Entertainment
The Muppets' 'Mah Na Mah Na (Doot Doo-Doo Doot Doo)' Ca...
January 17, 2020
"Mah Na Mah Na" is one of the best-known gibberish songs in entertainment -- and not because of its original appearance in a smutty Swedish movie. "Mah Na Ma...
Joe DiMaggio Couldn't Stand Being Married To Marilyn Mo...
January 14, 2020
June 2, 1955: Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio appear in public, together though estranged. Source: Bettmann/Getty Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe had the All-...
Tanya Roberts: Bond Girl, Sheena And Beastmaster, Then ...
January 11, 2020
Tanya Roberts holding a perch with a bird on it in a scene from the film 'Sheena: Queen of the Jungle', 1984. (Photo by Columbia Pictures/Getty Images) She’s ...
Max Yasgur: The Man Who Made Woodstock 1969 Possible
January 7, 2020
American farmer Max Yasgur on the stage during the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair in Bethel, New York, August 17, 1969. Photo by Bill Eppridge/The LIFE Picture Collect...
Mickey Hargitay: Jayne Mansfield's Mr. Universe And Lov...
January 6, 2020
Left: Mickey Hargitay on the cover of a bodybuilding magazine. Right: Jayne Mansfield and Hargitay in 1956 at the Makeup Artist Ball in Los Angeles. Sources: Wo...
Ralph Bakshi, 'Fritz The Cat's Outlaw Animator: Films, ...
January 5, 2020
With daring animated films Fritz The Cat (1972), Heavy Traffic (1973), Wizards (1977), Lord Of The Rings (1978), and Fire And Ice (1983), director Ralph Baks...
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve: Ringing In The New...
December 31, 2019
For millions of people without plans and traditionalists alike, Dick Clark’s New Year's Rockin' Eve has been a holiday tradition since 1973. Even before the...
New Year's Eve 1978: The Grateful Dead's 8-Hour Concert...
December 29, 2019
The Grateful Dead perform at Winterland on December 31, 1978 in San Francisco, California. Left to right: Bob Weir, Donna Godchaux, Jerry Garcia, Keith Godchaux...
Jimmy Buffett, 'Margaritaville' Magnate And Parrotheads...
December 25, 2019
The magnate of Margaritaville, circa 1970. Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Jimmy Buffett has "Margaritaville" to thank for his image as the pre-em...
CBS Originally Hated 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' Becaus...
December 24, 2019
Though beloved today, the TV holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas was disliked by CBS and might not have seen the light of day. With a meandering story,...
Eartha Kitt: Young Catwoman of 'Batman,' And 'Santa Bab...
December 22, 2019
BATMAN - "The Funny Feline Felonies" - Airdate December 28, 1967. (Photo by Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Ge...
Thelma Howard, Walt Disney's Maid, Received Shares Of D...
December 17, 2019
For Thelma Howard, Walt Disney's housekeeper, stock in the Mickey Mouse operation was the gift that keeps on giving.What does your boss give you for Christma...
Susan Bottomly, Andy Warhol's 'International Velvet,' T...
December 16, 2019
Model Susan Bottomly, from Wellesley, Massachusetts, models The London Look with makeup by Yardley; and wears a halo of coq feathers on a white satin cap, by Ma...
France Nuyen: 'Star Trek' And 'South Pacific' Icon, The...
December 13, 2019
Left: France Nuyen, French actress, wearing a print pattern swimsuit, posing with her arms wrapped around her legs as she sits on a piece of driftwood, circa 19...
Remember The John Denver Rocky Mountain Christmas Speci...
December 10, 2019
Source: twitter.com/retronewsnow The 1975 yuletide extravaganza known as Rocky Mountain Christmas seems like it would be straightforward: host John Denver sin...
Jose Feliciano's 'Feliz Navidad:' How The 1970 Christma...
December 9, 2019
Feliz Navidad, I wanna wish you a merry Christmas… the holiday wouldn’t be the same without that joyful phrase. Performed by Jose Feliciano, a virtuoso guita...
