growing number of troops as early as 1962, but due to unsafe conditions he was unable to get to the country until 1964. His first USO show occurred in December of that year, and it was just for the “local” troops. However the following shows where filmed and aired as holiday specials.
For each show Hope brought performers like Joey Heatherton, hot off her appearances on the variety shows of the day and the film My Blood Runs Cold. When Heatherton went to ‘Nam with Hope she often danced with the servicemen.
Brigitte Bardot all dressed up in leather.
You may not be able to name any of Brigitte Bardot’s films or her songs, but you definitely remember her whole thing. She was a sassy French babe who started modeling at 15 and three years later she appeared in Le Trou Normand - a film about a girl and her cousin who inherit an inn and try to run it while finishing school. However, her breakout role came in 1956 with And God Created Woman, a movie where she rolls around sans clothing in her yard.
She went onto be one of the biggest sex symbols of the 20th century, and after she retired from acting she became an animal rights activist - which make this leather outfit at least a bit suspect.
Clint Eastwood and Donna Mills on the set of "Play Misty for Me", 1971.
This may look like a lovely romantic drama, but Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut 1971’s Play Misty For Me is actually one of the most tense psychological thrillers of the 1970s. In the film, Eastwood plays a radio DJ who’s being stalked by a fan.
Eastwood had been acting since 1955’s Revenge of the Creature, and he later said that he used his nearly 20 years on sets to help him put Misty together. He said:
After seventeen years of bouncing my head against the wall, hanging around sets, maybe influencing certain camera set-ups with my own opinions, watching actors go through all kinds of hell without any help, and working with both good directors and bad ones, I'm at the point where I'm ready to make my own pictures. I stored away all the mistakes I made and saved up all the good things I learned, and now I know enough to control my own projects and get what I want out of actors.
Courteney Cox posing for the camera in 1989.
Wow. Has Courteney Cox ever been more stunning? Sure, she was a babe in Friends and the titular cougar on Cougar Town, but this is out of this world hot. Cox grew up in Alabama, and before getting into the film industry she attended college in Maryland. However, once she realized she could make serious cash modeling she ditched university and jumped in front a camera. Obviously she made the right decision.
Throughout the ‘80s Cox appeared in a series of roles that paid the rent but none of them really went anywhere. In 1989 she appeared on Family Ties as Alex P. Keaton’s girlfriend for the final two seasons. She bounced around for the next few years and then, you know, that whole Friends thing happened.
Dan Aykroyd as Beldar Conehead Laraine Newman as Connie Conehead during 'The Coneheads At Home' skit on SNL, February 26 1977.
Has there ever been a more American family than the Coneheads? Sure, they’re from another planet and they pretend to be from France, but other than that they’re basically the family next door. The Coneheads, played by Dan Akryoyd, Laraine Newman, and Jane Curtain (not pictured) consumed mass quantities of food, speak like nasally robots, and rub their cones together in order to show affection for one another. It’s weird until its not that weird.
Akroyd claims that he got the idea for the family from the heads on Easter Island, although Jim Belsuhi claims that the idea is based on nugs of marijuana.
Dean Martin with the Golddiggers, a female singing and dancing troupe on The Dean Martin Show which ran from 1965-1974. It was the most popular variety show of the '60s.
Dean Martin always surrounded himself with beautiful women - especially on his long running variety show. Initially his dancers were called “Dean’s Girls,” however during the summer of ’68 Frank Sinatra took over the show for a couple of months and “The Golddiggers” came along with him. The group was made up of a dozen young women who sang, danced, and performed in sketches.
When Dead returned to the show The Golddigers stuck around and even guest hosted the next two summers worth of replacement programming for him. By 1970 The Golddiggers had their own special: The Golddiggers in London, hosted by Charles Nelson Riley and Marty Feldman. Oh to be back in the ‘70s.
It’s hard to believe that Randolph Mantooth, the talented actor we all knew and loved as, Johnny Gage, the young paramedic, on the hit television series, Emergency!, is 72 years old. Growing up, he always knew he wanted to act.
Starting off with Emergency! in 1972 Randolph Mantooth began a career that spans decades, genres, and run times. Despite being born in Sacramento, CA Mantooth was actually discovered while treading the boards in New York City. After signing a deal with Universal Studios Mantooth began acting in procedurals and a variety of episodic shows. After Emergency! ended he became an advocate for emergency specialists. He explained:
I owe an incredible debt to firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics... so that's a debt that no one can really pay back, but you can try. That's why it's so important for me to do what I do.
