55 Unseen Photographs To Make You Nostalgic For The Groovy Era

Known for their far out, mod flight attendants, PSA Airlines was a cool ride to take in the ‘70s when you were traveling throughout California. This airline didn’t just have flight attendants with cool outfits, they also had a great disco jingle that told flyers, “catch us!” You got it, gals.

In the late ‘70s you could only take PSA to different cities in California, which is great if you’re the kind of person who’s got to fly between San Francisco and Los Angeles every day, or if you’re just exhausted with the beautiful views along the PCH. 

Gregg Allman, the singer-songwriter behind the Allman Brothers Band was a rock god who jammed on guitar and the Hammond organ. The only thing that he loved as much as jamming with his band was getting married. Allman was married a record seven times, and in 1975 he tied the knot with past and future pop star Cher.

The two started dating in early ’75, and the relationship made Allman more famous than he was with his music, and in June the two walked down the aisle. A year later they had a son named Elijah Blue Allman. Regardless of what you think about their relationship, you've got to love the scarf on Allman. 

For a very brief period of time Jimi Hendrix and The Experience was the opening act for The Monkees. Let that sink in - if you were a young person going to see your favorite TV band of mop top cuties play “Daydream Believer” in 1967 you had your mind blown by a guitar god working at the heigh of his prowess.

Even though the sound of Hendrix and The Monkees couldn’t be further apart, they were all buddies. It only took seven dates for Hendrix to drop off the tour, but he continued hanging out with Tork at his home whenever he was back in California. 

Who didn’t want to start a family band after watching The Partridge Family? This primetime series followed a group of musical brothers and sisters who convince their widowed mother to sing on a track with their band. After finding a little bit of success and getting a manager, the family picks up a 1957 Chevrolet Series 6800 Superior painted in amazingly groovy colors. 

Every episode of this series was a must see for kids growing up in the groovy era. Week to week it was such a big deal to see young people tearing it up with pop music. So who remembers what they wrote on the back of the bus?

Answer below...

.

.

.

.

CAREFUL NERVOUS MOTHER DRIVING

Has there ever been a cooler know it all than Alex Trebek? This Canadian heartthrob got his start on the Canadian show Music Hop before bouncing around to a few different CBC shows throughout the ‘60s. He didn’t make his way to the US until the ‘70s, when he hosted the $128,000 Question and appeared as a panelist on Card Sharks.

Since Alex Trek is the coolest, NBC kept him around throughout the ‘70s and early '80s. He worked as a host on a few different shows, but nothing stuck. In 1984 he filmed a pilot for a little show called Jeopardy that’s been handing out answers ever since. 

Right now you’re looking at the coolest guy who ever existed - Lonnie George Johnson. Not only did he help create the nuclear power source for the Galileo mission to Jupiter, but he also helped work on an inexpensive green energy technology that changes heat into electricity. While that’s all well and good, Johnson’s greatest invention is the Super Soaker.

Think about it, what’s better that pumping up a big plastic shotgun thing before blasting your bud with it on a hot summer day? Johnson invented the Super Soaker in 1983, and when it finally hit the shelves in 1990 it was called the “Power Drencher,” however it wasn’t long before there was a Super Soaker in every home in the country. 

Was there anything better than riding down the streets of your neighborhood with your friends on summer break? Can’t you just smell the asphalt under your tires as you ride to the lake or maybe the arcade if you were lucky enough to scrape together enough quarters. Riding around with your wrecking crew until the sun went down was the best way to spend an afternoon.

Get a look at that banana seat on the blue bike, talk about riding in style. It’s a shame that these cruisers stopped appearing across the country, especially since there’s such a nostalgic attachment to the grooviest of eras. 

She is woman, hear her roar! Linda Ronstadt is one of the most influential rock n roll women has collaborated with everyone from the Eagles, to Paul Simon, and even Emmylou Harris. In 1968 Ronstadt was performing with her band The Stone Poneys and enjoying success with their cover of “Different Drum” by Mike Nesmith of The Monkees.