Starring Sammy Davis Jr. As Mr. Show Business: Inspirin...
December 8, 2019
LOS ANGELES - 1953: Actress Marilyn Monroe leans on a Singer Automobile as she watches entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. on the set of the movie "How To Marry A Mill...
(DO NOT USE, TESTING ONLY) Nostalgic TV Sitcoms That Wo...
December 4, 2019
The Jiggle TV movement took place in an era when television shows were shifting from dealing with women who were buttoned up homemakers to sisters who were doing...
Richard Pryor: True Stories And Famous Jokes Of A Legen...
December 1, 2019
Comedian Richard Pryor (1940 - 2005) performing on stage at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, Illinois, July 28, 1978. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) R...
Dick Van Dyke Was Saved By A Pack Of Porpoises When He ...
November 30, 2019
Beloved actor Dick Van Dyke has a school of porpoises to thank for his career. The marine mammals didn't get him an audition or teach him to sing and dance, ...
'Alice's Restaurant:' Arlo Guthrie's Arrest Spawned Ant...
November 26, 2019
Arlo Guthrie in October 1968. Source: Bettmann / Contributor, via Getty Images Riding the folk-music wave, singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie found his moment of ...
In 1976, Jerry Lee Lewis Was Arrested Drunk, Waving Gun...
November 23, 2019
Jerry Lee Lewis relaxing in his hotel suite in London, 25th April 1972. (Photo by Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images) Outlaw, piano player, gun...
The National Lampoon Radio Hour: Albums, History Of Com...
November 21, 2019
Before Saturday Night Live was a thing, The National Lampoon Radio Hour was the place listeners went for smart, incendiary comedy. It was a show for young pe...
The Star Wars Holiday Special (Christmas): A Bizarre Dr...
November 17, 2019
The galaxy far, far away was a gold mine after the success of Star Wars: Episode IV in 1977. Why not a holiday special? That somewhat reasonable thinking is ...
Jimmy Stewart Was A WWII Veteran And His PTSD Affected ...
November 11, 2019
3/24/1941-San Pedro, CA: James Stewart's costume for this next production is from a new costume department--the U.S. Army. Yes, Jimmy's passed his physical and ...
Mackenzie Phillips Had A 10-Year Intimate Relationship ...
November 10, 2019
ctress Mackenzie Phillips poses for a portrait session at home holding a bumper sticker that reads "One Day At A Time" on December 3, 1976 in Los Angeles, Calif...
Steve McQueen Stories: A Life And Biography Filled With...
November 7, 2019
Actor Steve McQueen and wife taking Sulphur bath at home, 1963. (Photo by John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images) Even though he passed awa...
Vivien Leigh: A Young, Hot Star Who Owned Hollywood Fro...
November 5, 2019
Vivien Leigh on the set of 'Gone with the Wind,' based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell and directed by Victor Fleming. (Photo by Metro-Goldwin-Mayer Pictures/...
Sally Kellerman: Young 'Hot Lips' Houlihan, Then And No...
October 31, 2019
You might have first met Sally Kellerman in the '60s (playing Dr. Elizabeth Dehner on Star Trek), the '70s (as "Hot Lips" Houlihan from MASH), or the '80s (a...
'Young Frankenstein' Quotes: Behind The Scenes Of The W...
October 30, 2019
Marty Feldman in a still from the 1974 film Young Frankenstein. Source: (Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images) In Young Frankenstein, the quotes come as fast...
How The Movie 'Halloween' Was Made, Against All Odds
October 25, 2019
Directed by John Carpenter and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween is a horror classic -- but behind the scenes, it was a ramshackle affair. The making of Hallowe...
'Nightmare On Elm Street' Was Inspired By Real-Life Dre...
October 21, 2019
When a horror film says that it’s based on true events that’s usually a bunch of hokum. But the strange thing about A Nightmare on Elm Street - the film Fred...
