# 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:** 2
**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, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/21 "2008-02-26T16:27:46Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] 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) ) [/QUOTE] la la la la la, can’t hear you, la la la la, don’t mess with my fantasy world, la la la Actually, Retroraunch dot com had a disclaimer, something like ‘We are not responsible for the feeling you have when you find out Grandma was hot.’ (I’m not researching the actual quote at work.) ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/22 "2008-02-26T16:31:11Z")
The pictures are scanned and on a CD somewhere, but going through family pictures after my mother died, I found two black and whites taken when she first started teaching. Whoo! That was my MOTHER? No wonder, as an old friend said, all the teenaged boys developed a sudden interest in her typing and English classes… She was sitting on the teacher’s desk, posing, showing off some lovely legs, and a skirt and sweater that showcased her quite fabulous figure. Even the cats-eye glasses were working… I always wonder who took the sexy pictures! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/23 "2008-02-26T16:53:09Z")
An early (and work-safe) picture of [Ron Jeremy](http://www.metroxxxstars.com/images/ron_jeremy1.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/24 "2008-02-26T16:54:05Z")
The Boy’s maternal uncle was one heck of a looker when he was young - he had a slight case of The Shnozz, but otherwise he was quite the looker. Think a young Neil Diamond, before the era of bad glitter shirts and feathered hair. You’d never know it by looking at the paunchy balding senior citizen he is now, though… I nearly fell off my chair when I saw his old wedding photos from the 60s. (and speaking of Neil Diamond, I also nearly fell off my chair when I realised what he looked like in his younger days) ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/25 "2008-02-26T17:15:14Z")
Burt Lancaster circa “From Here To Eternity” & Mickey Hargitay circa the Jayne Mansfield era. Gorgeous, toned, muscular bodies without an ounce (one assumes) of steroids to help things along. Just really attractive men. Hargitay: [http://www.echotv.hu/images/news\_pics/17230\_news.jpg](http://www.echotv.hu/images/news_pics/17230_news.jpg) Lancaster: [http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/ap\_Lancaster\_kerr\_071018\_ms.jpg](http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/ap_Lancaster_kerr_071018_ms.jpg) (this is the ubiquitous “beach scene” in FHTE. There’s another scene in the film where he walks to the showers in nothing but a towel - it’s stunning) Also - Paul Newman in “The Long, Hot Summer” - that scene on the balcony where he’s shirtless in his boxers taunting Joanne Woodward - yikes! VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/26 "2008-02-26T17:45:03Z")
I still remember my 5th Grade teacher, Mrs. Duffy, who was considered the strictest, meanest old lady around. (She was actually a wonderful teacher and a great lady, but I didn’t realize that until I was older.) Towards the end of the school year, we got to goofing off in class because we had finished whatever needed to be done, and she pulled out a picture of herself from her 20s (I’m thinking she was late 40s or early 50s at the time she was my teacher) in a bikini. She was smokin’, and I remember one of the other students saying, “Wow, you were SO pretty back then!” Even at that young age, I knew there was something not quite right about how that had been phrased. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/27 "2008-02-26T18:01:51Z")
Isn’t it basically true that in order to be an old star, you had to start out as a young star, which meant necessarily that you were good-looking? I’m not sure we should be so surprised that Angela Lansbury _et al._ were attractive in their prime. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/28 "2008-02-26T18:06:52Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] An early (and work-safe) picture of [Ron Jeremy](http://www.metroxxxstars.com/images/ron_jeremy1.jpg). [/QUOTE] That site is still on most office BAN lists under “Porn”. Best not to click at work. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/29 "2008-02-26T18:20:38Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] 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. [/QUOTE] Speaking of whom, **Carrie Fisher** has certainly aged badly. [Then](http://imdb.com/media/rm3128399872/nm0000402) and [now](http://imdb.com/media/rm777361920/nm0000402). Of course, she had some substantial self-abuse issues. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/30 "2008-02-26T18:22:00Z")
A few years ago I was looking through some family photo albums with my mom and came across her wedding announcement in the newspaper. In that photo she’s a dead ringer for Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, at her appealingist. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/31 "2008-02-26T18:26:44Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Of course, she had some substantial self-abuse issues. [/QUOTE] Carrie Fisher has hairy palms? I can’t see, in the photo you linked. Sailboat ---
**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:** [February 26, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/32 "2008-02-26T20:15:49Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Speaking of whom, **Carrie Fisher** has certainly aged badly. [Then](http://imdb.com/media/rm3128399872/nm0000402) and [now](http://imdb.com/media/rm777361920/nm0000402). Of course, she had some substantial self-abuse issues. [/QUOTE] No kidding. I’ve been seeing her recently as a guest hostess on TCM. She’s my age, but she looks about 10-20 years older than me. I guess she and Eddie Van Halen could be tied in a “drugs can age the crap out of you” contest. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/33 "2008-02-26T20:22:10Z")
[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] Oddly, a lot of men of that age (including my dad) looked like Harry Connick; pseudo-greasy brylcreem coiff, rail thin, open car-door ears, rakish style. It is amazing the changes we humans put ourselves through, ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/34 "2008-02-26T20:26:27Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Speaking of whom, **Carrie Fisher** has certainly aged badly. [Then](http://imdb.com/media/rm3128399872/nm0000402) and [now](http://imdb.com/media/rm777361920/nm0000402). Of course, she had some substantial self-abuse issues. [/QUOTE] She doesn’t look so bad in that picture. She looks her age, but not worse then your average fifty something year old woman. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/35 "2008-02-26T20:47:43Z")
The biggest surprise when I Netflixed “The Jewel in the Crown” a little while ago was seeing that the puffy-faced and dissipated-looking Charles Dance was once actually quite attractive in a lanky sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/36 "2008-02-26T21:02:44Z")
Martha Raye was pretty good looking in **Hellzapoppin’** , long before she advertised dentures, though she played it for laughs. On a similar note, do you know people who were hot when you first met them who haven’t aged well at all? I know someone who was actually a Playboy Bunny before she went to grad school for a PhD, and who blew up like a balloon not ten years later. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/37 "2008-02-26T21:04:43Z")
[Angela Lansbury](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1264883712/nm0001450) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/38 "2008-02-26T21:17:17Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/39 "2008-02-26T21:29:50Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Speaking of whom, **Carrie Fisher** has certainly aged badly. [Then](http://imdb.com/media/rm3128399872/nm0000402) and [now](http://imdb.com/media/rm777361920/nm0000402). Of course, she had some substantial self-abuse issues. [/QUOTE] I looked her up after her recent appearance on 30 Rock and was pretty surprised to find out that she’s as young as she is. She looks like she’s in her 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/40 "2008-02-26T21:42:50Z")
Can’t find a picture online, but I saw a documentary on the Three Stooges a few years back, and they showed a photo of a very young Larry Fine with slicked back hair and a serious expression–he was a handsome dude! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210.md?page=3)