Mantooth is still acting, so don’t be surprised when he shows up on the small screen.
Jeff and dad, the very dapper looking Lloyd Bridges in 1951.
Do you think Lloyd Bridges and David Lynch are secretly the same person? Maybe it’s just the hair. Bridges had been acting since 1937, and by the time this picture was taken he’d been apart of the studio system, he served in World War II, and he’d been blacklisted for being a part of a theater troupe with connections to the Communist party. The man had lived a life.
In 1951 he started acting on pretty much every show on television. He starred in the anthology series The Bigelow Theatre, and starred in films like The Fighting Seventh and Three Steps North. He continued to act until his death in 1998.
Karen Carpenter on the drums with her brother Richard on keyboards, while in London, 1972.
The Carpenters weren’t just a couple of lovey-dovey saps that sang love songs for teenagers, they were skin pounding rabble-rousers who also happened to sing love songs for teenagers. For the group’s early live shows Karen played the drums while she sang, but after complaints that the audience didn’t have a front person to focus on she was persuaded to move away from the kit and sing at center stage.
Karen’s brother claims that one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do is tell Karen that he’d hired another drummer to take over for her.
Rita Hayworth in "Salome", a 1953 Biblical film by Columbia Pictures.
Salome, the story of a woman in exile starring Rita Hayworth, is a digression from the New Testament text to say the least. In fact, it essentially cherry picks characters from the New Testament and places them in this Biblical epic.
The film is most well remembered for Hayworth’s “Dance of the Seven Veils.” This scene sees Salome dance for King Herod in order to convince the King to save John the Baptist. The dance is truly engrossing and Hayworth called it “the most demanding of her career.” According to the dance's choreographer, Hayworth had to do the whole thing without revealing that there were "buttons or straps" on the costume.
The beautiful Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder in the thriller/action film "Dr. No", 1962.
While casting Dr. No producers were on a long hunt for the right woman to play Honey Ryder. She is the first Bond girl to ever appear on film after all. Initially they wanted to cast Julie Christie (McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Troy), but felt that she didn’t have the right body for the role. With only two weeks left before the picture rolled they hired Ursula Andress based off of a photo taken by her then-husband John Derek.
As Andress is Swiss, she has a thick German accent which doesn’t make sense for the Jamaican Honey Ryder. No bother, the producers redubbed all of her lines with a different actress.
The iconic Jane Fonda has been a mainstay in American pop culture over the years. Sure, she is a beautiful film star but, there is so much more to this interesting woman.
Jane Fonda has lived a life. She’s been performing since 1960 when she received a Tony Award nomination for the play There Was a Little Girl. From there she acted in a series of hit dramas before going on to create Jane Fonda's Workout, a series of 22 videos that she filmed over the course of a decade.
Her most well known marriage was to Ted Turner. The two were together for 10 years and the two lived in Atlanta throughout the relationship. After her divorce she returned to acting, and most recently she can be seen in the Netflix series, Grace & Frankie.
The beautiful genie, Barbara Eden, best known for starring as "Jeannie" in the television sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie" that ran from 1965 - 1970.
I Dream of Jeannie was one of the funnest shows of the late ‘60s, and if you’re into magic and weird neighbors then you had a lovely time for the entire 139 episodes. Behind the scenes of Jeannie, the cast and crew had a heck of a good time. Star Larry Hagman was quite constantly crossfaded on champagne and weed.
Meanwhile, star Barbara Eden was lovely to work with. However, NBC execs were supposedly nervous when her navel slipped out while filming. Apparently that was a pretty big deal back in the day. When she wasn't starring in Jeannie, Eden appeared in shows like The Virginian and films like Harper Valley PTA.
The sleek 1966 Jaguar XJ13 V12 Prototype Sports Racer.
Is there anything like a sleek piece of ‘60s muscle? Only one XJ13 was ever produced in order to race at Le Mans. The car looks incredibly cool, and you almost expect Batman to jump out of the driver’s seat and bust the Joker. The car was developed in secret, however before the car could be raced a rule change occurred and rendered obsolete.
Jaguar attempted to prepare the car’s engine for sale, but after a series of setbacks they abandoned the project. The car now sits in the Heritage Motor Center in Gaydon, England. Try to take it for a spin if you're ever across the pond.
Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn in the comedy "Foul Play" 1978.