'Halloween Is Grinch Night': The 1977 Prequel To 'How T...
October 20, 2019
Is Halloween "Grinch Night?" When we think of the "Grinch," what comes to mind is How The Grinch Stole Christmas, a classic children's book by Dr. Seuss that...
The Original Walking Dead: How George Romero Created Zo...
October 19, 2019
Zombies are everywhere these days, from The Walking Dead to Zombieland: Double Tap, but these horror and Halloween mainstays are not the age-old phenomenon y...
'Here's Johnny!:' The 'Shining' Line That Younger Peopl...
October 18, 2019
Of all the stolen movie lines, "Here's Johnny!" might be the best.It happens in The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Stanley Kubrick, which i...
Veronica Carlson: Frankenstein & Dracula Damsel, Then A...
October 17, 2019
Peter Cushing and Veronica Carlson in a publicity portrait issued for the film, 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed', United Kingdom, 1969. Photo by Silver Screen C...
Behind The 'Monster Swim' and Other Halloween Tracks Yo...
October 16, 2019
When Bobby “Boris” Pickett and his group of Halloween-mad studio musicians laid down the “Monster Mash” in 1962 they were just trying to cash in on teen danc...
The Original 'MASH:' Cast List Of The 1970 Movie
October 14, 2019
Before MASH became a television show, it was first a film directed by Robert Altman with a remarkable cast. The list of actors begins with Elliott Gould and Donald Sut...
The Curse Of The Exorcist: Behind The Scenes Of The Sca...
October 12, 2019
When The Exorcist premiered in 1973, horror-movie audiences had never seen anything quite like it. But was the movie cursed? The tale of a young girl possess...
Mie Hama: Bond Girl Kissy Suzuki, Then And Now
October 11, 2019
In 1967's You Only Live Twice, Mie Hama played Kissy Suzuki, one of the attractions awaiting Sean Connery's James Bond in Japan. Along with Akiko Wakabayashi, who playe...
'They Call Me Mr. Tibbs!' Sidney Poitier Demands Respec...
October 6, 2019
When Sidney Poitier stepped onscreen as Virgil Tibbs in In The Heat of the Night (1967) he presented an arresting figure the audience to connect to, but the ...
Dan Haggerty Really Was Grizzly Adams: True Story Of TV...
October 4, 2019
Bozo the Bear as Ben, and Dan Haggerty as James 'Grizzly' Adams. Photo by: Frank Carroll/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Dan Haggerty won us over as Griz...
'The Endless Summer' Was The First Real Surfing Movie
October 2, 2019
Before The Endless Summer, Bruce Brown's 1966 documentary, surfing films weren’t really films about surfing. They were beach party films that were less about catc...
One Guy Did The Laugh Track On All Of Your Favorite Sho...
September 28, 2019
You have one man to thank, or curse, for the laugh track you hear on old TV sitcoms: Charles "Charley" Douglass, a CBS sound engineer and keeper of the "Laff...
Why 'Star Trek' Fans Should Thank Lucille Ball of 'I Lo...
September 25, 2019
Star Trek couldn't have happened without Lucille Ball of I Love Lucy. Though the two shows seem like opposites, they're connected by Desilu Productions, a st...
1976: 'Network' Newsman Rants, 'I'm As Mad As Hell, And...
September 18, 2019
Even if you’ve never seen the 1976 movie Network, you know the line delivered by TV newsman Howard Beale (Peter Finch): "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not goin...
Early Nintendo: With 1966's 'Ultra Hand,' Future Game B...
September 16, 2019
What's the symbol of Nintendo -- Mario the plumber? True, the little guy with the mustache, and his brother Luigi, and Princess Peach and Bowser... there's a...
O.J. Simpson Was Passed Over For 'Terminator' Role For ...
September 15, 2019
Left: O.J. Simpson poses for a portrait in circa-1985 in Los Angeles, California. Right: Schwarzenegger in 'Terminator.' Sources: Harry Langdon/Getty Images; IM...
