# Are Actors Better Looking Now Than In the 30s-50s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394 "2008-09-20T01:58:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/21 "2008-09-20T04:37:24Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > Her attitude was infectious, but I never considered her looks to be any more than blah. Okay, us from the Great Plains are used to, even bored with, that look. But we must present her as special and keep up appearances for the outsiders who didn’t go to the same high schools as us lest they overrun America’s Heartland seeking the women who bore us. **dropwife** , looking at my high school yearbook: You went to school with a lot of really attractive people! me, blasely: Did I? I never noticed. They just seemed “normal” to me. It would explain why everybody else is so ugly, though. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/22 "2008-09-20T04:37:57Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I’m a straight guy but I recently watched On The Beach and I have to say, I think Gregory Peck was better-looking, and more charismatic, than pretty much ANY male star that I can think of in the current day. It took 16 posts for Gregory Peck to get a mention? I thought Dopers were supposed to be well-informed? Shame on you people! ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/23 "2008-09-20T04:46:09Z")
[Steve Reeves](http://www.timinvermont.com/vintage/z035e016.jpg) was the Arnold Schwarzenegger of his day: champion bodybuilder turned action star. The difference is that this was before steroids entered bodybuilding, and Steve was much more handsome and, according to all accounts I’ve read, Steve was a very nice, friendly guy; something that is very rare among bodybuilders of the last 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/24 "2008-09-20T04:58:44Z")
I obviously have different taste than the OP. Cary Grant is NOT attractive? Really? Clark Gabel? Jimmy Stewart? _ **William HOLDEN?!?!?!** _ Jesus - all of these fellas make me want to peel of my clothing and rub myself up against a bus shelter. And frankly, if Brad Pitt is who’s being held up as the hunk du jour, well - you can have him. I could never really get into a guy who was prettier than me. Half of George Clooney’s appeal is that he looks like a Holywood actor of old. This thread is seriously making my head reel. Not attractive. Good grief. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/25 "2008-09-20T05:00:05Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > One thing to consider is that back in those days, guys smoked and drank whiskey a whole lot more than they do now. The “in” thing among celebs now is personal trainers, specialized diets, health-fanaticism, scientology, whatever. Back then, it was three packs a day, and Scotch all the time. A lot more craggy features, and much deeper voices, because of this. If you like that look, the classic guys will be more appealing. I think this is the reason that only guy (Gregory Peck) anyone has offered a picture of strikes me as handsome; all the others look older than they should, at least compared to people the same ages now. I’m not fond of craggy, and don’t like actors who fit that description now, either. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/26 "2008-09-20T05:03:54Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I obviously have different taste than the OP. > > Cary Grant is NOT attractive? Really? Clark Gabel? Jimmy Stewart? > > _ **William HOLDEN?!?!?!** _ > > Jesus - all of these fellas make me want to peel of my clothing and rub myself up against a bus shelter. > > And frankly, if Brad Pitt is who’s being held up as the hunk du jour, well - you can have him. I could never really get into a guy who was prettier than me. > > Half of George Clooney’s appeal is that he looks like a Holywood actor of old. > > This thread is seriously making my head reel. > > Not attractive. Good grief. Heh- did I mention I am a replica of William Holden? Where is a bus shelter? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/27 "2008-09-20T05:05:52Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Heh- did I mention I am a replica of William Holden? Cite? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/28 "2008-09-20T05:06:28Z")
I like Wallace Beery, he was a great actor, but I never could quite get it how he was supposed to be this big strongman-type of guy. I mean today there’s, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger (or used to be), big muscled-out guys. Beery never looked all THAT fit, just kind of big-boned, but he seemed to be the standard for big muscle louts at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/29 "2008-09-20T05:14:49Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Cite? 😃 Okay- you got me. Just as well Wallace Beery was mentioned in the thread after. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/30 "2008-09-20T05:15:01Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I think this is the reason that only guy (Gregory Peck) anyone has offered a picture of strikes me as handsome; all the others look older than they should, at least compared to people the same ages now. I’m not fond of craggy, and don’t like actors who fit that description now, either. [Mr.](http://www.willishenry.com/c-33%20w%20cary%20grant%202.jpg) [Grant](http://www.spfonline.org/quiz_photos/2005/cary_grant.jpg) [was](http://www.owensvalleyhistory.com/father_crowley/cary_grant.jpg) [not](http://elissa.org/images/landi-cary-grant.jpg) [craggy.](http://bp0.blogger.com/_6ZHfNlk9YGo/SBDFImlIJcI/AAAAAAAAAl8/FgQUJ0B7hzA/s1600-h/CaryGrant.jpg) [Even when he was](http://bp3.blogger.com/_sfD2jb4JXrI/R5BQsrN_wfI/AAAAAAAABME/5QNeVOiQF4c/s1600-h/CaryGrant.jpg) [older.](http://www.clangrant-us.org/images/cary-grant.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/31 "2008-09-20T05:31:12Z")