The band continued to play throughout 1967 and into 1968, where they toured for about two and half months before appearing on Johnny Carson. In ’68 the band called it quits and Rondstadt started her solo career. A year later she released her first solo album “Hand Sown... Home Grown”

If you saw these two at a party in the late ‘70s then you knew you were about to have a good time. Stevie Nicks and John Belushi were two of the era’s biggest partiers, and even though she spent her nights rocking and he spent his getting laughs, these two were like magnets for a good time.

What do you think Stevie and Jonh talked about? Was she asking his opinion on Tusk? Did he ask her about what really happened while she and the Mac were recording Rumours? Or do you think they just played it cool and pretended like they were just a couple of normies? Honestly the sky’s the limit with these two.  

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis changed the face of Hollywood during the Golden Era of cinema in the early 20th century. These gals starred in film noirs, comedies, and romances, but it's their time away from the camera that most audiences tend to focus on. It's a shame that two actresses who forged such a path for everyone that followed in their footsteps are seen as more interesting for their private lives rather than for all of the hard work that went onscreen. No matter what was happening behind two closed doors, it's clear that Crawford and Davis were total professionals who also liked to have a laugh every once in a while. Who doesn't?

If there’s ever been anyone who needed to sit back and relax it’s Freddie Mercury. As the singer for Queen, Mercury was tasked with getting an entire stadium on its feet and singing along. Sure, the band had hot riffs for days, but it was Mercury who had to make the fans sing along. Here he is relaxing in a fairly groovy looking shirt, even when he was kicking back he liked to look good.

In the mid ‘70s Queen was riding one of their first big highs, with Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera absolutely demolishing the charts. The band toured relentlessly in service of these two albums, and it must have been exhausting for Mercury to put himself out there every night. 

Once Jim Morrison and The Doors got going in late 1965, the band started up a residency at the club London Fog, a seedy joint that also hosted saucy dancers along with the poetic rock band.The band’s time at London Fog is where the group grew more cohesive, and after cutting their teeth they moved on to the Whisky a Go G in West Hollywood.

As the Whisky’s house band, The Doors performed the songs that would be on their first album, and they supported artists like Van Morrison. On the final night of the residency The Doors and Van Morrison’s band got together for a twenty-minute jam session of “In the Midnight Hour” and “Gloria.” 

Steve McQueen is easily one of the coolest actors of the 1950s and ‘60s. After getting out of the military in 1950 McQueen started competing in motorcycle races at Long Island City Raceway for cash, which is just about the coolest thing that anyone has ever done. During that time he worked on his acting chops by appearing in small theater roles and in bits parts on television.

By the 1960s McQueen was starring in movies like The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. It was in the same year that he starred in The Great Escape that he received this 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso from his first wife Neile Adams.

You know you’re cool if you can get Bob Dylan to show up to your birthday, and there’s no one cooler than Mick Jagger. Well, maybe Keith Richards, but that’s why you put both of these guys on the guest list. For his 29th birthday Mick Jagger through a party with 500 people at the St. Regis Roof following a performance at Madison Square Garden.

The festivities began when the band threw custard pies at Jagger while he was onstage at the garden, but the party didn’t end until 6am the next morning when the likes of Zsa Zsa Gabor, Oscar de la Renta, and even Tennessee Williams stumbled home. 

Where were you when this science fiction double feature premiered in 1975? This far out and funky sci-fi musical romp shouldn’t have been a hit. It’s a weird movie that references B pictures by RKO and cross dressers from another planet, but there’s something lovable about The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The film was shot in Oakley Court, a stately manor near Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a spot notable for its appearances in many Hammer Horror films.

While filming, everyone on set got cozy, especially natural performers Meatloaf and Tim Curry, who were both original actors from the stage play. Although ‘Loaf originally played both Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott, in the film he only played Eddie, something that Mr. Loaf has never gotten over. 

