# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/61 "2008-02-27T06:47:05Z")
Thanks, **Wile E**! He looks bizarrely like a cross between my dad’s brothers, who are roughly the same age. This creeps me out a little. Hell of a voice, though, as always. To contribute to the thread, my mom was absolutely beautiful when she was younger. My dad says that the first thing he thought when he saw her was, "Wow, she’s _hot,"_ which is borne out by pictures. (My aunt/her sister says her hotness was because of her lettuce and dry toast diet. :p) Apparently I look “just like her” according to people who knew her growing up, but it is to laugh. We don’t look all that much alike, apart from dark hair and the whole female thing. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/62 "2008-02-27T07:00:45Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] My dad says that the first thing he thought when he saw her was, "Wow, she’s _hot,"_… [/QUOTE] You look just like her. **Lotte Lenya** , who was apparently enough of a babe to be mentioned in the popular English lyrics to _Mack the Knife_[sup]\*[/sup], went from [this](http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/4152/lottelenyave9.jpg), to [this](http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/007/frwl-1-0912-rosa-klebb.jpg). - It probably didn’t hurt that she was married to Kurt Weill, too. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/63 "2008-02-27T07:17:18Z")
I love that your image link is from CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) [magic.com](http://magic.com), a website devoted to the RCA Selectavision. I have not one but TWO Selectavision CED players, neither of which are currently working. I need to buy a new stylus cartridge. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/64 "2008-02-27T07:19:45Z")
Thanks, **Robot Arm** , but not really, as can clearly be seen in [this picture from Christmas 1984](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v449/frenchified/Baby.jpg). She is the tall person; I am the short person in the mouse dress. I’m about three inches shorter now, more fair in complexion, have a completely different nose, and totally look like my dad. I’m just not hairy enough for people to see the resemblance there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![exclamation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/858c86/32.png) [@exclamation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exclamation)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/65 "2008-02-27T07:57:43Z")
[QUOTE=Gala Matrix Fire] A couple of men who were fat old guys when I was young: [Marlon Brando](http://www.cbc.ca/news/photogalleries/brando/images/01.jpg) [Orson Wells](http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Club/7980/orson.jpg) And here are some guys who aren’t that old, but the young dopers may only have seen them as middle aged and fat: [Dan Aykroyd](http://www.channel4.com/film/media/images/Channel4/film/T/trading_places_xl_01--film-B.jpg) [Tom Hanks](http://www.movieprop.com/tvandmovie/reviews/big.jpg) [Alec Baldwin](http://www.the-departed.com/images/alec-baldwin-biography3.jpg) [/QUOTE] If we’re talking about Dan Akroyd, you can’t really get him any better than as Elwood in The Blues Brothers. [http://bhhandel.blogg.no/images/dan\_akroyd\_blues\_brothers\_sunglasses\_1171034919.jpg](http://bhhandel.blogg.no/images/dan_akroyd_blues_brothers_sunglasses_1171034919.jpg) ouchie. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/66 "2008-02-27T11:39:13Z")
I saw a portrait of my paternal grandmother and her younger sister, when grandma was about eighteen or nineteen. Her dark hair was up in a pompadour style, she had those leg-mutton sleeves and a long sweeping skirt. If she had been smiling instead of looking a bit glum guys would drool. As it was she still looked gorgeous, high cheekbones and sculpted face, sort of like Sophia Loren. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/67 "2008-02-27T12:53:42Z")
I only knew Eileen Brennan as a grizzled old lady with a chain-smoker’s rasping voice. But when I watched **The Sting,** my eyes bugged out! Eileen was a _fox_ back in 1973, and her voice was a lovely contralto! ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/68 "2008-02-27T17:27:34Z")
My maternal grandmother was always an old, pleasantly plump woman with a sweet face and perfect skin (no smoking, drinking or sun for that woman). Then I saw a picture of her with my grandpa and another couple from the 1930’s, I think. She was dressed in what looked like men’s trousers and shirt, with a tie. With her slim body and gorgeous hair, she was hot! And racy! 🙂 ---
**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 27, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/69 "2008-02-27T18:18:00Z")
Most of us remember Georgia O’Keeffe as the Old Woman of the Desert. But she was [young](http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~ian_kannry/Georgia%20O'Keeffe%201918%202.jpg) once, although she never bothered with frivolities like makeup & modish hairstyles. Alfred Stieglitz shot at least one nude portrait, easily available for those who search. Quite lovely. (Some posted here who’ve “not aged well” have not had “work” done. And **have** allowed themselves to be photographed honestly.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/70 "2008-02-27T19:33:34Z")
[Elizabeth Taylor now](http://movies.yahoo.com/images/ent/ap/20060530/cnn102_elizabeth_taylor_people.sff.jpg). [Elizabeth Taylor then.](http://images.movieeye.com/store/images/elizabeth-taylor-celebrity-photo.jpg) But hey, it’s not just the ladies who sometimes age poorly. Hell, just look at **Michael Stipe** : [Before](http://www.george-dubose.com/bilder/rem.jpg) and [After](http://andresserrano.org/Michael-Stipe.jpg). ---
**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:** [February 27, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/71 "2008-02-27T20:35:33Z")
[Nick Nolte](http://a4.vox.com/6a00d4141f3422685e00e3989ba1cc0005-500pi). [Again](http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/cinema/diaporama/07/stars-du-cinema-qui-derapent/nick-nolte.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/72 "2008-02-27T21:02:36Z")