> [@KRSOradio](#): > > I look at all the famous actors from that era like Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, Ronald Coleman, William Holden and at least to me, none seem to be particularly good looking, especially if you compare them to the looks movie actors have now… Not to get too personal, but are you a Het Male? As a Het Female, I find quite a few of the classic actors extremely attractive. No, they were usually not as buff. But when Clark Gable undressed in _It Happened One Night_, women all over the country swooned & (according to legend) t-shirt manufacturers went out of business. And I’d swoon, too. In _Rear Window_, Jimmy Stewart was actually a bit old for Grace Kelley. But he was beautiful as a young man, although he was always skinny. A guy in a nice suit can be quite seductive. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/32 "2008-09-20T05:38:15Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > A guy in a nice suit can be quite seductive. Used to be called a “clothes horse.” Well-fitted suits disguise a multitude of physical errors, but someone who really fits into one pwns it. Like modern Paris fashions, except a human being is expected to wear it. Usually Fred Astaire. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/33 "2008-09-20T05:53:32Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I obviously have different taste than the OP. > > Cary Grant is NOT attractive? Really? Clark Gabel? Jimmy Stewart? > > _ **William HOLDEN?!?!?!** _ > > Jesus - all of these fellas make me want to peel of my clothing and rub myself up against a bus shelter. > > And frankly, if Brad Pitt is who’s being held up as the hunk du jour, well - you can have him. I could never really get into a guy who was prettier than me. > > Half of George Clooney’s appeal is that he looks like a Holywood actor of old. > > This thread is seriously making my head reel. > > Not attractive. Good grief. I look exactly like a bus shelter :^9 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/34 "2008-09-20T12:14:05Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Half of George Clooney’s appeal is that he looks like a Holywood actor of old. Exactly. And the other half is that he sounds like one … omigod, that baritone purr … **heads to bunk** ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/35 "2008-09-20T12:29:56Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I obviously have different taste than the OP. > > Cary Grant is NOT attractive? Really? Clark Gabel? Jimmy Stewart? > > _ **William HOLDEN?!?!?!** _ > > Jesus - all of these fellas make me want to peel of my clothing and rub myself up against a bus shelter. > > And frankly, if Brad Pitt is who’s being held up as the hunk du jour, well - you can have him. I could never really get into a guy who was prettier than me. > > Half of George Clooney’s appeal is that he looks like a Holywood actor of old. > > This thread is seriously making my head reel. > > Not attractive. Good grief. My sentiments exactly, **alice**. I was looking at the other poster’s series of photos of Mr. Grant, and I’d have to say that he’s hands-down handsomer than any other actor mentioned on this board. And William Holden makes my head spin. I guess he did that for a lot of ladies - I was reading somewhere lately that he was notorious for womanizing in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/36 "2008-09-20T12:55:39Z")
It’s as straight as a ruler and even I can see Gregory Peck was ridiculously hot. For his body I’d trade in mine and my wife’s and I’d throw in some cash. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/37 "2008-09-20T13:39:49Z")
On the female side: no one has mentioned Marlene Dietrich??? ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/38 "2008-09-20T14:42:28Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > When I was a kid in the '50s, I thought that [Tyrone Power](http://i3.iofferphoto.com/img/item/343/605/61/o_Power.JPG) was the best-looking man in the world And you were right. 🙂 He and Errol Flynn were my first celebrity crushes (this was in the '80s, but I watched a lot of classic movies with my grandfather), and _[oh, mercy](http://moviesmusic.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/66_1.jpg)_, what a smile. Also, did I mention [Errol Flynn](http://i35.tinypic.com/zu2uiu.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/39 "2008-09-20T15:03:46Z")
> [@KRSOradio](#): > > Outside of Marlon Brando none of the actors of that era had decent bodies [Paul Newman](http://upload.moldova.org/movie/actors/p/paul_newman/thumbnails/tn2_paul_newman_4.jpg) [Rock Hudson](http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/rockhudson.html) [Kirk Douglas](http://www.jbench68.com/our3doxies/MOVIES%20TELEVISION/ACTORS%20A-F/douglas_kirk-1_12566.jpg) [Burt Lancaster](http://cache.reelzchannel.com/assets/content/article/ftt-lancaster.jpg) [Jeffrey Hunter](http://www.jeffreyhuntermovies.com./images/Photos/swimsuitblackandwhite1.jpg) [Rudolph Valentino](http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/v/Valentino/valentino.htm) [Charlton Heston](http://lh5.ggpht.com/SuperCandid/RtLlAYj1b9I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/BcO3SaiZzJE/a+Cecil+B.+DeMille+The+Ten+Commandments+DVD+Review+Charlton+Heston+PDVD_002.jpg) [Johnny Weismuller](http://moviemorlocks.com/2008/06/02/behold-johnny-weissmuller/) [Ricardo Montalban](http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/ricardomontalban.html) ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394/40 "2008-09-20T15:05:05Z")
I suppose it must be a taste/age thing. None of the pictures of old actors are titillating in the slightest to me. I can sort of objectively see that they have nice features, but their bodies look kind of weird and the clothes and overdone photography makes them look stodgy and _old_. The one exception I can think of would be Marlon Brando, who was insanely hot in his early days. Unless we go a little further down the line, in which case I’ll say that Clint Eastwood in Fistfull of Dollars is smoking. And I do think that Errol Flynn would be hot in that picture that gallows fodder posted if he didn’t have that awful mustache. But compared to today’s male celebs, no way. The current crop of guys is wayyy hotter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-actors-better-looking-now-than-in-the-30s-50s/464394.md?page=3)