There are few things as cool and timeless as vintage muscle cars, action heroes, or iconic babes. Perhaps you’re more drawn to old-school science fiction, or maybe the pioneers of rock are your definition of cool. What about the stars who brought some of the most beloved film and television shows to life? The following images not only capture a special kind of nostalgia, but also the enduring legacy of these cultural icons.
Pictured here is former professional baseball catcher, Johnny Lee Bench. Bench played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983. On this particular day in 1975, the Reds won the World Series. Bench, a National Baseball Hall of Fame member, is a 14-time All-Star selection and a two-time National League Most Valuable Player. He was a vital member of the Big Red Machine and ESPN has given him the title of “the greatest catcher in baseball history.” After winning six division titles, four National League pennants, and two World Series championships, it’s no wonder why.
Getty Images
If you went to Studio 54 during its heyday chances are you’d run into Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry, model Jerry Hall (known for her former relationship with Mick Jagger), and Paloma Picasso (yes, that Picasso). Paloma Picasso, daughter of Pablo Picasso, is now a famous artist in her own right. She grew up to be quite the fashion designer and businesswoman. She’s best known for her signature perfumes and exquisite jewelry designs for Tiffany & Co. Following the loss of her father in 1973, she briefly lost interest in designing and took a hiatus. During which she experimented with acting. She received praise from critics, no one could stop talking about her beauty but she hasn’t acted since.
Getty Images
Cher has had one of the longest and most successful careers in the music industry, which has spanned over fifty-four years and is still going. She is also an actress, author, producer, and philanthropist. Cher has sold over 100 million records around the world. She has also won an Academy Award, Billboard Music Awards, an Emmy, numerous Golden Globe awards, a Grammy, and BAFTA and AMA nominations. Cher has been honored multiple times for her humanitarian, charity, and philanthropic work.
Getty Images
By 1976, Lynda Carter was on the wall of every teenage boy’s bedroom thanks to her starring role in Wonder Woman. Even though she started as a pageant queen and a singer, Carter quickly slipped into the role of Amazonian princess with a knack for fighting crime. While discussing the character’s clothing choice in the ‘70s, Carter explained that there was more than meets the eye. She told the New York Times, “I never really thought of Wonder Woman as a super-racy character. She wasn’t out there being predatory. She was saying: ‘You have a problem with a strong woman? I am who I am, get over it.’ I never played her as mousy. I played her being for women, not against men. For fair play and fair pay.”
Getty Images
Tanya Roberts may have never transitioned to what we think of as mainstream success. Still, she remains a cult favorite among fans of the 007 series, Tourist Trap, and the original Beastmaster film. While speaking with Fangoria, Roberts explained why she chose to appear in a fantasy film about a barbarian who can control animals. She said, “I chose The Beastmaster because it gave me the chance to slip into movies without getting the whole book thrown at me. The movie wasn’t built around me. I was just an actor in it, and it was a good chance to be seen.”
Getty Images
Is there any more fabulous couple than Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland? This pair of groovy actors were an excellent match for one another both onscreen and off. After the two got together, Bronson did everything in his power to make sure that Ireland played his onscreen romantic interest just so he could keep his family together. The two were together from 1968 until she passed away in 1990 in Malibu, California. Even after her passing, she stayed with Bronson. Her remains were placed in a cane that Bronson kept on him and that he was buried with in 2003.
Getty Images
The iconic Christie Brinkley is one of the few supermodels who turned heads in the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. During her first decade in the modeling world, she was a fresh-faced surfer girl, but something about her was impossible to ignore. Brinkley says that it was her curves that made her a star. She told CNN, “It was the fact that I wasn’t skinny or sophisticated that made my career. I was a California surfer girl. When I first got out on the set, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, nobody here has hips like mine, let me move my hips to the side like this,’ and the photographer was like, ‘Oh my God you move so well.’”
Getty Images
Even though her heyday was in the late ‘50s and the 1960s, Ann-Margret has never been one to rest on her laurels. This Swedish-born starlet goes where the wind takes her. If she wants to sing, she sings. If she wants to ride her motorcycle through the desert, that’s what she does, and if she wants to act onscreen with Elvis, then she gives that a whirl. In the 1970s she stopped appearing in blockbuster films, but she did gain critical acclaim after her role in Carnal Knowledge. It’s crazy that it took so long for the world to figure out that Ann-Margret was a legit talent.
Getty Images
Jacqueline Bisset has appeared in numerous films, and even though she’s considered a kind of movie babe, she takes her work seriously. In an interview from 1982, she explained that if she’s on set she treats her job like it’s the most crucial thing in the world. She said, “I work hard, and I tend to play hard. I very seldom rest hard. When I am working on a movie, all I want to talk about is the movie. All I want to be with are the movie people. It’s like a clan. If I’m asked to people’s houses for dinner, I hate to go because they’ll talk about other things . . . and all I want to talk about is the movie. How a shot was shot. Whether it worked. I think it must sound to other people a lot like somebody discussing golf putts. It’s very hard to be interested in a golf putt if it wasn’t your putt.”
Getty Images
Throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, Brigitte Bardot was the apple of every eye on the planet. Beginning with her outlandish roles in European cinema and later in America, Bardot created a kind of character trope that actresses are still playing into today. However, in the 1970s she retired from the film industry after acting in 47 films and recorded 60 songs. Following her retirement, Bardot moved to St. Tropez and established the Foundation for the Protection of Distressed Animals. She used her iconic status to signal boost her foundation and has worked with animals ever since.
Getty Images