If you’re truly groovy then you definitely grew up watching Romper Room, the only variety and learning program for pre-school kids featuring games, music and stories. Romper Room was the first educational show that was aimed at young people, and it was the first program to take advantage of being franchised. That means that someone watching Romper Room in Vancouver got a different episode of Romper Room than a kid in Georgia.

Miss Nancy is easily the most memorable host of the series, but everyone has their favorite person who lead the show. Whichever host you were the most fond of, it’s likely that they made your life better in one way or another. 

Benjamin Orr was truly one of the coolest rock stars to ever grace the planet Earth. He looked like the god of cool who descended from Mount Olympus to grace mortals with his presence, and he had an oddly soulful voice that added tender pathos to Cars singles like “Drive” and “Just What I Needed.”

Orr met his Cars bandmate Ric Ocasek in Columbus, Ohio in the 1960s. They started playing together in different rock bands pretty much from the moment they met, and in 1976 they formed the Cars. After the band called it quits in 1988, Orr continued to play music until his death in 2000.

No, Raquel Welch wasn’t holed up in some cabin working on her manifesto, she was bombing in an entirely different way. In Kansas City Bomber Welch played K.C. Carr, a roller derby girl who’s trying to make her way through life as a single mother trying to maneuver real life, and the world of “Roller Games.”

If you haven’t seen Kansas City Bomber it’s worth your time to check out Welch as a gnarly skater who outplays and out wits her male competitors. Welch said that she had to learn to skate to take on the role, and that when she trained she discovered that most roller girls were smaller than her. 

You know what? Keep you iPhones and iPods because this transistor radio is absolutely the tops. Remember walking around with one of these bad boys up to your ear, jamming on the sweet tunes of the AM radio? There’s was nothing better than cranking sounds out of a little speaker, even if it wasn’t crystal clear it still felt alive.

Sure, there are bigger and more robust radios out there, but there’s something about these little beauties that make us want to walk around town looking for the clearest signal we can find. If you've still got one of these somewhere, give us a shout! 

On September 12, 1953, John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Kennedy Bouvier in a beatific moment. The couple were wed in Rhode Island, with a ceremony that was closer to that of the Royals than anything that’s happened in America. The nuptials were performed by Richard Cushing, the Archbishop of Boston, and the wedding was even blessed by Pope Pius XII.

Aside from the attendees, nearly 2,000 people showed up to St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Newport to catch a glimpse of the wedding. After the “I do’s,” the family and 800 guests attended a reception at the 300 acre Hammersmith Farm.

If you told Stephen Spielberg that Jaws was going to be the first big summer blockbuster while he was filming, he probably would have fed you to his mechanical shark - if it was working. The production for this 1975 masterpiece was plagued by issues. The shark didn’t work, the script was constantly being rewritten, and the film was running over budget as the shooting schedule continued to grow.

In spite of all the setbacks facing Spielberg he persevered. He worked around the shark, He continued to shoot. And at the end of the day he made a movie that still keeps audiences out of the water.

The Rolling Stones in 1978 were easily the coolest dudes on the planet, and they were only matched in their cool by Linda Ronstadt, a singer who’d been rocking for just as long as they were. In 1978 the band were soaring with their album Some Girls, and a year prior Linda Rondstadt was once again on top of the charts with her cover of “Tumbling Dice” from 1972’s Exile on Main Street.

Rondstadt and the Stones actually performed the song together in 1978 at a tour stop at Rondstadt’s home town in Tucson, Arizona. What a jam that must have been.  

The 1960s were a watershed moment for fashion. Everything was changing in a big way. Gone were the days of modest dresses that covered it all. The miniskirt was both a fashion and a personal statement, they showed that the wearer wasn’t afraid to be themselves and that they weren’t going to let a bunch of buddy duddies tell them how to dress.

