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Some celebrities have a stretch of years when everything seems to line up perfectly. The movies are hits, the songs are everywhere, their face is on every magazine cover, and somehow even the most casual photograph looks like it belongs in an ad campaign. Looking back at vintage celebrity photos makes those eras especially fun to revisit. Long before carefully planned Instagram posts and red carpet photo dumps, stars were being caught backstage, on movie sets, walking down the street, or simply hanging out while looking impossibly cool. From Old Hollywood legends to ’90s icons, these 15 photos capture famous faces right around the time the world couldn’t get enough of them.
Rita Hayworth
By the mid-1940s, Rita Hayworth was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and Gilda only made her more iconic. Photos from the era capture exactly why her glamorous look became so closely associated with classic Hollywood.
Marlon Brando
In the 1950s, Marlon Brando helped introduce a very different kind of leading man. With A Streetcar Named Desire and The Wild One, his rebellious image and acting style made him one of the defining stars of the decade.
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren became an international movie star during the 1950s and ’60s, working in both European and American films. Her photographs from the period make it pretty easy to understand why she also became a lasting style icon.
Sidney Poitier
The 1960s were an extraordinary period for Sidney Poitier, who became the first Black winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor. By 1967 alone, he was starring in To Sir, with Love, In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
Paul Newman
Paul Newman was already a major star by the 1960s, appearing in movies like The Hustler, Hud, and Cool Hand Luke. Somehow, candid photographs of him relaxing or pursuing his love of racing often looked just as cool as anything Hollywood could stage.
Diana Ross
As the lead singer of The Supremes, Diana Ross was already one of the most recognizable performers of the 1960s. By the early ’70s, she had launched a hugely successful solo career and added movie star to her résumé with Lady Sings the Blues.
Robert Redford
The 1970s gave Robert Redford one impressive run of movies, including The Sting, Three Days of the Condor, and All the President’s Men. He also perfected a laid-back style that still looks annoyingly good decades later.
Stevie Nicks
When Fleetwood Mac released Rumours in 1977, Stevie Nicks became one of rock’s most recognizable stars. Her shawls, platform boots, flowing outfits, and famously wild hair created a look that people are still trying to recreate.
Debbie Harry
As Blondie became one of the biggest bands to emerge from New York’s late-’70s music scene, Debbie Harry became a style icon in her own right. Punk, glam, and old Hollywood somehow all worked together in a look that was entirely hers.
Princess Diana
Few people were photographed more relentlessly during the 1980s than Princess Diana. Even away from formal royal events, her sweaters, oversized jackets, cycling shorts, and casual outfits regularly became fashion moments of their own.
Tina Turner
Tina Turner’s 1980s comeback wasn’t just successful, it turned her into an even bigger global superstar. Private Dancer, “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” and her explosive live performances made this one of the defining periods of her career.
Tom Cruise
Risky Business made Tom Cruise a star, but Top Gun turned him into one of the biggest names in Hollywood. By the mid-1980s, the aviators, bomber jackets, and movie-star grin were pretty much everywhere.
George Michael
George Michael entered his solo era with Faith in 1987 and immediately created one of the decade’s most recognizable looks. The leather jacket, sunglasses, earrings, and carefully maintained stubble became nearly as famous as the album itself.
Winona Ryder
By the turn of the 1990s, Winona Ryder had gone from Beetlejuice and Heathers to Edward Scissorhands and a string of major starring roles. Her off-screen style was equally influential, especially the effortlessly messy, all-black looks that still feel current.
Cindy Crawford
The supermodel era was in full swing by the early 1990s, and Cindy Crawford was one of its most recognizable faces. Between magazine covers, runway appearances, commercials, and MTV’s House of Style, she became one of the defining celebrities of the decade.
The post 15 Vintage Celebs as Seen at Their Absolute Peak appeared first on Den of Geek.
