# Wow -- they used to be hot! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210 "2008-02-26T13:03:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/1 "2008-02-26T13:03:43Z")
Ever see a photo of someone who’d always been middle-aged or elderly during your lifetime, and been astounded by how goodlooking (or just different) they were when young? I apologize in advance that I can’t provide links to any of these. When Stanley Kubrick died, Entertainment Weekly started their tribute to him with a behind-the-scenes photo of **Paths of Glory**. Thin, clean-shaven and short-haired, he was dashing and just a bit dangerous looking. I once showed some Family sketches from the Carol Burnett show to a friend, and he almost fell out of his chair when he realized, “Betty White used to be a babe!” Kim Il-Sung was a handsome devil when he founded North Korea, at least in the photo I saw in Newsweek when he died. And Angela Lansbury in **Gaslight** is as unlike Jessica Fletcher as night is to day. On a more personal note, a few years ago my dad and I were going through old photos of his family. I picked up a 1920s glamour shot of a stunningly beautiful young woman. “Who’s this, Lina Basquette? Lupe Velez…?” “That’s Aunt Tessie.” :eek: Aunt Tessie died when I was eight or so. I’d only known her as the little old lady who always wore a hat. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/2 "2008-02-26T13:51:16Z")
Seventy-seven years have been hard on my dad. But when I look at old photos of him, I’m struck by how very handsome he was. He looked a lot like Harry Connick. My mom has a picture of him from when he was probably 25. It’s a dramatically-lighted shot, and he could pass for a gangster in an old noir film. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/3 "2008-02-26T14:00:08Z")
In her autobiography, Roseanne Barr has a photo of herself when she was anorexic and weighted 102 pounds. She was smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/4 "2008-02-26T14:22:35Z")
lies. Lies and fabrications. Sex wasn’t invented until 1982. Everything else is computer generated. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/5 "2008-02-26T14:24:28Z")
It may be common knowledge, but I had no idea (until someone here pointed it out to me) that in her early days Lucille Ball was a smokin hot model- the second picture on her [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucille_Ball) page is amazing. Also if you aren’t a fan of 60’s British films you may not know how hot Charlotte Rampling was back then. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/6 "2008-02-26T14:29:28Z")
[QUOTE=Bayard] Seventy-seven years have been hard on my dad. But when I look at old photos of him, I’m struck by how very handsome he was. He looked a lot like Harry Connick. My mom has a picture of him from when he was probably 25. It’s a dramatically-lighted shot, and he could pass for a gangster in an old noir film. [/QUOTE] We used my mother’s Glamour Shot from the '40’s at her funeral. Yes, we all age. But, back in the day, professional photographers used techniques for “regular” portraits that had been developed out in Hollywood. The sixties/seventies? Lots of hair, little makeup, funky clothes. Meh… ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/7 "2008-02-26T14:29:41Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Also if you aren’t a fan of 60’s British films you may not know how hot Charlotte Rampling was back then. [/QUOTE] Heh. I saw _Zardoz_ for the first time the other day, and I had to go look her up. Mmmmm… 70’s tatas… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/8 "2008-02-26T14:40:04Z")
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] lies. Lies and fabrications. Sex wasn’t invented until 1982. Everything else is computer generated. 😃 [/QUOTE] Then I must have had sex – and the progeny to prove it – before it was invented. (And my father must have had sex too – and before he married my mother, he was a fan of [Theda Bara](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theda_Bara) ) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/9 "2008-02-26T14:44:09Z")
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] lies. Lies and fabrications. Sex wasn’t invented until 1982. Everything else is computer generated. 😃 [/QUOTE] Actually, that’s backwards. Everything is computer-generated _now_. Back in the day, people had to actually go outside and meet each other. Why do you think the population growth rate was so great in the past few centuries, and is only slowing down now? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/10 "2008-02-26T14:47:22Z")
This happened to me with my dad. My parents split when I was young. Really split. I didn’t see my dad again for over 20 years, and even then not often. My mother reacted by eliminating all evidence of his existence except a photograph of his left arm around my sister’s shoulders with the rest of him torn out. About 10 years ago I decided to get in touch with his parents, with whom I’d had no contact. I visited a few times. After they died I ended up with a box of slides. Now, when I knew him my dad was a bit paunchy and afflicted with ghastly (though appropriate for the time) facial hair and sideburns. Going through the slides I saw an atheletic, brooding teenager and figured out how my mom was swept off her feet. More to the point of the OP, Leslie Nielsen in his Tammy days was not unattractive. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/11 "2008-02-26T14:55:51Z")