Initially produced as a tribute to the films of Alfred Hitchcock, Foul Play is about a woman who’s trying to convince the San Francisco police that she’s been attacked by a mysterious albino. Hawn and Chase play off one another like Nick and Nora Charles throughout their San Francisco escapade, which makes it wild that the producers were at one point going to cast Farrah Fawcett in Hawn’s role.
Even though critics were middling on the film, it still received a series of award nominations and it inspired a short lived television series with the same name in 1981.
Goldie Hawn and Ruth Buzzi doing a skit on "Laugh In"
Before starring in comedies like Overboard, Death Becomes Her and Bird on a Wire Goldie Hawn cut her teeth on the variety show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In from 1968 to 1970. On the series, Hawn subverted the trope of the dumb blonde while becoming a household name in the process.
While Ruth Buzzi’s career didn’t take off the same way as Hawn’s, she went onto appear in a ton of Saturday morning cartoons as well as shows like CHiPs and even 7th Heaven. The two never worked together again, but it's wild that two huge careers began so long ago.
Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon of "The Clash" in London, 1978.
The members of The Clash were circling each other for quite some time in the mid-70s. They each played in pub rock and proto punk bands until each of their groups broke up in 1976. Guitarist Mick Jones recruited Paul Simonson to play bass, and even though they had a lead singer for a while, they were still looking for someone special.
Around that time Strummer saw the Sex Pistols play it changed his life. He said:
I knew something was up, so I went out in the crowd which was fairly sparse. And I saw the future—with a snotty handkerchief—right in front of me. It was immediately clear. Pub rock was, ‘Hello, you bunch of drunks, I'm gonna play these boogies and I hope you like them.’ The Pistols came out that Tuesday evening and their attitude was, ‘Here's our tunes, and we couldn't give a flying **** whether you like them or not. In fact, we're gonna play them even if you ******* hate them
When Simonon and Jones offered Strummer a chance to play in a band that would rival the Pistols he immediately jumped at the chance. Then The Clash went onto take over the world.
Michael Keaton getting his makeup done for the lead character in the 1988 film "Beetlejuice"
The movie’s named after him, he’s on the poster, but he’s only in the movie for about 15 minutes. Michael Keaton’s turn as Beetlejuice in Tim Burton’s 1988 masterpiece was truly groundbreaking. While Keaton’s killer comedy chops made the character memorable, he had a little help with his makeup from Vee Neill.
Neill’s most inspired idea was to make ‘Juice a little mossy, so the character looked like he just came from somewhere damp. Neill told Yahoo:
I sent a PA off to the hobby store and I said, ‘Get me some crushed green foam like they use on model kits, for moss and stuff like that.I said, ‘We’ll put some moss in his hair. We’ll just make it look like he crawled out from underneath a rock. So I got this crushed green foam, and I painted up the areas where I wanted it to come out. I wanted it to look like it was creeping out from underneath his hairline and his neck and stuff. I just stuck in on wherever the glue was.
The Bee Gees in the 1978 musical film, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
What’s that? You weren’t aware that the Bee Gees filmed their own version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band? The movie is up there with The Monkees’ Head. It’s truly worth a watch once you’ve had a couple of puffs of your father’s stash. The film came about after Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood decided to produce a version of the film using nothing but his clients.
Rounding out the cast are Peter Frampton - hot off “Frampton Comes Alive” - and George Burns of Oh God fame as the film’s narrator. The film was a complete disaster and it ended up derailing Frampton’s career for decades.
The lovely Karen Allen, 1976.
Before she helped Indiana Jones stop the Nazis from stealing the Ark of the Covenant Karen Allen was stealing hearts with her natural beauty. She began her career as a member of an experimental theater troupe in Washington DC, and later she studied at the studied at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. From there she traveled Europe with her theater troupe, something that must have informed her later work.
However she didn’t appear in a film until 1978’s National Lampoon's Animal House. She went on to appear in Knot’s Landing, but her breakout role was in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The Rolling Stones in matching suits, 1963.
It’s tough to imagine the hard living Rolling Stones trying to fit in with Beatlemania bands like Herman’s Hermits and The Monkees, but here they are in their matching houndstooth suits and mop top haircuts. In 1963 the band was still playing Chuck Berry covers and doing their best to build a following in England.