'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner' Was A Racial Reality Che...
September 14, 2019
In Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, Sidney Poitier plays John, a black man meeting his white fiancee's parents, who are played by Spencer Tracy and Katharine He...
Claudia Cardinale, Young Italian Beauty Of American Wes...
September 5, 2019
Left: Claudia Cardinale on the set of 'The Adventures of Gerard' at Cinecitta Studios in 1968. Right: Cardinale in '8 1/2' (1963). Sources: Photo by Ron Galella...
How Ninjas, As You Know Them, Only Date Back To The '60...
September 2, 2019
How old are ninjas?Pop culture in the U.S. and Japan has long been fascinated by the ninja, a black-clad assassin practicing ancient Japanese martial arts an...
Ali MacGraw: Young 'Love Story' Beauty, Then And Now
September 1, 2019
Ali MacGraw in a fashion photo shoot for Glamour magazine, 1967. Photo by Sante Forlano/Condé Nast via Getty Images Ali MacGraw, co-star of Love Story (1970) and Th...
How The 1960s Made Us Scared Of Quicksand
August 31, 2019
Why were we afraid of quicksand? On TV shows and in movies of the '60s and '70s, quicksand was a go-to plot twist that could be inserted virtually anywhere for a jolt of susp...
Starsky & Hutch Were Based On These Two Awesome Cops
August 30, 2019
Left: David Soul (L) and Paul Michael Glaser talk outdoors in a still from the television series, 'Starsky and Hutch,' circa 1977. Right: NYPD cops Telano and Sepe su...
The Studio Sabotaged 'Psycho' And The Fact That It Was ...
August 29, 2019
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho is one of the most claustrophobic thrillers of the 20th century, and it features easily the most famous shower scene in film histor...
With 'The Harder They Come,' Jimmy Cliff Brought Reggae...
August 22, 2019
In 1973, reggae music came to America thanks to... Jimmy Cliff? Bob Marley fans might beg to differ, but The Harder They Come, a surprise hit movie starring ...
Gina Lollobrigida: The Classic Italian Screen Siren, Th...
August 18, 2019
Left: Gina Lollobrigida in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' 1956. Right: In 'Trapeze,' 1956. Sources: IMDB; Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images Gina Lollobrig...
Stephen King's Wife Dug 'Carrie' Out Of The Trash And M...
August 17, 2019
Left: Horror writer Stephen King in 1986. Right: Cover of the first edition of King's debut novel 'Carrie,' published in 1974. Sources: Ted Thai/The LIFE Pictur...
Animated 'Lord of the Rings' From 1978: Ralph Bakshi's ...
August 14, 2019
In 1978, The Lord Of The Rings hit movie theaters and introduced Frodo, Gandalf, Gollum, and the rest of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earthlings to a generation o...
Barbara Feldon: 'Get Smart's Agent 99, Then And Now
August 12, 2019
Left: Barbara Feldon circa 1965. Right: Feldon with Don Adams on 'Get Smart.' Sources: Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Imagesl IMDB Audiences fell in l...
The 12 Most Fascinating Muppets Of The '70s
August 11, 2019
Left: The Swedish Chef. Right: Beaker. Sources: Jay David Buchsbaum/The Muppets Studio/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images; IMDB Jim Henson's puppet variety show, The Mu...
'That's Incredible!' & 'Real People:' The Birth Of Real...
August 5, 2019
Two early-'80s TV shows -- That's Incredible! and Real People -- brought us oddballs and daredevils, and we've never really recovered. Reality TV's voyeurist...
Galaxy Conquests: Captain Kirk's 10 Hottest Star Trek G...
August 4, 2019
Space ladies: the final frontier.Star Trek's Captain James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner, was a cosmic Casanova. Every week on the show that brought us ...
1955 Lincoln Futura: The '66 Batmobile's Secret Identit...
August 1, 2019
Left: Adam West as Batman in the Batmobile, 1966. Right: The 1955 Lincoln Futura on display in a publicity photo. Sources: Walt Disney Television via Getty Imag...