In 1965, British model Jean Shrimpton was on the forefront of the miniskirt wave, and she blew minds at the Melbourne Cup Carnival when she showed off her legs with a classic miniskirt. These gals are doing the same and more power to them. 

Ain’t nobody cooler than Chaka Khan. This disco-funk queen hit the national stage in 1973 when she her band Rufus released their self-titled album. Over the next two years the band released three more albums, each of them doing a little better on the charts. By 1975 Rufus knew who buttered their bread and released “Rufus featuring Chaka Khan.”

That album featured hits like “Sweet Thing,” and “Dance Wit Me” and it peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Charts. Chaka Khan and her band continued to have success both on the charts and with the critics and they even took home two Grammy awards. 

Goldie Hawn is truly an underrated talent. Her gift with physical comedy and just timing in general is something to be admired, and her ability to roll with the punches and change with the decades has made one of America’s brightest shining comedic talents. Following an Academy Award win in 1969 Hawn was all over the place.

In 1970 she starred in There’s A Girl In My Soup with comedy legend Peter Sellers, and she continued to appear in the ensemble of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In for three more years. Hawn didn’t slow down after the ‘70s and she continues to appear in films to this day.

Ah, the arcade. Doesn’t this photo just bring a rush of memories to your head? The lights, the sounds, the smells, and the tickets of your local arcade? There wasn’t anything better than plunking down a few dollars worth of quarters in your local arcade on a summer’s day, especially if you had the whole place to yourself.

Everyone has their favorite arcade game. Were you more of a fighting game kind of kid? Or were you an ace at games like Frogger,  Burger Time and Pac Man? Wait, no, you were really good at air hockey weren’t you? To each their own. 

When you think of rock n roll, you think of the lion maned rock god Robert Plant. He may be from merry old England, but if we found out that he was actually from Mount Olympus it would make a lot more sense. In 1977 the band embarked on their largest tour to date, which took them across the United States, from Detroit to Oakland.

Zep’s final U.S. show took place on July 24, 1977 at the Oakland Coliseum. A day before Bonham and some of the band’s crew had been arrested for beating up promoter Bill Graham, and by the time the band were checking into their hotel in preparation for their show at the Louisiana Superdome Page’s son had died. He canceled the rest of the dates and returned home.

Sophia Loren will always be one of the dream girls of the groovy era. She’s one of the few stars of her time to win an Academy Award, a Grammy, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a slew of other European trophies for her dedication to the craft. Before she was a well regarded actress, Loren was a young woman growing up in Italy and taking part in the burgeoning pageant world.

In 1950 Loren won the title of “Miss Elegance” and a year later she started taking acting classes. It wasn’t long before Loren was appearing in Italian films and getting noticed in the states for her work in films like The Pride and the Passion and Scandal in Sorrento. 

When you’re an action star on the screen, what else are you going to do to pass the time, take up disc golf? In 1987 Willis and Stallone (Sylvester that is) were at the top of the mountain. Willis was starring in Moonlighting, and getting ready to appear in a little film called Die Hard. Meanwhile Stallone had already starred in four successful Rocky Films and he along with Brigitte Nelson starred in 1986’s Cobra. 

When Bruce and Frank weren’t hanging out they were working together on their own business ventures. In 1991, Willis and Stallone both helped back the opening of Planet Hollywood - a theme restaurant based around the public’s love of Los Angeles.

He wasn’t just a guitar god, it turns out that Frehley could also pound the skins! The spaceman joined KISS in 1973, long before they were performing as kabuki demons from another galaxy. As the band grew more successful, in fighting began, with much of it having to do with Frehley’s alcoholism and drummer Peter Criss’ lack of care about the band’s new material.

While Criss was out at by 1980, Frehley stuck it out until 1983, but by that time he was barely playing with the group, and didn’t lend any of his shredding talents to Music from "The Elder," the band’s foray into prog rock, or Creatures of the Night, although he is listed as a member of the band on that album sleeve.