Does anyone else have the tendency to look and and older person and immediately try and think about what they looked like when they were younger? I often look at older folks and picture them in their younger year, what they looked like, and engrave that image in my head. I’ve done this since I was a child. My mother was a geriatric nurse when I was a kid and I spent a lot of time at a local old folks home…Always talking to everyone, looking at pictures of them when they were young. I surmise I’ve been de-aging people in my head for a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/12 "2008-02-26T15:06:01Z")
**Sheley Winters** was a pudgy woman in the films I saw her in, but she was evidently quite a looker when younger. I’ve gotten the impression that her decision to play larger women was a _deliberate_ one: > **[Shelley Winters | Actress, Producer, Soundtrack](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001859/)** > > Known for: The Poseidon Adventure, Lolita, A Patch of Blue I saw **Simone Signoret** in **Madame Rosa** and wasn’t impressed with her looks. Until I saw some older pictures of her. Her beauty was evidently legendary (ans I just wasn’t up on my legends), but her looks didn’t age well (unless it was all makeup and intention. I’m astonished how well **estelle Getty** of The Golden Girls Cleaned Up when she wanted to look good). Her acting did. > **[Simone Signoret | Actress](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0797531/)** > > Known for: Diabolique, Room at the Top, Ship of Fools ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/13 "2008-02-26T15:08:07Z")
I’d only know Betty White as a Golden Girl, but she was lovely in her time. Ditto Lucille Ball. Also, my aunt Ruby had that hottie 1940’s-style thing going on in old pictures - her face looks completely different now. She was gorgeous when she was first married, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/14 "2008-02-26T15:09:44Z")
When I hear **Debbie Reynolds** I think of senior citizens going to watch her sing some oldies or stories about how mean she was to Carrie Fisher growing up. She reminds me of the Marie character from Everyone Loves Raymond. But I did have an immediate crush on her when I saw her in Singing In The Rain. She was a hottie. ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/15 "2008-02-26T15:12:10Z")
I once showed my friend the movie _Live and Let Die_. When they got to the part with Solitaire (Jane Seymour), his jaw just about dropped to the floor. He was used to seeing her as the older Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. It was sad cause for me it was the other way around. I had only seen her as a Bond girl and then later watched her in DQMW. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/16 "2008-02-26T15:19:35Z")
[QUOTE=black rabbit] Heh. I saw _Zardoz_ for the first time the other day, and I had to go look her up. Mmmmm… 70’s tatas… [/QUOTE] Heck, Charlotte Rampling did a close-up nude scene in _Swimming Pool_ a couple of years ago, and looked damn good. Jessica Tandy was quite beautiful in her youth, and a handsome old lady later on. (Bone structure; if an actress’s looks are based on the underlying bone structure of her face, she can still look good decades later – e.g. Katharine Hepburn, Sigourney Weaver, Susan Sarandon.) ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/17 "2008-02-26T15:51:17Z")
I was about 19 or 20 the first time I saw my maternal grandmother’s high school graduation photo. Damn! Gramma was a flapper! And a hottie! For many years my father had hanging above his workbench a photo of my mother taken on the beach in Honolulu. She was sitting on the beach, leaning back on her hands, which were behind her, her head thrown back, back slightly arched – you know the look. Mom was obviously striking a pose (they were newlyweds, he was in the Coast Guard, it was a fun time!) As a little kid, I never thought much about the photo. But it disappeared for a long time, then resurfaced a few years ago when my sons were digging through Mom’s disorganized box of photos. They both stared at the photo, looked at Mom, then back at the photo. When their grandfather winked and said, “Nice legs, huh?” they just nodded. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/18 "2008-02-26T16:09:53Z")
Ruby Dee was a smokin’ hot babe in her younger days. She starred as Rachel Robinson in [The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042609/) . ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/19 "2008-02-26T16:19:50Z")
Mod, please delete. ---
**Author:** ![Figaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Figaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Figaro)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/20 "2008-02-26T16:23:40Z")
Until I saw [Gaslight](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036855/), Angela Lansbury = “Murder She Wrote” Now Angela Lansbury = [“Hottie maid with East End Accent”](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blueopossum.homestead.com/Media/lansbury-angela9.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blueopossum.homestead.com/AngelaLansbury.html&h=280&w=224&sz=24&hl=en&start=11&um=1&tbnid=Y5ge1KtqRiuRDM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=91&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dangela%2Blansbury%2Bgaslight%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SKPB_enUS219US220%26sa%3DN) Rorwr. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210.md?page=2)