Carroll Baker, 'Baby Doll's Scandalous Star: Her Rise A...
July 31, 2019
Left: Carroll Baker as depicted on the lurid poster for 'Baby Doll.' Right: Baker in character in the title role of 'Sylvia.' Sources: IMPAwards.com; Sunset Bou...
While He Created Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax's Wife ...
July 28, 2019
In 1974, wizard Gary Gygax brought Dungeons & Dragons to the masses, and role-playing games have been a massive phenomenon in the decades since. Gygax (and h...
Who Is Austin Butler, And Can He Play Elvis In A Movie?
July 25, 2019
Left: Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler attend Sony Pictures' 'Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood' Los Angeles Premiere on July 22, 2019. Right: Elvis Presley. Sour...
11 Forgotten Sci-Fi Films From The 1970s: 'THX-1138,' '...
July 23, 2019
After the independent film revolution of the late ‘60s it was easier than ever to film a movie and find distribution. Coupled with advances in special effect...
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory: Untold Stories Fro...
July 21, 2019
In 1971, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder, took audiences into a world of pure imagination. The sinister children’s story has beco...
Magic Smackdown!: When 'Amazing' Randi Humiliated Uri G...
July 15, 2019
In 1973, spoon-bending "psychic" Uri Geller appeared on The Tonight Show -- and walked into a trap set by host Johnny Carson and the magician/skeptic James "...
Before Rocky And The Fonz, They Were Lords Of Flatbush
July 14, 2019
The 1974 indie film The Lords of Flatbush became a hit on the backs of its stars Sylvester Stallone and Henry Winkler, who were nobodies at the time the movie wa...
Diner: The Stellar Cast List And Subtle Story That Chan...
July 11, 2019
Barry Levinson's 1982 coming-of-age movie Diner was a small movie with a nothing cast that was only modestly successful -- but its actors went on to become b...
Service Before Stardom: Photos Of 28 Icons Who Served I...
July 4, 2019
Left: Willie Nelson playing a show in South Carolina in 1996. Right: Nelson during his time in the air force, circa 1950. Sources: (Paul Natkin/WireImage; Wikim...
Mr. Wizard, TV's Original Science Guy: Highly Experimen...
July 3, 2019
For decades, Don Herbert, better known as Mr. Wizard, wowed American youngsters with science. Watch Mr. Wizard's demonstrations of chemistry and physics, oft...
Comic Book Rip-Off Ads: Sea Monkeys, X-Ray Specs, And M...
July 1, 2019
Sea Monkeys were actual humanoids with tails and funny crowned heads that lived in a bowl. A pair of glasses enabled you to see through clothing. And a seven...
The Wild Bunch: Violence Sam Peckinpah Hoped Would Repu...
June 30, 2019
Left: Ben Johnson, Warren Oates, William Holden, and Ernest Borgnine in The Wild Bunch, 1969. Right: William Holden. Sources: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Ima...
Clint Eastwood: A Cowboy On Screen And In The Director'...
June 29, 2019
As "Dirty" Harry Callahan, Josey Wales, and "The Man With No Name," Clint Eastwood established himself as one of the great screen badasses of the '60s and '7...
'Roots:' The Show About Race That United American Viewe...
June 27, 2019
Left: LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte in 'Roots.' Right: Lloyd Bridges (as Evan Brent) and Georg Stanford Brown (as Tom Harvey). Source: IMDB; Walt Disney Televisio...
Karen Allen: The Girl Who Had Indiana Jones' Number, Th...
June 25, 2019
We met Karen Allen as the sweetheart, much-too-nice girlfriend of Boon in Animal House (1978), but it was really with Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) that aud...
Stories From The Making Of 'Jaws:' Fiasco On The High S...
June 20, 2019
Left: Bruce the shark. Right: Richard Dreyfuss feigns happiness during production. Sources: (IMDB; Universal Pictures/Getty Images) Jaws (1975) has taken on l...