By 1982 Cassandra Peterson, better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, was appearing regularly on local Los Angeles television with her show Elvira's Movie Macabre. Even if you didn’t watch Elvira crack jokes about movies like Silent Night, Bloody Night and The Thing with Two Heads you saw her appear on the couch with Johnny Carson on a regular basis.

Elvira hit an all know level of fame when she appeared on CHiPs in the season 6 episode “Rock Devil Rock,” where Ponch and Bobby had to work security for “Moloch,” the front man of a band that’s sort of like KISS. Throughout their spooky adventure they run across Elvira, who’s gloriously gloomy. 

While filming The Birds Alfred Hitchcock not only had to keep his eye on the actors in his film, but he had to make sure the birds - real and mechanical. Even though he used live animals in the film , the production spent $200,000 on robotic birds. This shot shows Hitchcock making some very directorly decisions while his crew makes sure the set is properly covered with creepy little birds, and shot in Kodachrome no less!

Either all of the birds behind him are mechanical, or his crew’s using a lot of bird seed to keep their beaked actors in line. 

Everyone remembers Benny Hill as a British funnyman who was backed by a wacky saxophone solo and a group of goofy babes known as Hill’s Angels. The Angels supported this comedic legend on The Benny Hill Show, a variety show made up of sketches and wild musical performances. While Hill routinely played a doofus, the Angels were often on screen to teach him a lesson. Usually the lesson was, “stop acting like a buffoon.”

At one point, Jane Leeves (of Fraiser fame) appeared on the show as one of Hill’s Angels.That’s quite the auspicious start for an actress on one of America’s most beloved shows. 

Charles Bronson might be the most ripped guy of the 1970s. Throughout the grooviest decade, Bronson was married to Jill Ireland, an English actress who appeared in many of his films including Rider on the Rain, Breakout, and Death Wish II. All in the all this delightful couple starred in 15 films together throughout their marriage.

These two were fully in love, and rather than leave their kids alone in Los Angeles while they were filming, Bronson and Ireland would pack up their seven kids and travel together to their location. The two remained together until Ireland passed away in 1990.  

How can you forget the Crystal Gayle tunes “Talking In Your Sleep” and “Why Have You Left the One You Left Me For?” This country star got her start signing backup for her sister, a little country singer known as Loretta Lynn. Even though she never attained the success of her sister, it didn’t get to Gayle. In 1977 and ’78 she won the Female Vocalist of the Year award at the Country Music Association Awards, so it’s no wonder that she was a fan favorite at FanFair. Gayle still performs regularly, and in 2016 she was asked to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Ah, the Karate Kid, the immortal story of a young man overcoming obstacles to become a karate master who beats up a bunch of jocks. Oh, and Elisabeth Shue shows up as the love interest. There’s no way that you didn’t have a crush on Shue in this movie, especially in her role as the super cool Ali Mills, a high school cheerleader who’s dealing with her arrogant ex-boyfriend. 

It’s hard to believe that this was only Shue’s second film because she’s absolutely fantastic in the movie. After Karate Kid Shue went onto star in Adventures in Baby Sitting and a couple of little movies called Back to the Future 2 & 3. She’s gone on to appear in movies both big and small, and we never get tired of seeing her onscreen.

Shorty after their marriage in 1964, Bruce Lee and Linda Emery had two children, Brandon and Shannon. Linda met Bruce when she was studying Wing Chun under him shortly after he moved to America in the 1960s. They lived in Seattle while Lee traveled across the world working on films like The Wrecking Crew and Marlowe.

This photo would have been taken in a “lull” for Lee prior to his work on The Big Boss and Fist of Fury. This photo is also notable for being one of the few times that Lee was actually seen with a goatee rather than his usual clean shaven face. 