**What the rock and roll lifestyle will do to ya (drugs, booze, cigarettes…):** [Eddie Van Halen then](http://reilly.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/eddie_1984_2.jpg) and [Eddie Van Halen now](http://thefullbug.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/ed.jpg) [David Lee Roth before and after](http://fracas.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/davidleeroth.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/73 "2008-02-27T21:10:41Z")
Nick Nolte was pretty hot in my lifetime. That he’s not now is a testament to what drugs and alcohol can do to your life. ---
**Author:** ![InappropriateHumor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb8c5e/32.png) [@InappropriateHumor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InappropriateHumor)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/74 "2008-02-27T22:28:01Z")
My daughter had a “Wow” moment just a couple of nights ago over [Clint Eastwood](http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Eastwood,_Clint/Pictures/). I don’t know what movie was on, maybe [_High Plains Drifter_](http://imdb.com/media/rm1869518848/tt0068699) or [_Paint Your Wagon_](http://imdb.com/media/rm2941163520/tt0064782) , but he did indeed look fine. ---
**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 27, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/75 "2008-02-27T22:46:01Z")
I had a “wow” moment with Clint when I first watched _The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly_ a few months ago I had never seen him not looking like the Crypt-Keeper, but _damn_ was he hot in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/76 "2008-02-27T23:04:31Z")
Not an actor but a historical figure- first Mormon [Joseph Smith](http://www.pbs.org/americanprophet/images/joseph-smith.jpg) was Hollywood handsome, which may explain why so many women accepted his revelation that they should be his wife. Other historical hotties (even by our standards): poet [Rupert Brooke](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=rupert+brooke&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi) young [Oscar Wilde](http://manolomen.com/images/Oscar%20Wilde%20with%20bow%20tie.jpg) and boytoy [Bosie](http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/wilde/bosie.jpg) muckraker [Lincoln Steffens](http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/FindingAids/dynaweb/calher/portrait/figures/I0052770A.jpg) (when young) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/pictures/percy_bysshe_shelley.jpg) [Robert Todd Lincoln](http://media.historynet.com/images/roberttoddlincoln2.jpg) (who looks like a Leonardo diCaprio character from a historic romance) [Jack London](http://www.orwell.ru/people/london/img/jl_l.jpg) a pre-bearded/pre-balding/pre-bunch-of-kids-and-domestic-troubles [Charles Dickens](http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/3431730.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=A6F75B5D5F9A091C8CB33101C8EC3208A55A1E4F32AD3138) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/77 "2008-02-27T23:08:43Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] 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. [/quote] I don’t understand how that could surprising. Even given the ridiculous way she was constumed and made up on I Love Lucy, she was quite pretty; long before i ever saw her in a more glamorous role, I can remember thinking, "I bet she’d be gorgeous if she put the slightest effort into it. ---
**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 27, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/78 "2008-02-27T23:25:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Not an actor but a historical figure- first Mormon Joseph Smith was Hollywood handsome, which may explain why so many women accepted his revelation that they should be his wife. I think that’s an official Church picture, not a contemporary one, and I think they embellish his image a bit. Most of the contemporary pictures don’t make him quite as handsome, to my eye. Here’s a daugerrotype, which looks pretty good: > **[JSMAIN](http://comevisit.com/lds/js3photo.htm)** But he doesn’t look as good in these: > **[Introduction to Topics and Questions](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/intro?lang=eng)** > > Gospel topic information and links to additional resources > **[Introduction to Topics and Questions](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/intro?lang=eng)** > > Gospel topic information and links to additional resources These are all, I think, LDS websites, so it doesn’t seem likely that they can be accused of making him look bad. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/79 "2008-02-28T00:00:45Z")
[QUOTE=Simplicio] She doesn’t look so bad in that picture. She looks her age, but not worse then your average fifty something year old woman. [/QUOTE] I thought so too. I guess we’re getting so used to people, women especially, who’ve preserve themselves much better than they did generations ago, and when we see someone who looks normal for their age, we’re kind of surprised. Catherine Deneuve used to be [smoking](http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-56512/Catherine-Deneuve-in-The-April-Fools?articleTypeId=1). Oh, [wait](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Deneuve), she still is. Though she’s gained a bit of weight (so what!), she’s still quite beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210/80 "2008-02-28T00:12:09Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] In his early movies John Goodman was very good looking and obviously athletic. He of course changed a bit before Roseanne. [/QUOTE] Really? That show couldn’t afford seperate dressing rooms? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-they-used-to-be-hot/439210.md?page=5)