Almost in opposition to the idea of building a fanbase, the band refused to play their first single “Come On” at their gigs. The band’s obstinance worked out for them and they became the hottest band in the world. While the band looks cute in their outfits, their inner bad boys are showing in this pic, just check out the cigarettes in Mick, Bill, and Keith's hands.
Elvis getting a parking ticket in Memphis, 1956
Even if he couldn’t get a hit in 1956, he sure could get a parking ticket. The King had been performing throughout the south for a while, specifically recording for Sun Records head Sam Phillips. While that’s great he wasn’t gaining any traction. It took a new deal in RCA and a cover of Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes” to make him a star.
After performing on the Milton Berle Show in 1956 Presley’s star began to rise and a few months later he had a number one hit with “Heartbreak Hotel.” He’s lucky he got famous when he did, those parking tickets can really add up.
Mick Jagger had swagger as a young teen! ( late 1950s)
Mick Jagger really has gone through some looks, hasn’t he? His early ‘60s mop top dandy outfit is strange, mostly because we’re used to seeing him look fairly cool. And his ‘70s beardo look is quite wild, if only because he looks like he should be leading the Manson family.
However, this look really takes the cake. Not only is the young Jagger absolutely owning this whole popped collar thing, but he you can see that he knows how good he looks. It really is fascinating when a star knows they’re going to be a star from an early age. What do you think a young Keith looks like? Probably one of those Halloween skeleton decorations.
Roddy McDowall appeared 'Cornelius' on "The Carol Burnett Show" in 1974.
The Carol Burnett Show really was one of the best variety shows of its time. It not only showcased Burnett’s razor sharp wit, but there were moments of surreal brilliance. Take this shot of Burnett and Roddy McDowall in full ape makeup, it’s from an episode of where the host introduces McDowall as “one of Hollywood’s most familiar faces.”
When he pops out wearing his ape face the show continues on as if it were any talk show interview, except Carol Burnett is trying to pretend that her guest isn’t dressed like a giant ape. When things can’t get any weirder, McDowall performs a short scene from Julius Caesar. Absolutely brilliant.
Sean Young in the original "Blade Runner" 1982.
Sean Young’s turn as Rachel in Blade Runner is one of the most heartbreaking portrayals of a character that’s ever been put on screen. Her character is a replicant that’s been built to not know she’s replicant, and what’s worse is she falls in love with a detective meant to seek out replicants. What’s worse is that she’ll never live long enough to maintain an actual relationship.
At the time of filming Young was a relatively nobody, hardly an actor with blockbuster experience. Ridley Scott said he cast her because “She reminded me of Vivien Leigh… that acerbic toughness that Vivien Leigh had.”
Who remembers the BBC comedy, "The Young Ones" from 1982-84?
Once in every lifetime, there comes a love like this: The Young Ones were Mike, Rick, Vyvyan, and Neil are four students living in a run down house while attending “Scumbag College.” The show features the comic talents of English actors, writers, and comics that would go on to be some of the biggest names in the scene. Actors like Rik Mayall, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Emma Thompson appeared on the 12 episode series.
Aside from showcasing some of the best comedic talent in England, the series also featured musical performances from bands like Motorhead, Madness, and The Damned. The series played on the BBC from 1982 to 1984, but it lived on in repeats on PBS and finally made its way to DVD in 2007.
James Caan relaxes between takes of 'Sonny's' death scene in "The Godfather".
The death of Sonny Corleone is one of the bloodiest and most well filmed deaths in movie history. The scene utilized 400-plus squibs that had to be attached to Caan’s body so he could die the gruesome death brought on by the six hitmen who pop up and fill him full of lead at the Long Beach toll booth.
The scene took three days to shoot and required $100,000 worth of explosives to make sure that Sonny’s car and the toll booth exploded correctly and on cue. As wild as that may sound, it’s one of the best scenes in the movie and it’s worth every penny.
Celebrities were way more scandalous than we thought at Studio 54 - Actor John Travolta graced the dancefloor with his presence.
Nothing matches the hedonism of Ancient Rome, but New York City in the 1970s comes pretty close. As the Vietnam War raged on a hemisphere away, stars, party people, and hangers-on flocked to Studio 54 from 1977 to 1980 to shake their groove things and get into trouble. Regardless of what you think of John Travolta in the current era, in the late ‘70s, he was a jaw-dropping heartthrob that was famous for cutting up the dance floor.
There’s no way of knowing exactly what Travolta got up to while he was shimmying across Studio 54, but I think you can use your imagination and come up with something close to the truth.