Chicago in 1969 was a trying time for the city. The Chicago Seven were on trial for conspiring to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Even though the city was in turmoil, nothing gets this town on the Gold Coast down. At the time things were changing in a big way, and the steel industry was still going strong.

That being said, in the late ‘60s the makeup of entire neighborhoods were changing. White families were moving out of the city and a more diverse group of people were coming in. Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s Chicago would change in a big way. 

As big of a show as Live Aid ’85 was, two guys that definitely weren’t under pressure about putting on a good performance were Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. Both of these superstars were incredibly similar offstage, even if their onstage personas were wildly different. While Bowie was a more reserved performer in the ‘80s, Mercury was a volcanic frontman who took the audience on a journey.

However offstage they were both friends who liked to relax and think about their personas. These two guys were definitely friends, so who knows what they’re talking about. Lawn care? Mustache wax? It could be anything. 

Everyone remembers Glenn Frey as one of the leaders of The Eagles, the seminal country rock band from the ‘70s. When the band took a hiatus in the ‘80s Frey did everything but take it easy. He released a solo album in 1982, No Fun Aloud, which spawned the hits “Sexy Girl,” and “The Heat Is On.”

He also got into acting with a major appearance in the Miami Vice episode “Smuggler’s Blues” where he played a rake named Jimmy. While he was acting on the show, Frey also performed the track “Smuggler’s Blues” and he had the song “You Belong The City” on the Miami Vice soundtrack along with some cool guitar twangs and runs to the score. Who knew this Eagle would go over so well on the east coast?

Has there ever been a cooler band than the Traveling Wilbury’s? Even though everyone in this band was massively popular before getting together in the Wilbury’s there’s just a certain freedom to starting over with a new group of guys. These Gretsch-slingin’ rockers got together when George Harrison needed to record a b-side for his European single “This Is Love.”

George Harrison asked producer Jeff Lynne to work with him on a song, and he asked Roy Orbison to hang out at the session. The recording took place at Dylan's garage studio in Malibu, and Tom Petty got in on the action when Harrison wanted to borrow one of the singer-songwriter’s guitar. With the five guys together they recorded “Handle With Care.” And from there the Traveling Wilbury’s were born.

Holy smokes, what a space age looking car. Can you imagine taking this bad boy down the street and trying to find a parking space? As cool as the X-2000 looks, it’s definitely not made for to be taken out in public. This concept car was designed to look like what people might be driving in the year 2000, which is the definition of retro-futurism.

Even though the Ford’s X2000 was essentially a scale model, one fan actually decided to build one and he started taking it around to different motor shows. Do you think it comes with phasers, or just photon torpedoes?

Who didn’t have a crush on Cheryl Ladd? This blonde beauty is definitely going to be remembered for her nearly 90 episodes spent as Kris Monroe, the replacement for Farah Fawcett on Charlie’s Angels. But Ladd wasn’t simply a member of the Angels, she also appeared in shows like Police Woman, and the film Poison Ivy.

In 1979 Ladd was on top of the world. She was in the middle of her time with the Angels, and she was out promoting the album “Dance Forever” which featured the single "Where Is Someone To Love Me.” The song even soundtracked a Japanese whisky commercial.  

Jayne Mansfield has always been one of America’s greatest blonde bombshells, and no matter where she appeared she always popped onscreen. In 1957 Mansfield was in the middle of her contract with 20th Century Fox. While she appeared in a couple of dramas before ’57, her breakout role came in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? where she played Rita Marlowe, a famous actress who’s got “oh-so-kissable lips.”

After starring in Rock Hunter, Mansfield went onto star alongside of Cary Grant in Kiss Them for Me. Also during this time Mansfield found herself engaged to Mickey Hargitay after meeting while he was performing as a member of the chorus line in Mae West's show.

Has there ever been anyone sweeter than Dolly Parton? Throughout her six decade career Parton has always been the best, and in 1977 she was just making her way into the world of pop stardom. Even though she’d been tearing up the country charts since 1959, Parton’s work in ’77 cemented her as a true pop sensation.

In 1977 Parton released her 20th solo album, Here You Come Again, which featured a single of the same name along with “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right.” The album hit number 1 on the Billboard country charts and it peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200. 

Natalie Wood was one of those actresses who was famous for far more time than she was a regular person. She got her start in a couple of uncredited roles in 1943, but her first credited role was in Tomorrow is Forever at just eight years old. By the 1950s she blossomed into a full time movie star in films like Rebel Without a Cause and The Searchers, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Academy Awards.

Wood continued to star in films like Splendor in the Grass and West Side Story, but in 1983 she met her unfortunate and mysterious end off of Catalina Island. 

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of those movies that we can watch over and over again, and the trio of Butch, Sundance, and Etta Place, played by Katharine Ross, are some of the best in the film. At the time Ross was hot off the success of The Graduate, and while acting in this film she met her third husband, Conrad Hall. It was a western love story. 

Hall was the cinematographer on the film and a three-time Oscar-winner. The two stuck together until 1973. She met her next husband on the set of her next big movie, The Stepford Wives.  

Bluebeard, the immortal story of a pilot who has a penchant for doing away with his wives. Raquel Welch plays Magdalena, a promiscuous nun who loves to talk about what she’s been getting up to while she’s in the habit. At the time of the film Welch was freshly divorced from her second husband, Patrick Curtis, and was in a career peak.

On top of her appearance in Bluebeard, Welch also starred in Kansas City Bomber and Fuzz in 1972. One year later she’d get a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy for her role in The Three Musketeers. 

Even if you haven’t seen Full Metal Jacket, Stanley Kubrick’s gonzo film about the Vietnam War you know the sound of Ronald Lee Ermey by heart. His voice, his cadence, everything. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman is a character who’s managed to infiltrate the zeitgeist in ways that the movie that birthed him couldn’t. That’s not to say that Full Metal Jacket isn’t worth a watch.

It’s likely that Army is so good at being a foul mouthed gunnery sergeant because he spent 11 years in the United States Marine Corps, earning the role of Staff Sergeant before he retied to go to college on the GI Bill. While studying at the University of Manila in the Philippines he was cast in Apocalypse Now and he never stopped acting.

It’s hard to think of a cooler group of cowboys than the cast of The Magnificent Seven. Not only do you have Yul Brynner and Steve Mcqueen sharing the screen, but a young Charles Bronson even stars in this movie. Even if you don’t love westerns there’s something in this movie for everyone.

During the filming of The Magnificent Seven there was supposedly tension between Brynner and McQueen, with the latter supposedly getting annoyed at only having a few lines of dialogue. While on set McQueen was said to upstage Brynner by rattling shotgun shells and even flipping a coin during one of Brynner’s speeches. Be that as it may, the film is stone one for the ages.  

Who could forget Yvonne De Carlo, the star of films like Salome, Where She Danced and, of course, Lily on The Munsters. However her most well known role was that of Sephora, the wife of Moses. Supposedly, in order to get into character as Sephora, De Carlo took classes on weaving and even had shepherding lessons in the San Fernando Valley - now that’s attention to detail.

While filming The Ten Commandments De Carlo met Bob Morgan, a stuntman. The two would marry and have two children. She continued to act until the late ‘90s and passed away in 2007. 

Even though we mostly remember Lucille Ball as a daffy red head who shoved chocolate in her mouth as it sped down a conveyor belt, we tend to forget that she was a real beauty on and offstage. By 1950 Lucy had already starred in a bevy of radio programs and a myriad of film and television roles, but she was still a year away from finding her greatest success with I Love Lucy.

In 1950 Lucy was still appearing on The Lux Radio Theater, and in slapstick comedies like The Fuller Brush Girl and Fancy Pants. It’s wild to think that she’d been working for decades before becoming a household name with her very own show.